Let’s Begin - Pre-School Readiness Check List

Let’s begin with a few questions to determine readiness for pre-school.

Answer each question either Yes or No – remember there is no right or wrong. The idea is to see just where your child is and work from there!

Pre-school readiness activity suggestion lists will follow which are separated into “Mild-Moderate Readiness Issues” and “Moderate-Severe Readiness Issues.”

Even if your child has no issues, change is change, and using the activity suggestion lists will only help your child with new learning, developing new coping skills, and enhance their overall developmental levels.

Please read the questions and then answer “Yes” or “No” to each.  “Sometimes” is also a choice if your child may at times have difficulty or at other times does not have an issues, and you just do not feel that you want to give “No” as a response.

Try not to worry about the responses – you are wanting to get a basic picture of where your child is and what areas you may need to work on with them. Remember there are no right or wrong answers!

Each question will have an answer box that looks like the following:

Answer Yes, No, or Sometimes to each question

Please begin when you are ready - Questions start below:

Has your child spent time away from you? 

Going to pre-school or pre-k involves you leaving them at the door so to speak. If your child has had some time apart from you, either with another family member, a baby-sitter, at a play group, or at a friend’s house they will be better prepared to separate from you.

Can your child spend some time away from you?

Sensory Processing and Acceptance

One way a child explores their world is through touch. Not all children like to touch or come in contact with a variety of textures. Some textures may be tolerated, however, maybe not all of the time, or during certain time periods. Some children look for certain textures to help calm them.

Can your child participate in messy play without becoming stressed, anxious, or upset?  

 Tolerance to Higher Levels of Stimulation

Pre-school and Pre-K often involve high levels of sensory stimulation that involves all of the senses, as well as being very busy, active, and noisy all at once.

Can your child tolerate extended periods being in a noisy, sometimes high energy environment?

 Basic Listening and Following Simple Directions

While there may be a lot of “play” and “play time” during pre-school, there is also the need to listen to what the teacher or aide is telling your child to do throughout their time there.

Can your child listen, understand, and respond to simple 1 to 2 step directions and respond when their name is called?

 Appropriate Group Behaviors

In pre-school, your child will be interacting with a classroom of other children. Depending on the class, there may be 10 to 20 other children that they will be coming in contact with throughout the day. Group activities include circle time, story time, snack and lunch time, nap time, free play (inside and outside), and so on.

Will your child participate, or at least play “nicely” in group activities of two or more other children?

 Fine Motor

Being able to isolate finger movement is an important stage in the development of grasp and prehensile skills. Being able to move certain fingers, one at a time, apart from the rest of the hand/ fingers is a developmental skill. To be able to point, a child needs to be able to isolate their index, or pointer, finger, not with two or more fingers tagging along.

Can your child point with their index finger?

 Fine Motor Early Grasp

The development of grasp is influenced by your child’s growing interest in objects and their desire to hold and explore them. 

Can your child use their thumb and index finger, without using other fingers, to pick up a small item (1/4” to 1/2”)

 Fine Motor Early 2-Handed Use

Two-handed use involves using both hands at the same time. Before your child progresses to being able to use each hand with different movements for a coordinated effort (bilateral coordination) they must first learn to use both hands doing the same thing at the same time.

Can your child thread large (1” to 2”) beads onto a string or cord?

 Basic Letter, Color, Shape, Recognition

Can your child recognize (point to, say, or pick up when asked) a few basic letters, numbers, shapes? Do they recognize their name when they see it written out?

 Early Self-Help Skills – Use of a Cup

Mealtimes are an important daily routine of family life and with development include use of a cup and utensils.  Children begin to develop self feeding skills from birth. Drinking from a cup and using a spoon or fork are complex tasks and often takes years to master.

Can your child drink from an open cup (without a lid)?

 Early Self-Help Skills – Use of a Spoon

Mealtimes are an important aspect of family life.  Children begin to develop self-feeding skills from birth.  Self-feeding is a very complex task and it is common for children to have difficulty using cutlery to feed themselves.  It usually takes until a child is 7 years old before they can successfully use cutlery to feed themselves without being too messy. 

Can your child use a spoon all by themselves during meals?

 Self-Help Dressing and Basic Hygiene Skills

Most pre-schools want your child to be potty-trained when they join the other children in that classroom.  Not to say accidents do not happen, and the staff are ready to assist as needed, however, using the bathroom and managing their own hygiene and easy to manage clothing are pretty much expected.

Is your child pretty much using the toilet appropriately? (accidents do occur and does happen in pre-school, but hopefully not on a daily basis)

Can your child remove their top and bottom clothing (without ripping or tearing of clothes)? Easy to pull down pants are especially helpful.

Can your child remove their coat or jacket (without ripping or tearing, but with assist for any zippers, buttons, fasteners)?

 Can your child remove their socks and shoes (without throwing them across the room)?

Can your child wash their hands with some help or direction?

 Early Building, Construction, and Creative Pretend Play

Construction and building types of play involves manipulating one or more pieces of play materials to create something new or to use as part of their pretend play.

Does your child combine play items to build, stack, combine in order to create or make “new” things?

Depending on the way you have answered the questions you may find your child is ready and raring to go, or needs to work on some of their skills and behaviors.

Following in this series is a separation of pre-school readiness activities for those with mild-moderate issues, and for those with moderate-severe issues. Your goal is to give the support and guidance to change the “No’s” into “Sometimes,” and then continue working until the majority of answers fall into the “Yes” category.

Remember, this pre-school readiness checklist questionnaire is to get a “baseline,” an idea of where to start. All children are different and have different needs. Knowing where to start and where the “finish line” is a first step forward. Helping your child succeed in getting ready for the big changes ahead may seem like an overwhelming task to you, so start early, start small, stay calm, don’t give up, and stay focused on the goal!  

Continue on:

• Return to main page of Pre-School and Pre-K Readiness

• Pre-School Readiness Activities / Mild-Moderate Issues

• Pre-School Readiness Activities / Moderate-Severe Issues

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