Transition to Kindergarten Parent Guides: What Will My Child Learn in Kindergarten? Reading Success = Student Success

When a child enters a kindergarten class for the first time, he or she continues the learning that began at birth. Just like his/her first years of life, in school there are skills like reading he/she will need to develop before other skills can follow.

The National Reading Panel focuses on five skills that are important to early reading success. These include:

• Phonemic awareness: The ability to hear and recognize sounds in spoken words.
• Phonics: The connection between the letters of written words and the sound of spoken words.
• Fluency: The ability to read correctly, quickly and gather meaning (with expression).
• Vocabulary: The words students must know to communicate effectively.
• Comprehension: The ability to understand and gain meaning from what has been read.

As your child’s first teacher, you can help ensure your child’s success. You can watch his/her progress. You can also support learning at home.

You will find lots of grade level ideas for the five reading skills by clicking “Family FUNdamentals Activities” at the MDE website, www.michigan.gov/mde, under the Quick Links section.

What should my child learn in each grade?

Parents often ask, “What should my child learn in school? What should he/she know and be able to do by the end of each grade?”

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has developed guides for parents of kindergarten through eighth grade students. The guides outline what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade in math and English.

The guides are called “A Parent’s Guide to Grade Level Content Expectations.” These guides are used by teachers to decide what is taught in class. They also are used by MDE to develop grade level tests. These tests are given to students in grades 3-8 as part of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP).

Parents can use the guides to:

• Learn what their child should know and be able to do at the end of each school year.
• Ask how this information will be taught in school.
• Talk about their child’s progress.
• Look at ways they can support their child’s learning.
• Ask for things their child can do at home to support what is being taught in class.
• Understand the MEAP test results.