What does school readiness mean?
School readiness is a term relating to whether a child is ready to make an easy and successful transition into school. Usually this ranges from ages 4-6 depending on when they are planning on starting kindergarten.
School Readiness can be proactively targeted by engaging children in activities that help them to develop the age appropriate skills required to help with optimal learning when they start school.
This can include skills like self-care (helping with folding the washing or cooking in the kitchen), communication (e.g., reading books with siblings or adults) and social participation (e.g., group based games and activities with other children like soccer, playgrounds or play groups) and emotional regulation.
Why is it important?
School readiness is crucial because it sets the stage for a child’s future academic success and overall wellbeing. It ensures that every child has the basic skills and knowledge needed to start kindergarten, so that they can engage in literacy and numeracy as well as social interactions with their peers. The research shows this too!
The development of phonological awareness (early literacy) skills are shown to be one of the key predictors of reading success in later years (Milankov et al, 2021). Also, research shows that another big predictor of overall success in the classroom environment is social and emotional skills (Burchinal et al. 2020). These skills pave the way for kids to navigate the relationships and routines with ease allowing them to gain the most out of the school environment.
What are some school readiness skills?
For every child starting kindergarten, they are going to be at different stages of their development in relation to other children in their class and that is okay! School Readiness entails so many developmental skills from Fine Motor to Communication, to Social and Emotional skills and here are a few key areas we support through group based and 1:1 therapy. Some examples of these school readiness skills include:
Fine Motor Skills (which is using the small muscle in the hand)
Some of these activities include:
- Cutting
- Writing their name
- Drawing a person
Gross Motor Skills (which is using the large muscles in our body for big big movements)
Some of these skills include:
- Hopping on one foot
- Climbing stairs without support
- Kicking a ball
Communication Skills (which includes a child’s ability to both understand and use language)
Some skills required for the classroom include:
- Following multiple step instructions
- Understanding and using a variety of language concepts
- Effectively communicating in social interactions
- Retelling a story or personal narrative
Phonological Awareness Skills (which are our pre-reading and writing skills)
Some of these skills include:
- Syllabification (breaking words into syllables such as he-li-cop-ter)
- Blending (blending sounds to make words, such as ‘c’ + ‘a’ + ‘t’ + ‘cat)
- Segmenting (breaking words into sounds, such as ‘run’ is made of the sounds ‘r’, ‘u’, ‘n’)
Social and Emotional skills (which allude to a child’s ability to navigate their social environment, as well as regulate their own emotions)
Some of the skills needed before school include:
- Understanding feelings (happy, sad and angry)
- Transitioning between tasks
- Basic problem solving
Assess Your School Readiness
Want to know more about the specific school readiness skills your child needs before entering Kindergarten, click on the link below to download our school readiness checklist.
How can Chatterbox help?
Here at Chatterbox, we offer our “Ready Set Go” school readiness program where we teach and prepare children for their upcoming transition into kindergarten. Our group-based therapy service involves a registered Occupational Therapist and a registered Speech Pathologist programming and running a 10-week block which coincides with the NSW school terms.
Each Term Block is structured with the same School Readiness goals however, each child’s activities can be adapted to meet their current level of difficulty. Our “Ready Set Go” group is modelled off a structured school classroom routine with a recess/lunch break halfway through the 2 hours to emulate transitions in and out of the classroom. Each child brings their own backpack with a packed lunch and drink bottle, where we can work with each individual child to learn how to open packets, clean up after themselves and manage lunch box zippers and clasps!
Academic skills are not the only thing targeted in the “Ready, Set, Go” Program. Here at Chatterbox we see the importance of social and emotional participation and how important it is to teach children these skills before transitioning to kindergarten. Skills such as transitions, following instructions, negotiating in play, turn taking in play and even just making friends and having conversations with other children.
References
- Higher levels of language and social-emotional skills predicted large gains in skill development (Burchinal et al. 2020)
- Development of PA before and during early schooling was a predictor of reading success (milankov et al. 2021)