By the end of kindergarten, kids should be able to:

• Cut along a line with scissors.

• Understand time concepts like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

• Pay attention for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Follow three-step directions, such as go to the shelf, choose a book, then sit quietly on the rug.

• Answer questions about a story (who, what, where).

• Hold a crayon or pencil for writing.

• Share materials, such as crayons and blocks.

• Know the eight basic colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, white, and pink.

• Recognize and write the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase forms.

• Know all letter sounds.

• Know the days of the week/months.

• Know the relationship between letters and the sounds they make.

• Recognize sight words and show interest in reading or trying to read simple sentences.

• Spell their first and last name.

• Write consonant-vowel-consonant words such as bat and fan.

• Retell the main points of a story that has been read aloud.

• Express an opinion by drawing, writing, or speaking.

• Identify and be able to write numbers from 0 to 20.

• Count by ones and tens to 100.

• Do addition problems with sums up to 10.

• Do subtraction problems with numbers 0 to 10.

• Identify basic shapes, such as square, triangle, rectangle, and circle.

• Know their address and phone number.

• Know their birthday.

• Use scissors correctly.