Ontario · Kindergarten (JK/SK) · Communication of Learning, 2026-27

Ontario Kindergarten report card comments: how to write Key Learning, Growth in Learning and Next Steps

The short answer

Ontario's Kindergarten report is the Kindergarten Communication of Learning, not the Grades 1-8 progress report card, and every comment on it covers three things: Key Learning, Growth in Learning and Next Steps in Learning. The two full reports have one comment for each of four areas and the fall Initial Observations report has a single comment box, so write each one from your documentation, with one specific example, what has changed, and what happens next at school and at home. The sentence frames below are examples to adapt with what you observed, not Ministry wording.

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What the Ministry asks for

Kindergarten has three formal reports a year. The Ministry compares the Communication of Learning to a report card, and says its comments give clear, specific information about a child's key learning and growth, with next steps for school and home.

ReportWhenWhat it asks for
Initial Observations (Form 3044E (2026/06))Sent from late October into November.A summary of what you have observed so far this school year, with early evidence of growth. The form has one comment box headed Key Learning / Growth in Learning / Next Steps in Learning, set against the 2026 curriculum's overall expectations.
Communication of Learning (two reports) (Form 3046E (2026/06))Two further reports later in the year; the Ministry page does not give their dates, so use your board's calendar.One comment box for each of four areas, each headed Key Learning / Growth in Learning / Next Steps in Learning, with an ESL box and an IEP box to tick when expectations are modified. Catholic schools add a section on Religious and Family Life Education. The Year 2 form also records the Early Reading Screening: whether it was completed, the date, and whether the benchmark was met.

The form names the Early Childhood Educator where one contributed (the line is required when a class has 16 or more students), and treats a teacher and an ECE as an educator team that worked together on observing and assessing the child.

The three parts of every comment

The Ministry defines each term on its Kindergarten communication of learning page. Our paraphrase, in the order you write them:

Key Learning

The learning that matters most for this child at the moment you complete the report: the skills, interests or knowledge they have shown, tied to the overall expectations.

Tip: Pick one or two things, not everything. Say what the child can do or understands, and where you saw it.

Growth in Learning

A shift to a more advanced stage of development, a gain in skill or breadth of knowledge, or more learning in areas such as mathematics, literacy, problem solving, self-regulation, well-being, belonging and contributing.

Tip: Compare with an earlier note of your own. If you have no earlier point, say what is new rather than inventing a change.

Next Steps in Learning

Goals you set by weighing what you observe of how the child learns against the Kindergarten expectations. The Ministry says they cover support at school and ideas for home.

Tip: One goal, one thing you will do at school, one small thing a family can try. Make it something you could see happen.

The four areas you write about

These are the four strands of the 2026 curriculum, and the headings of the comment boxes. What each box looks at, in our words:

How to write one comment, step by step

  1. Start from your documentation. The Initial Observations form asks for examples from classroom documentation as evidence of what the child is learning through play. Choose one or two pieces for the area: an observation note, a photo with a caption, something the child said, a work sample.
  2. Write Key Learning first. One thing the child can do or understands now, in plain words, with the example that shows it.
  3. Add Growth only if you can show it. Name the change and when you first noticed the earlier behaviour. No earlier note means no growth sentence: say what is new and what you will watch for.
  4. End with Next Steps. One goal, what you will do at school, and one small thing at home that fits a four- or five-year-old's day.
  5. Read it as a parent would. The Ministry says these comments should be clear and easy to understand. Keep expectation codes and teaching jargon out of the parent-facing text; use the codes in your own planning.
  6. Check the boxes. If a child's expectations are modified, tick the ESL box or the IEP box for that area, as the form directs.

Model sentence frames to adapt

These are examples we wrote, not Ministry wording and not a comment bank to paste from. Replace every bracket with what you saw. They use they/them so they fit any child.

Key Learning

Growth in Learning

Next Steps in Learning

Four worked examples, one per area

Each describes an invented child and is labelled the way you would label your own notes. They are examples to adapt: if a detail does not match your evidence, change it or cut it.

Example: Foundations of Language and Mathematics

Key Learning. [Name] names most uppercase letters and tells us the first sound in many words. At the writing table last week they matched the first letter of three classmates' names to the sounds they heard. In mathematics, they count a small collection by touching each object once and tell us the last number is how many.

Growth in Learning. Earlier this fall they named the letters in their own name; now they name most of the alphabet.

Next Steps in Learning. Next, [Name] will practise blending two or three sounds to read simple words, using letter tiles in our literacy centre. At home, you could point out the first letter of words on signs and packages and say its sound together.

