The education standards for kindergarten students undergoing Language Arts education in the state of California include several sets of standards , including word analysis, fluency, and systematic vocabulary development (California Board of Education, 2009). Other basic skills learned in kindergarten include the categories of writing, language conventions, listening and speaking skills. The particular objectives of each of these sets of standards determines the level of language learning that a kindergarten student should receive in a California school.
Of these objectives, the ten most important to meet in order to provide as comprehensive education as possible to the children of California are as follows: (Taken from English-Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, 2009).
Concepts About Print: Follow words from left to right and from top to bottom on the printed page
Phonemic Awareness: Blend vowel-consonant sounds orally to make words or syllables
Decoding and Word Recognition: Understand that as letters of words change, so do the sounds
Vocabulary and Concept Development: Identify and sort common words in basic categories
Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text: Use pictures and context to make predictions about story content
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text: Identify characters, settings and important events
Organization and Focus: Use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people, or events.
Sentence Structure: Recognize and use complete, coherent sentences when speaking
Spelling: Spell independently by using pre-phonetic knowledge, sounds of the alphabet, and knowledge of letter names
Comprehension: Share information and ideas, speaking audibly in complete, coherent sentences.
These are the same ten objectives, rewritten so that children can understand them, as per the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act:
Learn which way you see words as you read.
Learn how to put sounds together to make words.
Learn that different letters make different sounds.
Learn the basic words to name the things around you.
Learn how to figure out what will happen next in a story.
Learn how to determine what is currently happening in a story.
Learn how to write words to tell people about your life.
Learn how to talk to others about your day.
Learn what letters make up the words you use.
Learn how to share what you are thinking with others.
References
English-Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. (2009). Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.
