SCHOOL READINESS is not just awareness of numbers or letters. It is health, good motor skills and language development. It is curiosity, the capacity to share with other children and the ability to follow through on a goal. Children with these skills will easily learn to read and write.

When a child enters kindergarten, and he or she is ill-prepared for formal learning, he or she is on a downward trajectory that is demoralizing and unnecessary. School readiness occurs well before the first day of formal schooling. The first four years create the capacity for each young child to thrive in learning.

Early childhood is a critical time for brain development: At birth, a child’s brain is about 25 percent of the weight of an adult brain; by age 3, it has reached 90 percent of its full size.

Behavioral indicated related to each area of development can be assessed in order to obtain a picture of a child’s development at kindergarten entrance.

For each behavioral indicator, teachers use guidelines to rate a child’s performance as:

Not yet - Indicating a child cannot perform the indicator, i.e., that the performance indicator represents a skill, an area of knowledge or a specific set of behaviors or accomplishments that the child has not acquired.

In process - Implying that the skills, knowledge, behaviors or accomplishments represented by the indicator are intermittent or emergent and are not demonstrated reliably or consistently.

Proficient - Meaning that the child can reliably demonstrate the skills, knowledge, behaviors or accomplishments represented by this performance indicator.

Ten Tips for Kindergarten Readiness

1. Read to your child every day.

2. Take your child to special age appropriate events in the community like Story Time at the public library or to Quarry Hill or Oxbow Park to see the animals. To find out more about local events visit ROCHESTERfamilies.com. Each month the website's Calendar of Events lists more than 100 family- and kid-friendly events, including story times, nature classes, arts & crafts, music, and more.

3. Ask you child questions about his or her world and what they did that day.

4. Encourage early writing and scribbling, it develops early fine motor skills needed for later writing skills.

5. Enroll you child in preschool, if you think you can not afford preschool, call Child Care Resources and Referral at 287-2020 and see what options may be available.

6. Make sure your child Checks In at age three with the school district and receives an age appropriate screening. It is not a test to get into kindergarten, but it will catch any problems such as hearing or vision problems that could inhibit your child’s development. You can call 328-4004 to set an appointment.

7. Take a parenting class offered by PAIIR. The classes can help you understand your child better and make you a more effective parent.

8. Take your child to a park or to PipSqueaks in the winter. Large motor skills and exercise are important.

9. Talk to your child about everyday activities like grocery shopping or how to fix something. The more words your child hears the more connections in the brain are being formed.

10. Know that it is never too early to start thinking about making sure you child is ready for school.