Example: Problem Solving and Innovating

Key Learning. [Name] asks questions and tests ideas. While we explored what floats, they predicted that the metal spoon would sink, tried it in the water table and told a friend what happened.

Growth in Learning. They now try a second idea when the first one does not work, where earlier they would stop and wait for help.

Next Steps in Learning. Next, [Name] will tell or draw a plan before they build. We will offer a plan, make, change card at the building centre. At home, you could ask "What will you try first?" when they build or cook.

Example: Self-Regulation and Well-Being

Key Learning. [Name] is learning to notice and name their feelings. When a block tower fell, they said they felt frustrated and asked a teacher to sit with them while they took slow breaths.

Growth in Learning. Earlier this fall they needed an adult's help to settle after an upset; now they often name the feeling first and choose a calm tool, sometimes without a reminder.

Next Steps in Learning. Next, [Name] will practise choosing a calm tool on their own and returning to play. At school we will keep practising in small groups. At home, you could name feelings together during everyday moments.

Example: Belonging and Contributing

Key Learning. [Name] cares for our classroom community. They remind friends to take turns at the easel and have taken on watering the class plants each morning.

Growth in Learning. They now greet classmates by name and invite others to join their play, where earlier they played mostly alongside friends.

Next Steps in Learning. Next, [Name] will share something from home with the class at circle time when they are ready, and passing is always fine. At home, you could talk about what they might like to share.

Five things that weaken a comment

Where the Report Card Studio fits

The free Report Card Studio now covers Kindergarten. Its Kindergarten level follows the Communication of Learning: choose Initial Observations (one box) or the later reports (one box per strand), pick JK or SK, and build Key Learning, Growth in Learning and Next Steps from 150 checked comments, replacing each invented example with what you saw. It is free, needs no login and keeps names in your browser. Grades 1 to 8 use the progress report part of the Studio.

Ontario Kindergarten Report Card Studio · Ontario Report Card Studio, Grades 1-8 · Report Card Studio: all places

To go with this guide

Questions teachers ask

What does the Ontario Kindergarten Communication of Learning require?

Three formal reports a year: an Initial Observations report from late October into November, then two further Communication of Learning reports. The Communication of Learning has four areas, Foundations of Language and Mathematics, Problem Solving and Innovating, Self-Regulation and Well-Being, and Belonging and Contributing (Catholic schools add Religious and Family Life Education). In each, educators write personalized comments on key learning, growth in learning and next steps, with specific examples, and tick the ESL or IEP box when expectations are modified.

What is the difference between Key Learning, Growth in Learning and Next Steps in Learning?

Key Learning is what matters most for this child when you complete the report. Growth in Learning is a shift to a more advanced stage of development, more skill or knowledge, or more learning in areas such as literacy, mathematics, self-regulation or belonging. Next Steps in Learning are the goals you set by weighing what you observe of how the child learns against the Kindergarten expectations, with ideas for school and home.

When are Ontario Kindergarten reports sent?

The Ministry's page says schools send the Initial Observations report from late October into November, with two further Communication of Learning reports later in the year. It does not give dates for those two, so use your board's calendar.

Do I name curriculum codes in a Kindergarten comment?

The Ministry says comments should be clear and easy to understand, with specific examples. Codes help your planning, but we suggest keeping them out of the parent-facing text and describing the learning in plain words. That is our advice, not a Ministry rule.

Is Kindergarten in the Report Card Studio?

Yes. The Studio has an Ontario Kindergarten level for Initial Observations and the Communication of Learning, with Key Learning, Growth in Learning and Next Steps for JK and SK. It keeps Copy off until you replace each invented example with what you saw. This guide's model sentence frames work alongside it.

Can I copy the example comments?

Use them as shapes, not as text. Each describes an invented child, and a comment on a real report must describe the child you observed, in your own words, backed by your documentation. If an example does not match what you saw, do not use it.

What this guide is not

An independent guide from Milestone Teachers, not a Ministry of Education publication. It paraphrases the Ministry's Kindergarten communication of learning page and forms 3044E and 3046E (2026/06, public schools). Boards issue the template, and add their own direction, so check which version you use, including Catholic and French-language versions. The comments here are examples we wrote about an invented child; the Ministry has not reviewed them. Your principal and board come first.

Sources

Ontario's new Kindergarten curriculum: the teacher's guide · How to sequence an Ontario Kindergarten long-range plan · Ontario Report Card Studio, Grades 1-8 · All new curriculum guides