Hot Topic - Kindergarten Readiness

Many years ago kindergarten was the first step in education for most children.  This was the first place children interacted in a classroom setting and learned how to get along in a society of their peers as well as picking up some information about letters, numbers and things like self care.  Today education is much different.  Preschool is usually the first step for many childern to get experience in how to handle themselves in a social setting, but there is also a new topic that has become very popular - Kindergarten Readiness.  A broad definition of kindergarten readiness is simply to prepare children to enter school ready to learn (http://www.kindergartenreadiness.net/), but what exactly does that mean?  This varies from state to state and sometimes from school district to school district.  The hot topic of kindergarten readiness is what I will be exploring and bringing this information to you, the reader.  Since I live in Ohio that is the state I will be using in my research.  My goal is to give information on what children are expected to know when entering kinderagten and how the preschool teacher and family can work together to help children get there.