Kindergarten milestone checklist

So I was blog surfing and came across THIS WEBSITE where they had a bullet point list of milestones they expect each student to have accomplished at the end of each grade level. I've copied their list for Kindergarten below. On the list below I've used RED * for those items Sayer hass mastered and GREEN * for things we're working on now. If there's no color it's because I hadn't planned for it ... yet ...

The following are common curriculum goals for kindergarten students.

Language Arts

* Identifies front, back, title, and author of a book.
* Demonstrates top to bottom, left to right progression
* Distinguishes letters from words and words from sentences
* Identifies all uppercase and lowercase letters
* Demonstrates knowledge of beginning sounds by printing correct letter symbols with corresponding pictures
* Orally tells what sound is heard at the beginning and ending of words
* Blends CVC sounds aloud to make a word
* Rhymes
* Count the number of sounds in a syllable and the number of syllables in a word
* Reads one syllable ands common words by sight such as "the", "I", "is"
* Makes predictions
* Demonstrates comprehension of stories by orally retelling or acting out
* Identifies characters, setting, and main idea of a story
* Prints name correctly "on line"
* Prints alphabet letters legibly without a model
* Uses writing (letters, pictures, and words) to express own meaning
* Writes from left to right and from top to bottom
* Writes some simple CVC words spelled correctly and longer words phonetically (as they sound)
* Orally state the names of the days of the week and months of the year
* Identifies the eight basic colors and reads the corresponding color words
* Understands and follows one and two step spoken directions

Mathematics

* Demonstrates 1 to 1 correspondence
* Sorts and classifies objects by position, shape, size, color, number of corners, etc.
* Identifies, copies, extends, and creates patterns
* Can count to 100 by 1's and 10's
* Identifies the five basic shapes (circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle)
* Draws the five basic shapes
* Identifies numerals (0-10)
* Labels sets (0-10) with correct numeral
* Compares sets of objects and uses the terms equal, more than, or less than correctly
* Can count backwards from 10
* Identifies coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter)
* Joins and separates sets of objects
* Tells time to the hour
* Identifies half versus whole
* Divides sets of objects into equal groups
* Measures length with a variety of non standard measurements
* Compares measurements and uses the terms shorter, longer, taller, heavier, warmer, cooler, holds more, etc. correctly
* Uses positional words to explain location (left, right, on, off, inside, between, above, below, etc.)
* Interprets graphs

Fine Motor Skills

* Holds pencils and scissors correctly
* Cuts on lines
* Outlines and colors neatly within the lines

(These things she does well, but can get sloppy, so it's something we just keep working on without making it seem like we're working on it.)

Gross Motor Skills

* Hops on both feet together
* Hops on one foot (left and right)
* Marches
* Gallops
* Skips

Home Skills

* Recites address from memory (including city, state, and zip code) (she knows everything but the zip code, which we've never told her)
* Recites telephone number from memory (including area code)
* Recites birth date (including year)
* Demonstrates the ability to put on and fasten outer clothing (unassisted)
* Ties shoes (her shoes don't tie ...)

(She can do the address minus the zip code, which we've never taught her. She knows the birthdate, but not the year. She can get coats on and often she can button or snap, but is still working on zipping. And so far she's never had a pair of shoes that tie ... )

Social and Work Habits

* Puts forth best efforts in work
* Takes care of school materials
* Uses self control to follow school rules
* Works independently
* Completes work in a reasonable amount of time
* Follows directions
* Listens attentively to others
* Stays on task
* Willingly participates in activities

(She does these things well when she's inclined to, but that's not all the time. So sometimes she whines and complains about doing the work, sometimes she pokes holes in stuff she shouldn't, sometimes takes an hour to do an 8 minute assignment ... It's all normal, I know. And it's all stuff that (like with the holding the pen/cil correctly or cutting on the line) we'll just keep reinforcing - hopefully without making it seem like a chore.)

Kindergarten students are introduced to many science and social studies topics as well, but are not expected to have mastered these areas. Some sample topics are shown below.

Possible Science Topics

* Natural Sciences: animals, plants, weather, space, earth science
* Physical Sciences: magnets, float and sink, etc.
* Health and Safety: teeth, Mr. Yuk, body parts, nutrition and food groups, five senses, fire safety, etc.

(We've had lots of discussions (with a very few experiments done) about all the suggested natural sciences subjects, and magnets and optics and electricity, and most of the subjects suggested in the health and safety category. Always looking for more, though.)

Possible Social Studies Topics

* Home: Self/ Family/ Friends
* Community: community helpers
* History: Holidays such as Thanksgiving, President's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, etc.
* Economics: wants and needs
* Government: respecting rules and rights of others

(So far this is one we've 'worked' on without really 'working' on it. We discuss family and friends and others, we volunteer at the library and talk about other ways we can help, we talk about the reasons behind the holidays and try to find other ways to bring history to life ... we've just begun talking about money, so we'll come to the wants vs. needs discussion sooner or later.)

So it would seem that we're pretty gosh darn on-track for a just-turned 5 year old who isn't eligible to start kindergarten until next fall ...