Prepare Your Child for School

Early Reading

• Shows interest in books and reading

• Knows that printed words have meaning
• Uses pictures in a book to tell and retell the story
• Recognizes and names/reads familiar signs and logos
• Listens to a story being read aloud
• Makes predictions about what will happen next in a story being read aloud
• Begins to follow text from left to right as it is read aloud
• Recognizes and names rhyming words
• Recognizes that letters represent spoken sounds
• Recognizes some upper and lower case letters and their sounds
• Recognizes that spoken words can be represented in written language
• Recognizes written name as well as other familiar words
• Begins to use pictures and text read aloud to learn the meaning of unfamiliar words
• Holds books upright, turning pages one at a time from front to back

Listening, Speaking and Understanding

• Converses with others, taking turns speaking and listening

• Speaks clearly, expressing ideas and questions
• Uses words to seek help, answer questions and solve problems
• Speaks in complete sentences of at least six to eight words
• Listens to stories and retells them
• Begins to ask questions about stories that are read aloud
• Follows directions and completes tasks that require multiple steps
• Asks and answers “how” and “why” questions

Early Writing

• Draws pictures and tells their story
• Writes using a combination of letters, letter-like shapes and scribbles
• Uses drawing and writing during play
• Writes name independently or using an example