Fine and gross motor skills help prepare children’s bodies for the physical demands of a school day. For example, when handwriting, children need well-developed core strength to sit upright for long periods, tracking ability with their eyes to space and locate words on the page, shoulder strength and finger dexterity to manipulate a pencil, and the ability to cross the midline to coordinate controlled movement. Children also need well-developed physical skills for independent self-care,, managing lunch box items, and engaging in physical activity and sports. In our kindergarten program, children have repeated opportunity to develop and refine fine and gross motor movement patterns through climbing, balancing, dancing, running, skipping, ball games, loose parts play, block building, Lego, puzzles, and art-making.

As they transition to school, children move toward self-regulation skills which are critical to being productive learners and maintaining friendships. Self-regulation is dependent on the quality of co-regulation a child experiences in the first five years. In our kindergarten program, Educators model appropriate emotional responses and support children to develop a language to describe their feelings and responses to familiar and new situations. Co-regulation can only occur when children feel secure in their relationships with educators and experience predictable, responsive and supportive environments.

Speaking and listening lead the way for reading and writing. In preparation for school, children need to use language to express themselves, ask questions and communicate with others. They also need to comprehend what is being said to them to take in curriculum content, follow instructions, and understand what others are communicating. Strong oral language and listening skills provide the basis for learning to read and write at school. In our kindergarten program, we focus on children’s oral language development – their ability to speak, listen, comprehend and hear the sounds of language. Children have repeated opportunity to engage in shared book reading, rhyming, singing, storytelling, dramatic play, and rich conversations with peers and adults.