Your Child's Communication: Kindergarten

[en Español]

• Kindergarten
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade
• Suggestions for Parents

By the end of kindergarten, your child should be able to do the following tasks in each area. View this list in PDF format.

Listening

• Follow 1–2 simple directions in a row.
• Listen to and understand stories.
• Follow a simple conversation

Speaking

• Speak clearly enough so that most people understand what they say.
• Answer simple yes/no questions.
• Answer questions like, "What did you have for lunch today?"
• Retell a story or talk about something they did.
• Take turns talking and keep a conversation going.
• Show interest in and start conversations.

Reading

• Know how a book works. For example, we read from left to right and top to bottom in English.
• Understand that sounds make up words.
• Pick out words that rhyme, like cat and hat.
• Tell you the first sound in words, like mmmm for milk.
• Says the sounds for some letters, like buh for B.
• Identify upper- and lowercase letters.
• Recognize some words by sight.
• "Read" a few picture books from memory.
• Pretend to read by talking about pictures in a book.

Writing

• Print their first name.
• Draw a picture that tells a story. Write about the picture. Your child may write a letter or word to stand for a whole sentence or idea.
• Write upper- and lowercase letters. They may not be clear or neat.
• Write or type letters in no set order, like Mu zEos lx.