What Literacy Skills Should Your Child have by the End of Kindergarten? By Olivia Holland BA Eng. Dip Ed MM
If you are like most of the parents I meet, you will be wondering how your child is progressing in their first year of Kindy and whether or not they are attaining good skills (enough of what they should know) in literacy and numeracy. You may be frustrated with your child’s teacher who nonchalantly pushes aside your questions with, “they’re doing fine!” BUT “fine” is not the answer you are looking for.
If you do worry, then good! You should give yourself a pat on the back (and stop feeling like a busy body). How fantastic for your child that you are such a caring parent and, rest assured, this is in fact a justified concern.
It is not uncommon for me to assess a child who is attending the beginning of year 1 and who is 6-10 levels behind in their reading; And also, to meet parents who were not informed of their child's reading levels. Many parents feel they have to seek advice elsewhere because they are not getting the right support from their schools.
For my readers who are wondering if their child is up to scratch please see the list below. These are the literacy skills that your child should be able to do by the end of kindergarten.
BY THE END OF KINDERGARTEN YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE:
If you are like most of the parents I meet, you will be wondering how your child is progressing in their first year of Kindy and whether or not they are attaining good skills (enough of what they should know) in literacy and numeracy. You may be frustrated with your child’s teacher who nonchalantly pushes aside your questions with, “they’re doing fine!” BUT “fine” is not the answer you are looking for.
If you do worry, then good! You should give yourself a pat on the back (and stop feeling like a busy body). How fantastic for your child that you are such a caring parent and, rest assured, this is in fact a justified concern.
It is not uncommon for me to assess a child who is attending the beginning of year 1 and who is 6-10 levels behind in their reading; And also, to meet parents who were not informed of their child's reading levels. Many parents feel they have to seek advice elsewhere because they are not getting the right support from their schools.
For my readers who are wondering if their child is up to scratch please see the list below. These are the literacy skills that your child should be able to do by the end of kindergarten.
BY THE END OF KINDERGARTEN YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE:
- taking home readers no lower than level 10 ( I would say level 12 is the average level most students are finishing with but many students end with higher levels)
- able to read effortlessly all of the sight word lists given to you by their teacher
- able to construct simple sentences, writing within the lines of the page.
- able to write all letter symbols, including capitals, easily
- able to compose a piece of writing with linear ideas
- able to decode words by sounding individual letter sounds
- able to blend and chunk words cvc, ccvc, cvcc words
- able to apply letter sound recall when spelling
- able to use capital letters and full-stops at the end of their sentences
- able to summarise/retell the main events of a story they read
- able to correctly answer questions given to them by the teacher (comprehension) about a subject
- able to infer simple meanings within texts they read (inferential comprehension)
- able to apply and predict using knowledge already attained (applied comprehension)
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