Kathy Walker, an education consultant and early childhood expert at Early Life Foundations, says parents can’t be expected to make a completely independent decision on whether their child is ready to start the school journey.
“The best person to assess school readiness is the child’s preschool teacher,” she says. “And it’s important parents listen to the advice given because this person has been trained in early childhood development.”
She stresses that school readiness is not about being able to read or write, know colours or count. “These skills will be taught at school so they are not a priority for starting school,” she says. “Readiness is really mostly about emotional and social maturity – aspects of development that we cannot fast-track. We cannot make a child who lacks the necessary maturity become mature.”
Expert checklist to assess school readiness The key areas of maturity and development are the social and emotional areas, says Kathy. While she is reluctant to have parents tick off a checklist, here are some of the questions she asks when assessing school readiness:
• Can they make an independent decision and follow through on this?
• Do they have ideas of their own?
• Can they follow two or three instructions at the same time?
• Can they move on to new activities easily?
• Do they separate well from their carer?
• Do they show interest in other kids?
• Do they interact with other children?
• Can they recognise and express their feelings and needs?
• Can they concentrate on a task?
• How do they deal with frustration?
How can parents help with school readiness? There are many activities that parents undertake with young children that have a positive effect on their development and promote school readiness. These include:
• Reading with your child
• Teaching them songs and nursery rhymes
• Playing with letters and numbers
• Taking children on excursions
• Creating regular opportunities for them to play with their friends and other children
Source: www.kidspot.com.au.