What should a 5 year old know before kindergarten? A calm checklist
Ranges, not deadlines. What most children can do by five according to the CDC, what matters for kindergarten, and why reading on their own is not on the list.
In this guide
- How to read any milestone list
- What most children do by 5 years, according to the CDC
- What should a 5 year old know academically?
- A calm kindergarten readiness checklist
- Life skills that help in a classroom
- What should a 4 year old know?
- Simple ways to help at home
- About readiness tests and holding back
- When to talk to your pediatrician
- Questions parents ask
- Sources
The short answer
By age 5, most children can take turns in games, tell a simple story, answer questions about a book, count to 10, name some letters, write some letters in their name and hop on one foot, according to the CDC. These are things at least 75% of children can do, so they are signposts, not deadlines. Reading on their own is not on the list.
Kindergarten registration, a cousin who is already reading, a worksheet from preschool: it does not take much to start wondering whether your child is on track. So, what should a 5 year old know? Less than the internet suggests, and more of it is about getting along, talking and playing than about academics. Here is what the official milestones actually say, in plain language.
How to read any milestone list
The CDC’s milestone checklists, developed with the American Academy of Pediatrics and updated in 2022, list things that most children, 75% or more, can do by a certain age. That threshold was chosen on purpose, to help spot children who could use extra support early. It also means a perfectly healthy child may not do every item yet. Children walk, talk and settle into school at different ages, and the AAP describes the idea that some children are “ready” at 4 or 5 and others are not as controversial.
What most children do by 5 years, according to the CDC
Social and emotional
- Follows rules or takes turns when playing games with other children
- Sings, dances or acts for you
- Does simple chores at home, like matching socks or clearing the table after eating
Language and communication
- Tells a story they heard or made up with at least two events, like a cat stuck in a tree and a firefighter who saves it
- Answers simple questions about a book or story after you read or tell it
- Keeps a conversation going with more than three back-and-forth exchanges
- Uses or recognizes simple rhymes, like bat and cat
Thinking and learning
- Counts to 10
- Names some numbers between 1 and 5 when you point to them
- Uses words about time, like yesterday, tomorrow, morning or night
- Pays attention for 5 to 10 minutes during activities like story time or arts and crafts
- Writes some letters in their name
- Names some letters when you point to them
Movement
- Buttons some buttons
- Hops on one foot
What should a 5 year old know academically?
Look again at the thinking and learning list. It asks for some letters, some numbers and counting to 10. It does not ask a five-year-old to read, add, write sentences or spell. The AAP describes the early academic skills that help school go smoothly as being able to talk, listen and understand ideas like sound-letter connections, numbers, shapes and how objects relate to each other. Those grow best through conversation, play and books, not drills.
If your child is already reading, wonderful. If they are not, they are in very good company. Many children learn to read in kindergarten or first grade.
A calm kindergarten readiness checklist
The AAP suggests looking at your child’s development as a whole when you think about starting school. Its questions, lightly grouped:
- Talking and listening: Can your child tell you what they need and follow simple directions?
- Getting along: Can they take turns, cooperate and make a friend? Can they get along with other children and adults?
- Feelings: Are they starting to manage impulses and calm down with help?
- Self-care: Are they toilet trained? Can they manage some buttons on their own?
- Movement: Can they run, play and hold a crayon or pencil?
Two everyday extras from the CDC’s tips for this age: teach your child their own first and last name and yours, and how to find a “helper,” like a store clerk with a badge, if they get lost.
Life skills that help in a classroom
Some of the most useful kindergarten skills have nothing to do with letters: waiting for a turn, accepting a “not now,” sharing a box of crayons. They are learned at home in small moments, like taking turns in a board game or waiting while you finish a sentence.
Everyday money moments help here too, and they are entirely optional at this age. Handing a coin to a cashier, or saving for a small treat over a few days, practices waiting and choosing. Our guide on how to teach kids about money explains what young children can understand at each age, and delayed gratification for kids covers the waiting part.
What should a 4 year old know?
If your child is four, the CDC’s milestones by 4 years include saying sentences with four or more words, talking about at least one thing that happened during their day, naming a few colors, telling what comes next in a well-known story, pretend play, comforting a friend who is hurt or sad, drawing a person with three or more body parts, catching a large ball most of the time and unbuttoning some buttons. Many of the five-year-old skills grow straight out of these.
Simple ways to help at home
The CDC’s tips for parents of five-year-olds are refreshingly ordinary:
- Read together and ask questions, like “What is happening in the picture?” and “What do you think will happen next?” (This is the heart of dialogic reading.)
- Play rhyming games: “What rhymes with cat?”
- Play simple board and card games that have rules and turns.
- Use time words like today, tomorrow and yesterday, and talk about the days of the week.
- Let them do things for themselves, like pouring water or buttoning a shirt, even when it is not perfect.
- Talk about feelings, theirs, yours and the characters’ in the books you read.
For books that make this easy, see the best books for 5 year olds and the best books for kids starting kindergarten.
About readiness tests and holding back
Some schools run their own kindergarten screenings. The AAP’s view is that these should be used to guide teaching and support, not as a gate to keep children out, and it notes that some children who do poorly on readiness tests do just fine in school. On delaying kindergarten, often called redshirting, the AAP says that labeling children “not ready” and delaying school can keep them from the best learning environment. If you are weighing it, talk it through with your pediatrician and your child’s preschool teacher.
When to talk to your pediatrician
You know your child best. The CDC suggests acting early and talking with your child’s doctor if your child is not meeting one or more milestones, has lost skills they once had, or if you have any other concerns, and asking about developmental screening. Your pediatrician can also point you to your state’s early intervention program if support would help. Asking is never an overreaction, and most of the time it simply brings peace of mind.
Questions parents ask
Should a 5 year old be able to read?
No. Reading on their own is not one of the CDC’s milestones for 5-year-olds. By five, most children can name some letters, write some letters in their name and answer questions about a story you read. Many children learn to read in kindergarten or first grade.
What should a 5 year old know academically?
According to the CDC, most five-year-olds can count to 10, name some numbers between 1 and 5, name some letters, write some letters in their name and use time words like yesterday and tomorrow. The AAP adds talking, listening and early ideas about sounds, numbers and shapes.
Should a 5 year old be able to write their name?
Most can write some of the letters in their name by age 5, according to the CDC. Writing the whole name neatly is not expected yet. Letting your child draw, scribble and copy letters in play is plenty of practice.
What if my child doesn’t meet every milestone?
Milestones are things at least 75% of children can do by a certain age, so missing one is not a diagnosis. If your child is not meeting one or more milestones, has lost skills, or you have concerns, talk with your pediatrician and ask about developmental screening.
What should a 4 year old know?
By age 4, the CDC says most children say sentences of four or more words, talk about something from their day, name a few colors, tell what comes next in a familiar story, pretend play and draw a person with three or more body parts.
Sources
- Milestones by 5 Years Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn the Signs. Act Early.
- Milestones by 4 Years Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn the Signs. Act Early.
- Is Your Preschooler Ready for Kindergarten? American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org
- Evidence-Informed Milestones for Developmental Surveillance Tools, Zubler and colleagues, Pediatrics, 2022 American Academy of Pediatrics
- Concerned About Your Child's Development? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Links checked on October 12, 2026. Guidance changes; the publishers above keep the current version.
Written by the WonderLab Journal editorial desk and checked against the sources above. Found something out of date? Tell us through the corrections page.
