What abilities do pre-K – Kindergarten students need to do well on tests and when starting school?

In Testing For Kindergarten, I talk about the 7-abilities children need to do well at testing and in school.  They are:  language/listening, knowledge/comprehension, memory, math, thinking, visual-spatial, and fine-motor skills.  Any good nursery school curriculum already incorporates all of these abilities into the material they teach.  The teacher may not be thinking about every activity in terms of the 7-abilities, but you can be sure she is touching upon them while she instructs.

To me, it is most important that parents understand the 7-abilities so that you can be sure to feed and nourish each ability every single day when your child is home.  You are already doing it naturally by reading to and playing with your child.  But by understanding each ability and how to strengthen it through your daily interactions, you are doing your child a world of good.  Plus, if your child starts to have trouble at school, you will know that the problem lies somewhere within these 7-abilities and that is a good place to start your investigation.  The only exception might be if your child has an attention problem, but attention problems are often accompanied by problems with one or more of the 7-abilities.