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Social emotional skills are essential for a homeschool rising kindergartener. This checklist can help you guide your child. At this age, kids start gaining more independence, especially in how they interact with others. It’s important they’re ready for these moments. A social emotional skills checklist helps ensure your rising kindergartener can respond in healthy, age-appropriate ways.
Check out the overall checklist to see other specifics for your rising homeschool kindergartener here.
Identify own emotions and describe them
A big first step in social emotional skills is learning to name and describe feelings. This is key for every rising kindergartener. Books and hands-on activities are great tools. Two of my favorites are The Color Monster by Anna Llenas and A Little Spot of Emotion by Diane Alber.
You can also teach emotions in everyday life. When your child feels something, talk about it. Ask what they’re feeling. Help them find the right words if needed. Once your rising kindergartener can describe emotions, it’s easier to guide them through those feelings. That’s the heart of a strong social emotional skills checklist.
Practical Tip: You can also use a mirror for practicing. Have your child look into the mirror and show a happy face. Talk about being happy. Have your child show a sad face and talk about it.
Identify other people’s emotions based on a person’s body langauge, facial expressions, and words
Once your rising kindergartener knows their own feelings, the next step is spotting emotions in others. This builds social emotional skills and takes practice. Help your child notice facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.
For example, “Sissy looks mad. She’s crossing her arms and stomping. Let’s find out why.” Learning this helps kids grow in empathy. A strong social emotional skills checklist includes this kind of emotional awareness.
Ask your rising kindergartener, “How can we help someone who feels that way?” Some kids need more time to learn this—and that’s okay.
Practical Tip: Use books to practice this skill. Any book will work. Point out the character’s body language or facial expressions and have your child identify the emotion. You can also talk about how the others in the story can help that person work through their emotions.
Able to Adjust to Transitions or Changes in Schedule
Another key item on the social emotional skills checklist for a rising kindergartener is handling transitions. This skill can be tough and often depends on personality.
Your rising kindergartener should be able to shift from playtime to learning or adjust if plans change—like when an appointment alters your routine. In our home, this is the hardest skill. We have a steady flow to our homeschool day. A surprise playdate or schedule change can really throw us off.
Still, we keep practicing. Homeschool days aren’t always the same. One semester you may learn in the mornings, the next in the evenings. A flexible rising kindergartener will handle these shifts more easily, both now and later in life.
Practical Tip: You can use an adjustable picture schedule to help your child adjust to changes. Put a picture up for everything that has to be done during the day. They can either pull them down or mark them off as the day continues. Make it so that you can arrange them differently each day (with velcro or tape). This way you can adjust the days as needed.
Able to Tell Other People about Personal Preferences
Does your rising kindergartener prefer stairs over the rock wall at the playground? They should be able to say so kindly. For example, “I’ll meet you at the top of the slide, but I like the stairs.”
This is an important part of the social emotional skills checklist. It helps your child express preferences with respect. It also builds confidence in social situations—skills they’ll use with adults later too.
Practical Tip: This can be learned through showing and demonstrating to your child. You can walk your child through telling his friends he wants to swing for a bit. For example, “Right now Joe wants to swing, but maybe in a bit, he will want to slide. Do you want to swing with Joe?” The next time (or a few times later) your child will be able to use the same words and speak up for himself.
Respond to Peers and Non-Peers
This may seem simple for homeschoolers, but it’s a key skill on the social emotional skills checklist for a rising kindergartener. Your child should start responding to others directly—not just relying on parents or siblings.
If a waitress asks, “Do you like your food?” your rising kindergartener should answer, even if it’s just a “yes” or “no.” The answer doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be respectful. What that looks like can depend on your culture or region.
Practical Tip: Practice at home. You can play resturant and pretend to the waitress and have your child learn to order and answer questions on their own. If you need a kit to setup your own restaurant, click Restaurant Dramatic Play here!
Show Respect for Self, Other People, and Property (own and other people)
A rising kindergartener should know they are valued—and that others are too. This is a big part of the social emotional skills checklist.
Your child should play kindly at places like the park or library. They need to understand that other people’s things aren’t theirs to take. They should also care for their own items, like cleaning up toys or not taking a toy from someone else.
We practice this often. At playgrounds, we bring our own sand toys and share them. We treat all toys with respect—no throwing or breaking. It takes time and reminders, but by kindergarten, your child should manage this on their own.
Practical Tip: Start small. Tell your child they are responsible for cleaning up a small area or one or two toys at a time. Then work your way up to bigger areas or more toys. Eventually, they can be responsible for all their toys. Add pictures to buckets to help them clean up easier.
The social emotional skills checklist is so important for a rising homeschool kindergartener. These skills help them as they begin to connect more with the world around them.The more we model these behaviors, the more our rising kindergartener will learn. Remember, social emotional skills grow over time. Your child might not have them all yet—but they’re on their way.
- Refer to Practical Tips: Firstly, consider the practical advice provided above. These insights are from a former preschool teacher who transitioned into homeschooling.
- Practice Regularly: The adage “practice makes perfect” applies here. Model for your child how to describe and label emotions as well as appropriate reactions so that they can learn to do it themselves.
- Read Books: Any book works, but read books and point out emotions in the book. You can also use specific books or games if your child is struggling with a certain skill, please see the list below.
- Seek Professional Guidance: Here is a great website from the American Academy of Pediatrics that can help you determine what skills are needed for your child at what stage. Should concerns persist, don’t hesitate to consult your child’s pediatrician. They can connect you with appropriate resources that can support your child’s growth. A different perspective or additional practice might make a significant difference.
