CRITICAL SKILLS FOR KINDERGARTEN - PERCEPTIONS FROM KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS

The purpose of this study was to examine the views of kindergarten tea chers regarding those skills children need to be successful in their c lasses. One-hundred seventy-six kindergarten teachers ranked 149 skill s within 5 domains: gross motor, fine motor, general knowledge and sch ool readiness, language, and social. A factor analysis was employed on these ratings revealing the following 5 factors: Academic Readiness, Language Competence, Social Competence, Motor Competence, and Self-Hel p Skills. These data suggest that items related to academic readiness were not seen as critical as skills related to independence.