Preparing for Kindergarten

We can't wait to support the educational needs of our child here at Prince George County Public Schools. Before your child arrives, there's a lot you can do to prepare them for their first day of Kindergarten! We have compiled a variety of resources and information you can use to help make your child's transition to the classroom a successful one!
Click the links below to learn more. Be sure to register your child for the 2021-2022 School Year by visiting our Student Registration page.
Language Readiness

Language Readiness Tips
- Speak in complete sentences and be understood by others most of the time
- Use words to express needs and wants
- Understand two-step directions
- Make comparisons and describe relationships between objects like big/little, under/over, and first/last
Reading and Writing Readiness

Reading and Writing Readiness Tips
- Enjoy listening to stories
- Know how to find the first page of a book and which way to flip the pages
- Recognize familiar logos and signs, like stop signs
- Recite the alphabet and identify most of the letters
- Recognize and try to write their own name
- Recognize when two words rhyme (like cat and bat)
- Start to connect letter sounds to letters (like the sound of the first letter in their name)
- Draw a picture to help express an idea

* Links open third-party websites in new window
Math Readiness
Math Readiness Tips
- Count from 1 to 10 without skipping numbers
- Match a number to a group of five or fewer items (“I see three cats”)
- Recognize, name and describe basic shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle)
- Understand more than and less than
- Arrange three objects in the right order (like from smallest to biggest)
- Name or point to the colors in a box of eight crayons
- Sort objects into like groups
- Create patterns (using objects like LEGO building blocks)

Useful Math Readiness Links*:
* Links open third-party websites in new window
Self Regulation

Self Regulation Tips
- Use the bathroom and wash up on their own
- Get dressed on their own (but may still need help with buttons, zippers, and shoelaces)
- Know and can say their first and last name and age
Social and Emotional Skill Development

Social and Emotional Skill Development Tips
- Separate from a parent or caregiver without getting overly upset
- Interact with other kids
- Pay attention for at least five minutes to a task an adult is leading, like listening to directions for an activity or discussing the day’s weather during circle time
Fine Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skill Development Tips
- Use a pencil or crayon with some control
- Use scissors
- Copy basic shapes
- Make distinct marks that look like letters and write some actual letters, especially the ones in their name
- Put together a simple puzzle
Gross Motor Skills

Gross Motor Skill Development Tips
- Run
- Jump with feet together
- Hop on one foot
- Climb stair
- Bounce a ball and try to catch it
