School Readiness Checklist

School readiness describes the skills, knowledge, and behaviors a child needs to be successful in school. This includes physical, cognitive, adaptive, and social/emotional developmental areas. FCPS recognizes that children grow and develop at different rates and skills vary by child. Please remember that the only prerequisite for entering kindergarten is that a child is 5 years old on or before Aug. 1.

General Knowledge & Mathematics

Sorts and classifies objects
Notices similarities and differences
Identifies basic colors
Counts in a sequence up to 30
Counts sets of objects up to 10
Matches objects with numerals up to 10
Recognizes, names, and copies basic shapes (including circle, square, triangle, rectangle)
Asks such questions as who, what, when, where, why, and how
Understands simple concepts of time (night and day, today, yesterday, tomorrow)

Language & Communication

Speaks in five- to six-word sentences
Sings simple songs
Recognizes and says simple rhymes
Knows own full name
Reads and writes own name
Knows home address, phone number, and birthday
Knows how books work (examples — The difference between print and pictures. Books are read from front to back. Print moves from left to right, and top to bottom.)
Recognizes familiar print from surroundings (examples -- traffic signs, food labels, and store logos such as Target, McDonald’s, and Walmart)
Listens to and responds to stories read to them
Uses scribbles and drawings to express ideas
Uses pictures to tell a story
Recites the letters of the alphabet
Identifies upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet