Many children come to kindergarten with insufficient social skills to participate in the activities necessary for academic achievement. Children enrolled in prekindergarten programs across the United States are expelled at higher rates than older students. Boys are expelled 4 1/2 times more often than girls. When children excluded from prekindergarten enter kindergarten without the behavioral readiness for academic learning, children and teachers are affected and school social workers are often called in to help. In many states, the learning standards for kindergarten-age children are content-driven and do not address social and behavioral learning. More than 25 states now have early learning standards, most of which address the social and academic needs of preschool-age children. The author argues for using early childhood learning standards to bridge success for the children entering kindergarten with prekindergarten levels of social learning and discusses the role of school social workers in helping teachers teach social skills rather than punishing children for not having these tools for success.