School Readiness Checklist: Core Skills Kids Need Before Kindergarten

Early learning worksheets help when they match a real kindergarten skill. This school readiness checklist covers the habits and the hands-on skills, plus printable activities you can use at home.

The checklist

Can your child say their first name, recognize a few letters, count to 10, hold a crayon, take turns, and ask for help? Those six are enough to aim for. Perfect handwriting is not on the list.

Name and letters

Practice the first letter of their name, then a few more. A single letter page is plenty.

Numbers to 10

Count objects, then trace the number. Counting without tracing, or tracing without counting, is only half the skill.

Hands and scissors

Tearing, coloring, and later snipping paper build the hand. A child does not need to write sentences before school.

A starter set

Put one letter page, one number page, and one coloring page in a folder. That is a complete early learning starter. Use the number tracing worksheets, the coloring pages, and the free letter download.

If you want a teacher in the room, School Readiness at the studio practices these skills in a small group.