At this age, kids are becoming more aware of the world outside their family and friends. School helps them learn how to interact with their peers and resolve disagreements.
Kindergarten students also start learning their numbers, including addition and subtraction. They will begin to organize objects by shape, and sort by color.
Social and Emotional Development
A child’s ability to connect with other kids and navigate their emotions is as critical for a good school experience as knowing their ABCs. It’s the foundation of children’s learning, and this type of social-emotional development begins in preschool or transitional kindergarten (TK) and continues in kindergarten.
It also includes understanding that everyone feels a variety of emotions, recognizing other people’s feelings and expressing themselves in healthy ways. It’s these skills that help kids be confident in new environments and develop a positive relationship with teachers and other adults.
Help your child build these skills by modeling respectful conversations at home and insisting that they address adults in a polite manner. The CDC offers a free app, Conquering Kindergarten, that lets parents track their children’s progress in 14 of these skills and prepare for parent-teacher conferences with illustrated checklists and tips for encouraging their growth.
Physical Development
Children need to develop strong gross motor skills, which include running, jumping and climbing. They also need to learn how to use their fine motor skills, such as picking things up and gripping a pencil.
These skills are important because they help children learn more about their environment and what they can do with it, such as walking to a new place in the playground or navigating steps at home. They also allow them to express emotions more clearly, such as by pointing to an object they want or clapping when excited.
Often, staff members will raise concerns about their students’ physical development, such as when a child falls or struggles to reach a milestone. Educators can use their knowledge of typical child development to help them understand what is normal and how to support the growth and health of their students.
Language and Literacy
In a high-quality kindergarten, children continue to develop their language and literacy skills. This includes learning to use their fingers to do activities like making a puzzle, drawing, and writing. These activities help your child’s small muscles become stronger and they learn to focus and think about problems in new ways.
They also work on phonological awareness, which involves the sounds that make up words (there are 44 sound combinations in English). Try rhyming games with your child and reading books that feature high-frequency sight words, such as ‘ten little fingers and ten little toes’ or ‘I spy’.
Children who are exposed to two languages in early childhood tend to have more advanced language and literacy skills than their monolingual peers, but these skills vary widely from one child to the next.
Creative Arts
The arts are a medium for children to express themselves and develop their imagination.[1] For example, when children create visual art they can show their understandings and ideas by drawing or painting what they see.
These creative expressions also support a child’s ability to focus and concentrate on one task. This helps with their self-regulation and supports their future literacy development as they practice focusing, making choices and feeling successful.
The visual arts allow for process-oriented learning and foster what researchers call “possibility thinking.” For example, when kids blow bubbles with tempera paint they can create symmetrical patterns on paper. This kind of project promotes discussion about symmetry and nature and teaches color-blending skills.
Technology
When educators have a clear, structured approach to technology integration, digital tools can serve as meaningful learning aids rather than distractions. However, embracing new technologies can be challenging, especially when it comes to designing age-appropriate activities for kindergarten students.
For example, when Twomey’s students begin to log in their Chromebooks, the keyboard requires them to type lowercase letters — which is challenging for students who are just beginning to learn how to form their own shapes and letter names. But when students discover how their online days-of-school chart changes color on certain dates, they have a powerful context for learning about data and coding.
Woodlands ELC supports educators with a range of educational apps and resources for implementing technology in kindy that are developmentally appropriate and aligned with curriculum standards. You can also gain knowledge about integrating technology in the classroom through our ICT in Education Teacher Academy.