My huge focus thus far for education has been on reading. There is much more to reading and reading instruction than many parents and some teachers realize. Reading is an integral part of a child’s success and education.
In previous articles I have described various areas of reading such as phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
I then began taking you for a look into reading at different grade levels. In one of my more recent articles I gave you some insight on how reading should be carried out in the kindergarten classroom. I also began listing some reading skills that your child should be able to master by the end of his or her kindergarten year.
In addition to those skills there are a few more.
Spelling/Writing
By the end of their kindergarten year, children should be able to use letters and phonemic spelling (spelling it how it sounds) to write words.
Children should also begin to spell some words correctly, especially those that are often used in our language.
Children at this age should be taking interest in and practicing writing his or her own full name along with the names of family members, friends, and classmates.
Children should also be able to write a sequence of letters and some words as they are called out. The child should be able to write these without looking at a reference.
Vocabulary/Worldly Knowledge
Children at the end of kindergarten should find it interesting to manipulate words such as in rhyming or changing beginning or ending sounds.
These children should enjoy learning and using new words.
They should begin to become familiar and use words that pertain to their community. These words included store names, city names, and street names.
While the skills listed above and in the previous article should not used as a guideline for failing or passing a child to the first grade, they can considered when determining if your child is becoming a successful reader.
Should Kindergarten Children Learn to Read and Write?