The goal of Smart Start is to ensure every child in North Carolina enters school healthy and ready to succeed. This is a tremendous task that we cannot do alone. Below is information that can help you ensure your child will be successful.

During the months of March and June, North Carolina elementary schools conduct kindergarten registration. How can you tell if your child is ready to be successful as he/she takes this big step?

Kindergarten teachers in one North Carolina town ranked the skills and behaviors they believe five-year-olds need to begin school ready to succeed.

92% of teachers ranked healthy, rested and well-nourished children as the number one quality of successful kindergartners.

Children should be able to verbally communicate their needs, wants and thoughts. They need to demonstrate self help skills, such as dressing themselves.

More than half of the teachers rated the following as essential to school readiness:

• Vision, hearing and dental problems are detected and addressed.
• A child knows his name and has a basic awareness of self, family and community.
• A child can follow basic rules and routines.

Most early childhood experts agree that children continue to have wide variations in their development until about the age of seven. Children develop intellectual, social, emotional and physical skills at different times and at their own pace.

Because children develop skills at varying times, it is difficult to list specific tasks and behaviors to ensure school readiness.

So, while letter recognition, knowledge of animals and sounds, big and little, up and down, are important to know, it is more important that your child is socially, emotionally, and physically ready to tackle the pressures of school.

Is Your Child Ready for School? Ask Yourself These Questions:

Personal Needs
Without your help, can your child...
Use the toilet
Wash hands
Put on and take off coat
Tie shoes
Snap, button, zip and belt pants
Use silverware
Eat unassisted
Put away toys when asked

Social Skills
Can you child...
Follow two-step directions
Cooperate with other children
Play with other children without biting or hitting
Sit still for up to 10 minutes
Follow rules

Intellectual Skills
Does your child...
Hold a book upright and turn pages from front to back
Sit and listen to a story
Know first and last name
Know some songs and rhymes
Tell and retell familiar stories
Know own age

Health Needs
Has your child...
Had required immunizations
Received dental check ups
Eaten at regular times daily
Learned to run, jump, skip, climb, swing, use balls

Source: North Carolina Partnership for Children
(www.smartstart-nc.org/parents/school.htm)