Your child is going to start kindergarten soon. Are they meeting their milestones? Contact us today for a speech therapy, physical therapy, or occupational therapy appointment today if they are not meeting their milestones.
Kindergarten
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Skips using opposing arms and legs for at least 10 feet while maintaining balance
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Roller skates
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Bounces and catches small ball
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Kicks ball at least 12 feet
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Rides bike with training wheels
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Stands on either foot with eyes closed for at least 5 seconds, eyes open for at least 10 seconds
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Dribbles a ball walking forward
- Jumps forward 3 feet
Interesting Fact: Childhood development experts generally say that a reasonable attention span to expect of a child is two to three minutes per year of their age. That’s the period of time for which a typical child can maintain focus on a given task.
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Colors between lines
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Cut basic and complex shapes on the line without deviations
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Completes simple dot-to-dot pictures
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Copies color/shape sequences
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Draws triangle and X
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Imitates writing first name
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Draw a human figure with at least 8 parts
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Uses a variety of sentences
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Has a vocabulary of 2000 or more words
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Uses all speech sounds correctly
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Is 100% intelligible
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Asks questions to get more information
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Can describe objects and carry a plot when telling a story
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Can follow multi-step directions without repetition
- Demonstrates good eye contact
Interesting Fact: Research has shown that children who are read to by their parents have a larger vocabulary than other children.
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Dresses self with correct orientation
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Ties shoes independently
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Completes fasteners on self (snap, button, zipper clasp)
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Puts belt through loops
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Bathes self with help to fill tub and wash hair for safety
- Brushes teeth with follow up from parent for thoroughness
Interesting Fact: Milestones develop in a sequence fashion. This means that a child would need to develop some skills before he or she can develop new skills.
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Eats a variety of food textures from all food groups
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Can eat a meal with the rest of the family, within 30-40 minutes
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Willing to try new foods
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Sufficient at using utensils at mealtime
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Takes appropriate bites of food, does not overstuff mouth
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Can drink from an open cup, straw, or water bottle without spilling
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Chews food sufficient enough that does not result in chocking, or gagging
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Does not pocket food in cheeks
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Starts to feel sensitive about how others feel about them
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Plays in different textures including glue, finger paint, and sand
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Enjoys playing on jungle gym equipment such as swings, rock wall, trampoline, and slide
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Is aware of risky and unsafe behaviors
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Easily adapts to changes in routine
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Usually able to self-calm to fall asleep
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Has an established sleep schedule
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Tolerant of haircuts and nail trims
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Tolerant of new clothes and various clothing textures
- Complete an easy puzzle
- Sort objects
- Counting 1-5
- Understands common dangers, such as hot surface, stairs, etc
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Interest in simple board games, competitive games, cooperative games; understands rules of fair play
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Compromises to facilitate group play
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Plays with a single object or theme for 15+ minutes
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Demonstrates understanding of others’ feelings
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Costumes and props are more important for pretend play; emphasis is on reality than imaginary
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Begins interest in making recognizable products; attends to detail when constructing and making it useful
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Compromises to facilitate group play
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Twister game
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Board games that encourage turn taking, group play, and playing fair
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Child size corn hole or ring toss
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Hopscotch
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Bike
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Two wheeled scooters
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Zoomball
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Dot-to-dot and word search books
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Simon Says
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Roller Skates
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Balls of all sizes
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Puzzles
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Crafts – color, cut, paste, paint
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Legos
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Action Figures
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Play Kitchen
- Dolls / Doll House
Interesting Fact: Each child is an individual and may meet developmental milestones earlier or later than their peers and/or siblings.
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Poor coordination of two sides of the body (jumping jacks)
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Avoids crossing the midline of their body
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Delayed hand dominance or mature grasping pattern for handwriting
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Difficulty identifying uppercase letters
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Left-Right confusion
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Difficulty manipulating small objects such as coins into a piggy bank
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Inability to assume and hold “dead bug” or “superman” position
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Difficulty answering questions with more detail
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Unintelligible when speaking
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Uninterested in playing with others
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Extreme fears that interfere with daily activities
Pre-School Readiness
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Separates from parents without difficulty
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Maintains attention to classroom activities
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Makes eye contact with adults
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Independently chooses activities of interest
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Behavior is easily redirected
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Uses words to express wants and needs versus using actions/aggressive behavior
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Able to use words to tell stories, share ideas and express feelings
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Plays by him or herself
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Plays next to a peer
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Cooperates when playing in a group
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Takes turns
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Shows concern for friends
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Helps friends when needed
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Adapt easily to change of routine
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Recognizes first name when written
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Able to print first name
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Able to print last name
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Recite the ABC’s
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Able to name capital letters
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Able to name lowercase letters
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Knows letter sounds
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Identifies rhyming words (i.e., cat / hat)
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Able to count to 10
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Identifies numbers 1-10
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Identifies shapes
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Knows their colors
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Understand concepts of over, under, above, below and through
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Identifies all the parts of the body
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Identifies all 5 senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing)
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Navigate a set of stairs with alternating pattern
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Catching a large ball with hands only from 5 feet away
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Jumps forward 26 inches
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Throws a ball overhand to hit target 5 feet away
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Hops 3-5x on each foot
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Traces around the edges of basic shapes
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Copies a horizontal line and circle
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Makes continuous cuts with child-safe scissors
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Dresses self with help with fasteners
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Can put on/ take off coat
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Puts shoes on correct feet
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Fastens large buttons
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Brushes own teeth
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Draws a person with 3 different body parts
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Cuts a piece of paper in half with scissors
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Uses restroom independently
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Follows simple 3-step related commands (i.e.., get your coat off the hook, put it on and get in line)
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Begins to use adjectives for color and size
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Responds to “wh- “questions (who, what, where, when, why)
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Asks many questions
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Uses most speech sounds correctly
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Will put toys away when asked
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Will follow directions to get own items like pencil, book, coat