Growth and Development: Kindergarten

Growth and Development:
A Typical 5 Year Old

Physical and emotional milestones of a typical 5 year old
A typical 5 year old:

	Wants to please adults who he/she feels are important him
	Learns best through play and his/her own actions
	Is active but can control his/her physical behavior
	Can count and sort things like blocks, pots and pans, and pieces of paper. Is beginning to understand the concepts of size, shape, length, and width
	Enjoys the world of make-believe which gives a 5 year old a chance to explore and understand what he/she sees and hear in the surrounding environment.
	Likes to copy or mimic

Accomplishments in reading:
What you will see in a typical 5 year old in terms of reading skills development

       (Please note that this list includes a wide range of behaviors which clearly indicates that literacy
       acquisition exists along a continuum. All children may not achieve the same accomplishments
       at the same time. This is NORMAL, especially among 5 and 6 year olds!!)

Knows the parts of a book and their functions (the front, the back, title page, spine)

Begins to track print (begin at the top of the page and work toward the bottom, starting on the left-hand side and moving to the right) when listening to a familiar text being read or when re-reading own writing.

"Reads" familiar texts emergently (i.e., not necessarily verbatim from the print alone, but often from memory)

Recognizes and can name all uppercase and lowercase letters (this may not be the case for second language learners who, in addition to learning letters and sounds, have to learn a new language)

Is beginning to understand that the sequence of letters in a written word represents the sequence of sound (phonemes) in a spoken word (alphabetic principle)

Learns many, though not all, one-to-one letter-sound correspondences.

Recognizes some words by sight, including a few very common ones (a, the, I, my, you, is, are)

Notices when simple sentences fail to make sense.

Connects information and events in texts to life and life to text experiences.

Listens attentively to books teacher reads to class, correctly answers questions about stories read aloud and makes predictions based on illustrations or portions of stories

Demonstrates understanding that spoken words consist of a sequences of sounds (known as phonemes) Can isolate the beginning and ending sounds of words

Given a spoken word, can produce another word that rhymes with it

Writes own name (first and last) and the first names of some friends or classmates.

Can write most letters and some words when they are dictated

Writes using inventive spelling to express own meaning. Inventive spelling is "an attempt by beginning writers to spell a word when the standard spelling is unknown"; it involves using "whatever knowledge of sounds or visual patterns the writer has"

Can read simple and repetitious stories

Writes many uppercase and lowercase letters, although formation is often more drawing than actual writing

Is beginning to match word by word

Is beginning to understand that what is spoken can also be written down

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	Knows the parts of a book and their functions (the front, the back, title page, spine)
	Begins to track print (begin at the top of the page and work toward the bottom, starting on the left-hand side and moving to the right) when listening to a familiar text being read or when re-reading own writing.
	"Reads" familiar texts emergently (i.e., not necessarily verbatim from the print alone, but often from memory)
	Recognizes and can name all uppercase and lowercase letters (this may not be the case for second language learners who, in addition to learning letters and sounds, have to learn a new language)
	Is beginning to understand that the sequence of letters in a written word represents the sequence of sound (phonemes) in a spoken word (alphabetic principle)
	Learns many, though not all, one-to-one letter-sound correspondences.
	Recognizes some words by sight, including a few very common ones (a, the, I, my, you, is, are)
	Notices when simple sentences fail to make sense.
	Connects information and events in texts to life and life to text experiences.
	Listens attentively to books teacher reads to class, correctly answers questions about stories read aloud and makes predictions based on illustrations or portions of stories
	Demonstrates understanding that spoken words consist of a sequences of sounds (known as phonemes) Can isolate the beginning and ending sounds of words
	Given a spoken word, can produce another word that rhymes with it
	Writes own name (first and last) and the first names of some friends or classmates.
	Can write most letters and some words when they are dictated
	Writes using inventive spelling to express own meaning. Inventive spelling is "an attempt by beginning writers to spell a word when the standard spelling is unknown"; it involves using "whatever knowledge of sounds or visual patterns the writer has"
	Can read simple and repetitious stories
	Writes many uppercase and lowercase letters, although formation is often more drawing than actual writing
	Is beginning to match word by word
	Is beginning to understand that what is spoken can also be written down