I am so conscious when it comes to Baba’s milestones. I make sure to always have a checklist of what he should be at a certain age because that is when you know if everything is still within normal and healthy. Here is a sneak peak of the milestones he should be meeting at his Kindergarten year. However, I am proud to say he is way advanced with some these milestones already.
Language Skills Milestones:
• Increase his vocabulary to about 13,000 words
• Recall and repeat sentences of at least eight words
• Identify some letters of the alphabet, especially the first letter of his name
• Recognize and copy upper-case letters of the alphabet when he sees them in print
• Copy his full name, using proper capitalization
• Match letters and sounds. For instance, he might tell you that “B is for ‘bat’.”
• Identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story
• Remember and repeat stories he hears
• Make up his own stories
• Approach a book properly, with each page read from left to right and from top to bottom. He may also sound as if he is actually reading when he is pretending to.
• Read some common words, such as “dog,” “cat,” “house,” “mom,” “dad,” and “car”
• Use descriptive language to explain things or ask questions. For instance, he might say, “That dog is so silly, he licked my face. It was really funny.”
• Write a rudimentary sentence with some legible words
• Make rhyming sounds and enjoy rhyming games such as I Spy (“I spy with my little eye something that rhymes with ‘cat.’ It’s a hat!”)
Social Skills Milestones:
• Invite other children to play with him
• Take turns and share, even if he doesn’t always want to
• Invent games with simple rules that he can explain to other children. For example, he might suggest, “Let’s bury these toys in the sand and see who can find them with a shovel.”
• Take risks and try new things such as meeting new children at a party or trying a ride at an amusement park
• Recognize that other children have feelings too. He may notice and feel bad when another child is sad or angry.
• Understand the basic concepts of right and wrong
• Play without supervision and without the constant need to have an adult join in or watch
• Understand and respect rules
• Develop self-esteem and tell you about things he’s done that he’s proud of
• Use self-control. For example, he may be able to keep himself from crying or lashing out if he becomes sad or angry.
• Express the need to be alone
• Find enjoyment in giving things to others
Cognitive Skills Milestones:
• Categorize objects. For instance, he may place blocks in a row from shortest to tallest, or group items by color.
• Count ten or more objects
• Recognize and write numbers up to 10
• Sort objects into specific categories. For example, he may learn to put pictures of toys, animals, and food in their own groups.
• Compare the length, weight, and capacity of objects. For example, he might say, “That telephone pole is taller than the streetlight” or “Dad’s shoe is heavier than Mom’s.”
• Stick with a project until it’s complete — finishing a puzzle, for instance, or finding his way through a maze game
• Collect objects, such as rocks or bugs, to examine more carefully later
• Identify and possibly draw shapes such as circles, squares, diamonds, rectangles, and triangles
• Understand broad concepts of time, including “yesterday,” “today,” and “tomorrow”
• Name the days of the week
• Identify the seasons of the year
• Identify the general time at which everyday events occur. For example, he might say, “I eat breakfast at 7 o’clock in the morning” and “I go to bed at 8 o’clock at night.”
• Use his senses to investigate his surroundings and then tell you what he’s discovered. For instance, he might say, “Lizards like to hide under rocks” or “Birds build nests high off the ground”
