Ready, Set, Kindergarten!
The skills underneath
every workbook day.
Use this parent-friendly glossary whenever a skill appears in the 30-day companion. Each definition explains the smaller ability beneath a visible classroom, play, or self-care task.
Parent-friendly skill guide
What do these skills mean?
Occupational Therapy looks beyond whether a child can produce an outcome. It considers the attention, understanding, planning, body organization, coordination, and self-awareness that help a skill show up when and where it is needed.
Balance and postural control
Keeping the body steady and supported while sitting, standing, moving, or using the hands.
What this can look like: Standing on one foot or keeping the body stable while cutting.Bilateral coordination
Using both sides of the body together, often with each hand doing a different job.
What this can look like: One hand holds paper while the other cuts, or one hand steadies a container while the other opens it.Body awareness
Knowing where the body is and how its parts are moving without needing to watch every movement.
What this can look like: Touching the opposite knee or positioning the body beside a chair.Categorization
Grouping things according to a shared feature, purpose, or rule.
What this can look like: Sorting pictures into school things and food.Checking and correcting
Recognizing that something does not match yet and deciding what to add, remove, or change.
What this can look like: Counting again and adding a missing dot.Collaboration
Combining ideas, materials, and actions with another person toward a shared outcome.
What this can look like: Finding a way for a tower and bridge idea to become one block project.Emotional regulation
Noticing feelings and using support or a safe next action to remain part of the situation.
What this can look like: Feeling disappointed about losing and choosing to take a moment or play again.Finding information
Knowing that an answer can be found in a picture, model, reference, routine, environment, or another person.
What this can look like: Looking at the alphabet tool instead of needing to remember every letter.Fine motor coordination
Using the small muscles of the hands and fingers together with enough control for a task.
What this can look like: Picking up a crayon, turning a page, managing glue, or moving small objects.Flexible thinking
Changing an idea, strategy, or expectation when new information appears.
What this can look like: Using a different material or following a changed classroom plan.Following directions
Taking in spoken or visual information, understanding it, and turning it into action.
What this can look like: Getting a backpack and putting one crayon inside.Generalization
Using a skill that was practiced in one activity during a different, real-life situation.
What this can look like: Using a picture plan from the workbook to participate in a morning or cleanup routine.Graphomotor skills
The hand control used to make purposeful marks, draw, trace, and write.
What this can look like: Starting a line in the right place and changing direction to form a letter.Impulse control and stopping
Pausing an action, waiting, or stopping at the amount or cue that the situation requires.
What this can look like: Stopping after three objects instead of continuing to count and collect.Interoception
Noticing signals from inside the body and connecting them with a possible need.
What this can look like: Recognizing thirst, hunger, bathroom needs, or a need to move.Letter recognition
Recognizing and distinguishing letters across different orders, sizes, and forms.
What this can look like: Finding G in a mixed field or matching an uppercase letter to its lowercase partner.Motor planning
Thinking of, organizing, and carrying out a movement that may not be automatic yet.
What this can look like: Copying a new body position or figuring out how to open an unfamiliar container.Name recognition
Recognizing a written name as meaningful information connected to identity and belongings.
What this can look like: Finding a labeled backpack by noticing the first letter or the whole name.Number sense
Understanding that numerals represent amounts and that quantities can be compared or changed.
What this can look like: Knowing that 5 means a group of five, not only naming the numeral.One-to-one correspondence
Matching one count, object, or action to one item or person at a time.
What this can look like: Giving one crayon to each student or touching each dot once while counting.Organization and material management
Keeping track of belongings, supplies, spaces, and what is needed for a task.
What this can look like: Finding materials, checking that nothing is missing, and putting everything away.Pattern recognition
Noticing what repeats and using that rule to anticipate what comes next.
What this can look like: Continuing a clap-stomp-clap-stomp sequence.Persistence
Staying with a manageable challenge, trying again, or returning after receiving useful support.
What this can look like: Trying the star again after moving the model closer.Phonological awareness
Hearing and working with the sound parts of spoken language before reading print.
What this can look like: Noticing rhymes, beginning sounds, or the parts heard in banana.Planning
Thinking ahead about the goal, the materials, and the steps needed to complete something.
What this can look like: Gathering paper, crayons, glue, and a shape before beginning a project.Problem-solving
Noticing what is getting in the way and choosing something reasonable to try.
What this can look like: Using another crayon, looking for the missing pencil, or asking for help with a lid.Receptive language
Understanding words, questions, directions, and concepts that another person communicates.
What this can look like: Knowing what in, on, beside, before, or after means.Scissor skills
Coordinating opening, closing, positioning, and moving scissors while the helping hand manages the paper.
What this can look like: Making a snip and later cutting across a line.Self-advocacy and asking for help
Recognizing when support or more information is needed and communicating that need.
What this can look like: Saying, “Can you say that again?” or “Show me again.”Self-monitoring
Noticing what you are doing and comparing it with the direction, model, or goal.
What this can look like: Checking a completed project against the picture plan.Sequencing
Understanding and carrying out steps in a useful order.
What this can look like: Open, use, close, and put away—or identifying what happens first, next, and last.Spatial concepts
Understanding where objects and bodies are in relation to one another.
What this can look like: Placing something above, below, on, in, or beside another object.Sustained attention
Staying connected to an activity long enough to take in information and keep participating.
What this can look like: Listening to the full direction before beginning or returning to the page after looking away.Task initiation
Beginning a task after the direction, cue, or plan is available.
What this can look like: Looking at the first picture in a plan and getting started without repeated prompting.Transitions
Shifting attention, body, and actions from one activity or part of a routine to the next.
What this can look like: Cleaning up drawing materials and moving to group time.Turn-taking and waiting
Participating in a shared activity while allowing another person time and access.
What this can look like: Passing one crayon back and forth while making a picture together.Visual attention and scanning
Looking across a page or space in an organized way so important information is not missed.
What this can look like: Searching a mixed group of letters or checking every choice before answering.Visual discrimination
Noticing how things are alike or different, including small differences in shapes, pictures, letters, and numbers.
What this can look like: Finding an exact match or telling b from d.Visual-motor integration
Using information from the eyes to guide what the hands and body do.
What this can look like: Following a path, copying a shape, or placing a mark in the requested location.Working memory
Holding information in mind briefly while using it.
What this can look like: Remembering two directions long enough to complete both of them.