Kindergarten children are very active explorers of their environment. They are interested in everything and their desire to learn is limitless. Described by Piaget as “little scientists” and by many researchers as “sponges,” they are ready, willing and able to learn.

Here are the 20 cognitive milestones for kindergarteners:

1. They know a lot of words that describe space and/or distance to a place or location (for example, far away, close by, over, under).

2. They know most of the colours.

3. They sort objects according to a common characteristic (for example, grouping a fork, a knife and a spoon together because these are the things we eat with).

4. They can retell a simple story.

5. The kindergarten child can retell something that happened in the correct sequence (for example, what happened first, what happened last…).

6. Are able to understand that some events happen before others (for example, morning comes before noon).

7. They are starting to understand that some objects are “long”, others are “longer” and some are the “longest”.

8. They can tell time with a digital clock and count numbers up to 10.

9. Each kindergarten child can tell which day it is.

10. They can list the four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall.

11. They can list the seven days of the week.

12. They can sometimes list the twelve months of the year.

13. Each kindergarten child asks a lot of “how” and “why” questions.

14. They are starting to understand that some things are “alive” like animals, and others are not, like rocks.

15. They know certain holidays, like the New Year’s celebration.

16. They are beginning to use logic (for example, “I guess we can’t make it to grandma’s house today, because she is sick”).

17. They are starting to understand cause and effect (for example, “if I hadn’t left my bike on the front lawn, it wouldn’t have been stolen”).

18. They know their address or can tell you where they live.

19. Stick with a project until it’s complete — finishing a puzzle, for instance, or finding his way through a maze game.

20. They know a lot of “how much” or “how many” words that refer to amount or quantity (for example, a lot, a little, none, all…).