I know it is only March but another school year will be coming before you know it. There is a lot to do to help make your little one ready for school.

As a parent, you are the one who knows your child best and knows her readiness for kindergarten. If you are not sure she is ready, talk to her preschool teacher, doctor or kindergarten teacher. Below is a list of ways to help her be ready for kindergarten. Can she do the tasks below?

• work independently

• write her name and recognize it by sight

• name basic shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle)

• dress herself

• name and recognize many letters in the alphabet

• count to 10 and knows numbers 0-10

• cut with scissors

• catch a medium-size ball

• hop on one foot

• name basic colors (red, blue, green, yellow)

• hold pencil correctly and with control

• know her full name

• listen to stories with interest (10 minutes or more)

• be generally cooperative and able to interact positively in a group (sharing, taking turns and following directions)

These are the skills that will help her succeed in kindergarten. The ones you don’t think she has mastered are ones you can work on from now until next September. Remember repetition is the key to learning. While not every child who enters school will know how to do all of these things, the more she can do, the better start she will have. When she feels successful, she will try harder than ever.

Does she have the immuniz-ations she needs to enter kindergarten? If you are unsure if she is up-to-date on immunizations, check with your elementary school or primary care provider. You also may contact the Clallam County Health District at 417-2303 for immunizations. Here is a chart you can look at to see when immunizations are recommended from birth through age 6.

It is an exciting time for your child to begin kindergarten. If your child was in a Head Start or a preschool program, look at what the teacher said they were able to do. You can do fun activities to see if she still has those skills. You have time to refresh her brain with fun ways for rhyming, letter names and letter sounds. If she still remembers all of those skills, then look to see what other skills she needs.

Your child can be excited about “showing off” her skills to the kindergarten teacher. The teacher will be so amazed to see what she already knows!

If she already has been to preschool and knows many skills, then she will feel great about being able to share that knowledge with the teacher and her new friends.

Sometimes starting school can be a difficult transition for your child. She is leaving what is familiar and the special times she has had with you as a parent to enter a whole new environment and routine. You can help ease this transition by talking about her new school so she feels a sense of ownership as it is “her” school before she begins.

Drive by the school she will attend and talk about it as “her school.” Talk about her school library and her playground. With kindergarten right around the corner, take her for a walk around the school some weekend or during the summer so she can be familiar with “her school.”

Even being familiar with the playground helps children become more comfortable. When you talk about school, say positive things. Talk about what you liked at school and the good things that happened to you. Ask her what she thinks school will be like.

All of this will help your child be excited and ready for kindergarten to begin.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which publishes newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents. Reach Martin at pmf@olypen.com or at 681-2250.