i wanted to add to my previous post (about kindergarten being an "equalizer")..that i just don't think its fair to judge our kids' level based on these goals, as many NG are doing great against them too. Sometimes threads that start like this start to sound insulting to what NG kids are doing, and to their credit, its usually much much more than these types of lists, that may be bare minimums. (sorry horrible run-on sentence)..My daughters kindergarten class is reciting poetry, learning about the world, singing songs, doing sign language, and that isn't even on the stated goals. I really never thought i'd say it, but i really like kindergarten.. its wonderfully un-schooly and just what she needed. Now even better that they let her finally pick a "big-girl" library book.