Preschool and school are very different. Preschool has a higher staff-child ratio and is usually a cosy and caring atmosphere. School has larger buildings, a more regimented routine, larger and older children, with more noise and congestion. To a child these differences are important and can question their sense of security.
An important element in deciding School Readiness is asking yourself whether your child is emotionally mature enough to start school. You should also consider the length of their attention span. Ask yourself these questions:
- Is your child eager to participate, wanting to learn?
- Are they interested, motivated and confident?
- Are they willing to attempt new experiences?
- Can your child co-operate with other children?
- Are they able to handle the rough emotional trials - cliques & name calling - that is usually part of school life?
- How do they handle these situations? Do they react by either falling apart or becoming a bully?
- Can they negotiate with friends?
- Is your child able to respond to all adults? A lot of schools rely on volunteers to help in the classroom. It is essential that your child has learnt to listen and respond to adults who are not their parents.
- Can your child handle large group situations?
- Can your child sit still for 10 minutes?
- Can they do it in a group of 15-30 other children?
- Can they go to the toilet independtly?
- Can they handle their lunch and look after their own belongings?
The Get Ready For School Program is designed to develop age-appropriate self-care, play and school related skills. One of the focuses is on developing concentration times when school children need to learn to sit quietly and work on various projects.
Children will develop academically at different stages but if there are too many children in the classroom who can't sit quietly, aren't keen to learn, respect their fellow classmates, their teachers and other adults in the classroom then much learning will simply never happen.
Is Your Child Concerned About Leaving Pre-School To Start Big School?
You can downplay their apprehension about leaving their preschool & starting kindergarten by some positive reinforcement and having them focus on some of their personal strengths.
- Pick
out some of the skills on the list above and reassure them that
they would be a good student because they already know (for example):
- their ABCs
- how to count
- how to write and spell their name
- Point out they have friends in preschool so making new friends would be easy in big school.
- Reminding them that they may be a great tree climber or good at catching a ball, etc, will also help.
- Take photographs of your child's new school and glue them into their Get Ready For School workbook. That way, when they are showing Grandma or other family members all of their work they will also be able to proudly show off their new school.
