Kindergarten Readiness
Our STEM Hub recently hosted two PlayLabs focused on Kindergarten readiness. We had 28 educators join us for conversations about what skills signal that a child is ready to enter Kindergarten or transition to a new classroom.
One of our key activities asked groups to rank Kindergarten readiness milestones such as asking questions, taking turns, following directions, holding a pencil, writing their name, measuring, and counting to 20.
Across seven groups, here are the major trends we saw:
✨ Top priorities:
Social-emotional skills such as taking turns, asking and answering questions, waiting, and following directions
Ability to work in a group and communicate effectively
Independence/self-sufficiency (potty training, knowing parents’ names, managing basic needs)
✏️ Also important:
Holding a pencil correctly
Writing their name
🔢 Nice to have, but not essential on day one:
Early academic benchmarks like counting to 20, naming shapes, recognizing letters and sounds, or measuring with nonstandard tools
What does this tell us? Educators consistently emphasized that life skills, social-emotional development, and attitudes toward learning outweigh incoming students’ mastery of academic standards. While literacy and numeracy are valuable, they should not be prioritized over a child’s readiness to adapt, engage, collaborate, and persist through challenges in a classroom setting.
What do you think? Do you see these same trends reflected in your classrooms? How does this emphasis on social-emotional readiness impact students’ future success?
