Kindergarten Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions of what Characteristics a Child Should Have to be Ready for Kindergarten

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of both kindergarten teachers and parents of kindergartners as to what characteristics are important for a child to have in order to be ready for kindergarten. Twenty-one teachers and thirty-two parents anonymously recorded their perceptions on questionnaires distributed by Rochester area elementary schools. The questionnaire also asked where these characteristics were thought to have been initially developed, and what one single characteristic they believed to be the most important. In addition, the parent questionnaire asked if the child had attended day care or preschool and for how long. Responses were separated and analyzed for similarities and differences and are listed in Table 1. Recordings of the most important characteristic appear in Table 2. The number and variety of responses from parents and teachers supports that there are just as many definitions of the ready child as there are children.