A school readiness program can help to prepare preschool children for the transition to school. Here I share the school readiness program I have used.
Introduction
As children grow, they achieve many milestones along the way. Starting school can be an extremely significant milestone. Transitioning to school can also be overwhelming, as it is a big leap for children. Parents, families and other children are the key influences in children’s lives before they start school. Therefore, families should work co-operatively with teachers and early childhood educators in an integrated approach to give children the best start. It’s important to note that school readiness is not only about academically preparing children but also about being physically, emotionally and socially ready. If children already start school with basic school readiness skills, it is a lot easier to extend these skills at school.
What is a school readiness program?
The term ‘readiness’ itself refers to preparing for something. Children’s readiness for school often depends on the care they have received in the early years. Providing positive learning experiences from birth will assist in creating stronger foundations for children’s success in the future. School readiness refers to basic skills taught to children, which serve as the foundation for further learning they acquire at primary school.
Research by the University of South Australia revealed that modern lifestyles and too much screen time have increased the prevalence of developmental delay in children, directly impacting school readiness. Children can lose out on many social interactions, physical activity and problem-solving abilities, negatively affecting their language, communication, and emotional regulation.
Why is a school readiness program important?
Transitioning to school can be quite a daunting and overwhelming time for young children. Some will settle right in, whilst others will take time to adjust. Many childcare and early learning centres offer school readiness programs to teach children how school differs from their current routine. A few challenges that children may take time to adjust to are having to work more independently, concentrating for more extended periods, making new friends and learning more formally at a rapid pace.
To support school readiness in Victoria, the Government has proposed to provide around $160 million for extra support over the next four years to enhance and improve outcomes for children.
School readiness is fundamental for children’s holistic development and preparing them for the upcoming changes. Promoting these skills and abilities early on is the best way to guarantee children get the encouragement and support they need to succeed in the coming years. Education NSW has provided a helpful guide for families, which you can access here.
What is the most important thing for school readiness?
Preparing children socially and emotionally should be of primary importance, followed by academic preparation such as literacy and numeracy secondarily. Children should feel confident and have positive self-esteem. They should understand who they are, their feelings, and how to interact with others.
An informative article published by ABC highlights that instead of focusing on teaching children the 3 ‘R’s (“reading, [w]riting and [a]rithmatic, we should spend more time teaching them: 6‘C’s; Confidence, Creativity, Curiosity, Cooperation, Commitment, & Communication and the 3 ‘I’s; Improvisation, Investigation, Imagination. This will set children up for more success in schooling and life.
Most of these skills don’t need to be explicitly taught to children; they naturally learn through play. The role of adults is to provide stimulating environments so children have various learning opportunities.
Many things can be done at home to support children’s transition, e.g., reading books to children, organising playdates or social interactions with other children and giving them various play experiences to extend their understanding of the world.
Best school readiness program
Many early childhood services have embedded school readiness programs into their curriculum to support children’s transition to school. There is no best or perfect program; each one is different and offers various types of activities to support children’s development. If your child does not attend a childcare service or the service does not offer any school readiness program, aim to look for a program that your child will enjoy so they automatically think of going to school with a more positive outlook. You may also want to consider a nearby program, so you don’t have to travel too much. Here are a few examples:
– Starkids school readiness programme
– Mindchamps Ready to School Sessions
Over the past 20 years in early learning services, I have refined and developed the school readiness program, presented our program at School Readiness Information Evenings and received an overwhelmingly positive response from families, indicating they have been extremely happy with the program we put in place and communicating to us that their children had shown amazing progress in the year before school.
I had also received positive feedback from several local primary schools, telling us that the children who had started kindergarten at their schools were clearly well prepared and benefited greatly from our comprehensive school readiness program.
The school readiness program we implemented was not overly complex, it didn’t require children to be seated, completing worksheets, and it was not inappropriate for an early childhood setting. It was not groundbreaking stuff either – but it WORKED!
Here it is:
- A rotation of topics and developmental areas
- Play based learning
- Embedding learning in all parts of the day – structured and unstructured
- Documentation of learning
- Fun!
We rotated the following topic areas:
- Alphabet and Phonics – exploring letters & sounds, and names
- Early numeracy – number identification, counting, basic maths skills
- Fine motor skills – pencil grip, scissor use, threading etc
- Language skills – speaking and listening, comprehension, following directions
- Social and emotional skills – turn taking games, sharing, role play games
Each topic was embedded in the program for one week, before we moved onto the next topic area. We then started the cycle again, refining the experiences as we went along, and documenting the learning in portfolios. We kept it interesting and fun so the children didn’t even notice they were learning so much!
Educators were encouraged to think of fun and varied ways to implement play based learning experiences to develop learning in all of the above areas. In addition to this, we followed the EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework) to implement a project-based program, following children’s interests and gaining feedback from the child themselves, as well as families at home.
The importance of monitoring individual progress and documenting learning is vital so that we catered for each individual child. In a classroom with 30 children, we had some children who could identify all alphabet letters, read and write their name and showed a lot of confidence speaking to the class, whereas other children had yet to identify their name or identify any letters or sounds.
We therefore catered for these individual children to ensure they were still capable of experiencing success at their individual level.
How do I know if my child is ready for school?
Adapted from the Australian Government’s initiative Learning potential; below are some basic indicators to guide parents on whether children are ready for school or not. Children don’t need to be excelling in all areas. However, they should be working towards developing these skills, contributing to their overall well-being.
You can also read my article on ‘School Readiness; How do I know if my child is ready?’ HERE.
Social Skills
– Can play independently and with other children
– Can ask for help when needed
– Can answer and ask basic questions
– Joins into familiar rhymes and songs
– Can share and take turns with other children
Mental/Emotional Well-being
– Can separate from parents or primary caregiver
– Can adapt to an unfamiliar and new environment
– Can manage their emotions, express what they are feeling, display self-regulation
– Can remain calm during difficult situations.
-Copes with change and the unexpected.
Language Skills
– Can speak using structured sentences which are grammatically correct
– Can follow a sequence of 2-3 instructions, e.g. put your pencils away, get your hat and line up
at the door for lunch
– Enjoys exploring picture books, and listening to stories
– Is beginning to identify letters and sounds
-Can identify their written name and is learning to write their name
Cognitive Skills
– Can engage in problem-solving activities like finishing a puzzle
– Has basic number sense (counting and basic number recognition)
-Can complete basic sequencing tasks
-Identifies basic colours and shapes
– Is curious about the environment and can use materials in different ways through trial and
error
Physical Skills
– Age appropriate gross motor skills (Fundamental Movement Skills)- can run, jump, skip and throw a ball
– Can maintain basic balance and coordination
– Has spatial awareness of their surroundings
-Developing age appropriate fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination (correct pencil grip, can thread small beads, use child safe scissors)
Independence
– Can complete basic tasks without adult assistance, e.g. undressing, going to the toilet and
eating food
– Can look after their own belongings
Conclusion
The school readiness program refers to ensuring children are holistically ready for the transition to school, with social and emotional wellbeing, being of the most primary importance. School readiness is much more than knowing ABC, numbers and colours. Instead of focusing on just academic skills, children should be equipped with more universal foundation skills so children can quickly adjust to the school environment and reach their maximum learning potential with ease. All children react differently to change and will be ready at their own pace. Therefore, we must cater to each individual child to support children’s transition.