APPLETON — Kindergarten is a big year. Just ask any 5- or 6-year-old — or their teacher.

“Kindergarten is such an important grade because it’s the foundation for the rest of their schooling,” said Karissa Ring, a kindergarten teacher at Appleton’s Johnston Elementary School.

While curriculum varies from district to district, local educators say there are a few key skills children should possess by the end of kindergarten. Plus, there are ample ways to hone them over the summer.

Related: 5 signs your child is ready to start kindergarten

Foundational reading skills are a must before first grade

Ring and MaiKou Heu, Johnston Elementary’s principal, stressed the importance of knowing what sounds correspond to each letter and identifying them within words.

This ensures that children are not just memorizing words and comes in handy when children come across a word they don’t know, as they can sound it out.

How to strengthen these skills this summer: Read with your children, especially books on topics that interest them. This gets them excited about reading, Ring said.

Sometimes, young children can get easily fatigued when reading, so take turns. Discussing the book as you go helps build comprehension skills.

“It’s one thing to be able to read it, it’s another to be able to talk about what they read,” said Jessica Bernard, a kindergarten teacher at Green Bay’s Nicolet Elementary.

Their reading and writing skills should match

Children should be able to write and spell what they are reading. For example, if your child reads the word “and,” they should be able to spell and write “and,” Ring said. This is something parents can practice at home.

It’s also important they know how to write their first and last name.

How you can strengthen these skills: Writing relies on fine motor skill development, which can be built and grown by playing with Play-Doh and coloring, Ring said.

They understand the meaning of numbers

Numbers are not just symbols; they represent a quantity of something. Ring said part of understanding numbers is being able to quickly recognize the number of objects in a group, from one to 10.

Children should also know how to add and subtract numbers from one to 10. Ring said word problems are prevalent in first grade, so it’s helpful to practice addition and subtraction in this way. Once again, the importance of foundational reading skills comes into play.

Ring said it’s also critical that children recognize that teen numbers are a set of 10 plus extra ones. For example, the number 15 is one set of 10, plus five ones.

How you can strengthen these skills: Practicing these foundational math skills — along with many others children learn in school — doesn’t have to be a boring sitdown with a pen and paper, Ring and Heu explained. Next time you’re in the car with your child, you can ask “How many trees do you see?” or “What does that sign say?”

“I love this, because sometimes summer for families can be pretty busy, but you’re incorporating learning into what’s happening in the moment,” Heu said. “It also helps kids know that they can apply what they’re learning to everyday life.”

They can identify, and appropriately respond to, their feelings

It’s often said in the early childhood world that social emotional skills — like labeling feelings, self-regulation, problem-solving skills, working and playing nicely with peers and responding well to setbacks — is the precursor for all other learning.

“If (students are) shutting down, then they’re not able to take on the new learning, and they’re not able to work cooperatively with their classmates,” Bernard said.

How you can strengthen these skills: Modeling goes a long way, Heu said. When you are upset, being able to narrate that, pause if necessary and then work out the problem will teach your children how to do so too. You can also showcase self-regulation skills, such as taking deep breaths.

One thing to keep in mind, Ring said, is to teach children such skills when they’re not in a heightened emotional state, but rather when they are calm.

“If you expect a child to try to get regulated when they’re not and they don’t have the skills to do that, it’s really hard to teach that when they’re upset,” Ring said.

When in doubt, consult with the school

Forging strong relationships between families, teachers and others at the school can make it easier to work together when concerns arise, the educators said. Both families and schools should communicate any concerns. Schools can also direct families to outside resources, as necessary.

It’s uncommon to hold a child back from starting the next grade level, they said, as there’s evidence it may lead to future consequences. In the rare event this happens, Heu said, it’s a decision made with the child’s family and various professionals within the school or district.

Many districts, including Appleton and Green Bay, offer summer school programs, which can serve as a way to continue learning and address any academic or social concerns.

Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.com or call 920-993-7108. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Four skills Wisconsin children should have by the end of kindergarten