Preparing Child for Kindergarten

I think that my child is ready for kindergarten. He meets the age guidelines for entrance. He did very well socially in preschool, is very independent and enjoys making new friends. However, he does not know all the letters of the alphabet, nor can he always count correctly to 20. Should I be concerned about his level of readiness? What can we do to make him more ready for school? - Ready or Not?
Answer: There is no precise measurement that allows parents or teachers to say that a child is ready for kindergarten. Like most parents, you are placing considerable emphasis on your child's academic skills. While they are obviously important, they are not among the top three qualities that kindergarten teachers chose in a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics that had teachers rate the importance of 15 qualities for kindergarten readiness.
According to public-school kindergarten teachers, the top three qualities for readiness are: A child needs to be physically healthy, rested and well-nourished; be able to communicate needs, wants and thoughts verbally; and be enthusiastic and curious in approaching new activities. More than half of the teachers also placed significant importance on the abilities to follow directions; not be disruptive in class; be sensitive to other children's needs; and take turns and share. Note that all these readiness qualities are behaviors. The teachers in this survey rated knowledge of the alphabet and the ability to count in the least important category.
No matter what this survey shows, different skills are required in different school districts. So you need to get a list of what your son needs to be able to do for the kindergarten that he will attend. Some kindergartens are very academic.
While the survey teachers feel readiness for kindergarten comes as children mature, they also believe that parents have a definite role in preparing their children for kindergarten. Ninety-nine percent of the teachers feel that parents could contribute to their children's readiness for school by reading to them every day and playing counting games at home regularly.