Developmental Characteristics of Kindergartners

Every child’s development is unique. Although children develop through a generally predictable sequence of milestones, we cannot say exactly when a child will reach each and every stage. Every child has his or her own timetable. The characteristics below are offered only as a reference to give you a better understanding of your child. Feel free to contact your pediatrician and/or your child’s school if you have any questions.

The Five-Year-Old

Physical Development

Requires 10-11 hours of sleep each night
Dresses self-independently
Throws and catches balls
Rides a tricycle skillfully; may show interest in riding a bicycle with training wheels
Uses a fork and knife well
Left or right hand dominance is established
Walks down stairs, alternating feet without using a handrail
Interested in performing tricks like standing on head, performing dance steps
Capable of learning complex body coordination skills like swimming, ice or roller skating
Runs, skips, hops and gallops
Learning to tie shoelaces
Copies shapes and cuts with scissors

Social and Emotional Development

Can take turns and share
Understands and respects rules
Tries new things and takes risks
Likes to make own decisions
Begins understanding of right and wrong
Carries on conversation with other children/adults
Still confuses fantasy with reality sometimes
Often fears loud noises, the dark, animals, and some people
Expresses anger and jealously physically
Likes to test muscular strength and motor skills, but is not emotionally ready for competition
Sometimes can be very bossy
Notices when another child is angry or sad-more sensitive to feelings of others

Intellectual Development

Likes to reason; uses words like “because”
Enjoys riddles and jokes
Understands that stories have a beginning, middle, and end
Able to remember stories and repeat them
Understands “more,” “less,” and “same”
Recognizes categories (“These are all animals; these are all toys.”)
Interested in cause and effect
Can understand time concepts like yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Learning address, phone number and birthday
Memorizes and repeats rhymes and stories
Draws pictures that represent objects
Sorts and compares objects
Identifies and writes letters and numbers
Counts and identifies sets to ten
Developing good attention span
Likes to feel grown up; boasts about self to younger, less capable children
Sometimes needs to get away and be alone
Has a good sense of humor, and enjoys sharing jokes and laughter with adults

The Six-Year-Old

Physical Development

Perpetual motion; squirming while sitting, gesturing while talking, runs,tumbles, throws
Gaining control of fine motor activities
Enjoy testing muscle strength and skills. Love to skip, run, tumble, throw,catch, and dance to music.
Developing a good sense of balance. Most can stand on one foot and walk on a balance beam.
Can catch balls, tie shoelaces, manage buttons and zippers
Sloppy; in a hurry
Noisy in a classroom
Developing the ability to copy designs and shapes
Learning to distinguish left from right
Engages in oral activities (teething)--chews pencils, fingernails, hair

Social and Emotional Development

Beginning to think about how they look in the eyes of others and are self-conscious
Moody; friendly and enthusiastic at times and rebellious and irritable at other times
Wants to make friends, but can be bossy and not understand why friendship is rebuffed
Can be very competitive
Fascinated by rules
Sometimes a “poor sport” or dishonest; may invent rules
Sensitive to criticism; thrive on encouragement
Strong desire to perform well, do things right
Generally enjoy caring for and playing with younger children
Tend to prefer playmates of the same sex
Can be helpful with small chores
Have a strong need for love and attention from parents and teachers
Determine what is “good” and “bad” based on parents’ and teachers’ opinions.
Beginning to develop a moral sense (such as understanding “honesty”).

Intellectual Development

Views things as right or wrong, wonderful or terrible, with very little middle ground
May reverse printed letters (b/d)
Increased problem-solving ability
Attention span still short, but long enough to enjoy more involved stories
Love to ask questions
Learn best through discovery and active involvement with people and materials
Interested in real life tasks and activities; want to make “real” jewelry, take“real” photographs, and create “real” collections
Extremely rapid expansion of speaking and listening vocabulary
Can begin to understand time and days of the week
Beginning to understand past when tied closely to the present
Sometimes carry on “collective monologues,” two children playing together and talking, but carrying on separate monologues
Use language and words to represent things not visible

Reference: "GCISD - Curriculum Guides and Developmental Characteristics." 2002. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. 7 Dec. 2007 .