Motor skills, or the ability to control small muscle movement, are evaluated to determine the developmental progress of students in the kindergarten classroom. Physical skills are evaluated to determine dexterity as well as muscle coordination. Hopping, jumping, skipping and balancing may be used to evaluate large muscle control. Small muscle control is measured by evaluating the student's ability to print his name, form letters, use scissors, color, use glue or use correct spacing when writing.
Language development is measured through an evaluation of a student's ability to communicate effectively. Social development is generally tied to communication and is commonly evaluated in conjunction with associated activities. For example, expression of ideas may be evaluated through pictures, writing or acting, and effective communication of thoughts may be measured as part of requests for drinks, bathroom breaks or socially acceptable means of expressing displeasure. Kindergartens that focus on establishing letter recognition, number recognition, reading and writing may evaluate the student's ability to form uppercase and lowercase letters, recognize words and sentences, correctly place words on a page -- such as left to right -- or follow along to words read from a book.
Kindergartners are evaluated on their ability to recognize and use calendars, count to 100, use objects to demonstrate basic math concepts -- such as adding and subtraction -- and copy basic patterns. Participation is evaluated not only on group work, but also on individual math competency.
Kindergarten students are expected to know their full names, the names of their parents, their address, birthday and telephone number. At the end of kindergarten instruction, the student is expected to be able to recognize his own name and identify basic colors. Other basic skills include appropriate social interactions, working neatly, basic organization of materials according to instructions, following directions and knowing their left from their right.