---
title: Is My Child Ready For Kindergarten?
description: Is your child ready for kindergarten?  Sanford's Lower School Counselor, Suzanne Humphreys, helps families get off to a happy start in school.
---

[Education Matters—Sanford School's Private School Blog](https://blogs.sanfordschool.org)

# [Is My Child Ready For Kindergarten?](https://blogs.sanfordschool.org/is-my-child-ready-for-kindergarten)

 Written by [Suzanne Humphreys, M.A.](https://blogs.sanfordschool.org/author/suzanne-humphreys-m-a) | February 16, 2016 at 8:00 PM

As we all know, school readiness is an important topic. As that fifth birthday approaches, almost every parent wonders if their child is ready for kindergarten or if they would benefit long-term from another year of preschool. If only crystal balls were real! We can look at a child’s date of birth or their gender, but that is not enough.

It’s tempting to focus on how a child is progressing with academic basics:

- recognizing letters and numbers
- understanding that letters are associated with sounds
- understanding that numbers represent quantities
- knowing and manipulating shapes
- identifying colors 

A child who excels in these areas still may not be ready for all the challenges of a kindergarten classroom. Similarly, the child who mixes up some letters may show plenty of signs of being ready to succeed in kindergarten.

How is a parent to know what to do? Most private schools look at the whole child and consider multiple areas of development. These areas may include:

- **Social and emotional engagement**—How do they express their feelings? Can they solve problems with others? Are they able take turns, share, and work in a group?

- **Language developmen**t—Is the child adept with language? Can they sequence a story? Can they follow directions? Can the child communicate their needs?

- **Cognitive abilit**y—Can they manage transitioning from one activity to the next? Are they showing math and reading readiness?

- **Self-help skills**—Can they take care of their own needs? Does the child ask for some guidance, if needed?

- **Fine motor skills**—Is the child developing a proper pencil grip and scissor use? 

- **Gross motor skill**s—Is the child able to jump and run? Can the child catch and bounce a ball? Do they enjoy participating in creative movement games? Is the child able to pedal a tricycle?

At [Sanford School](http://www.sanfordschool.org), a Kindergarten visit helps educators determine school readiness in a child-friendly way. Our goal is to partner with you to ensure that your child is in a setting that is developmentally appropriate. Because when a child loves going to school, there is no greater gift to the child or their family.

*Suzanne Humphreys is the former Director of Counseling and the Lower School Counselor at Sanford School in Hockessin, Delaware.*

[View full post](https://blogs.sanfordschool.org/is-my-child-ready-for-kindergarten)

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