I'm the strong one, I'm not nervous…Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa…Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip 'til you just go pop, whoa-oh-oh
If you have seen Encanto or any recent Instagram reels, the lyrics from the song “Surface Pressure” will be immediately recognizable. Just in case you have not heard the entire song (you should definitely watch the movie), Luisa, the protagonist's older sister is describing the pressure she feels to be the strong one in the family.
As parents we feel pressure to be great mothers and fathers and one of the things we do not want to do is create undue pressure for our children. For many parents of 4 to 6-year-old children, the pressure right now may be: is my child ready for Kindergarten?
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At Huntington Learning Center – Weddington, we work with students of all ages across all subject areas. Prior to opening, 6 years ago, our Director and Managing Director were in the public school system as a school psychologist, and Kindergarten and 1st-grade teacher, respectively. Last year, we personally asked ourselves if our own 4-year-old daughters (the tricky August birthday) were ready for Kindergarten. We both made the personal decision based on our knowledge of development and academics for our daughters to attend Transitional Kindergarten, commonly referred to as “TK.” This was the best decision for our families and we do not regret it, but that being said, it was a very HARD decision. It is a decision best made for each individual child and family circumstances. For this reason, we have compiled a list of Kindergarten readiness skills across every area of development.
In order to be ready for Kindergarten your child should be able to:
- Manage own bathroom needs
- Dress themselves (buttons, zippers)
- Open lunch containers and ziploc bags
- Clean up after themselves (some prompting is totally appropriate)
- Handle routine and authority figures outside of family members
- Separate from parents
- Sit and attend an activity for 10-15 minutes
- Follow 2 or more step directions
- Play independently and in a group
- Use complete sentences when speaking
- Mimic stories and songs
- Hold crayon/pencil using thumb and pointer finger
- Turn pages in a book from left to right
- Recognize print is read from left to right
- Write first name with capital and lowercase letters (a mixture is acceptable)
- Recognize letters and knows some letter sounds
- Count to 10 with one-to-one correspondence
- Write some numbers between 1 and 10
- Sort and organize objects
Hang in there parents! Kindergarten registration may be upon us, but really, don’t we have at least 6 months to decide? A lot can change developmentally within this age range in 6 months.
If we can help in any way when your student gets to kindergarten or with a student of any age, please. We are ready and able to help!
For registration information for Union County Public School: https://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/Page/2760
Huntington Learning Center:
Huntington has been the nation’s recognized leader in educational services since 1977. Our mission is to give every student the best education possible. At Huntington Learning Center - Weddington, we offer children, ages 5 to 17, tutoring in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Study Skills, Phonics, Vocabulary, Science, and SAT and ACT Preparation. Our individualized instruction is developed from comprehensive academic evaluations completed at the center. We are committed to the success of each student through this personalized instruction with our certified teachers. Each program is uniquely designed to develop the skills, confidence, and motivation for the student. We are seeing great strides every day!
