Young Academics - Ensuring your child is school ready

Bek Condello May 2022

At Young Academics, we are passionate about doing our best to ensure that your child is set up for success with our Transition to School Program. However, there is so much more that can be done within the home before your child commences school or starting at a childcare centre that will ensure they have the best possible chance to learn, thrive and grow, in a way that they feel safe and confident.

When you think about school it can be easy to look at it in a more simplified manner. Placing more importance on the practical aspects of commencing school. Does your child have the correct uniform and books, how will they get to and from school or what does healthy lunch consist of?

However, if we look a little deeper beneath the surface and think about the things we need as adults to create, grow and thrive, children are no different.

Below we would like to explore some of the school readiness activities that may be helpful for you as a parent to consider in your school readiness preparation. When your child is exposed to learning some of these valuable skills while still in the home, it allows them to learn in a more controlled space without the fear of looking silly or getting confused around their new peers and adults they are just learning to trust.

Fostering a sense of independence while still in the home, will give your child the opportunity to start building on their capacity to make choices, rationalise and make their own informed decisions.

Simple tasks such as choosing their clothes and dressing themselves, making choices about what they would like to eat or completing small chores around the house, for example: stacking their plate into the dishwasher, build self-reliance and confidence. Of course, as a parent, you will still be close by to monitor them or provide support if they need it. However, even allowing them to choose when to come and seek out your assistance without you jumping in first, is also a valuable skill. It can be challenging as a parent to sit back and watch them struggle with a task, however so long as they know they can come and ask for your help when they need it, you must allow them to seek you out when they are ready.

You most likely may already have certain routines that you follow with your child; however, does your child know that you have a routine, or do they just follow what you do? For example, do they know that you take the dog for a walk together every day at 10 am? Is Tuesday the day you go to the library for their reading session, or do you make their bed every morning at 9 am? Helping your child understand your routine and what a routine is, can be another way that they will be better prepared for a more structured school environment. If you are a parent that prefers to go more with the flow, you could consider creating a more simple routine with input from your child, including things that they like to do. Maybe every Sunday morning is pancake time, and perhaps you check the mail every day after lunch. You could write that down on a whiteboard so they are visibly able to see it for themselves and start to become more aware of days and times and when things happen.

As we know, children can sometimes struggle with their attention span and staying focused. There is always something else much more exciting that might be going on, and at home, if they want to rush off to play in their rooms within the first 5 minutes of a show starting on the TV, there is generally no concern. However, in the classroom, children are expected to maintain a basic level of focus and attention. Taking time out with your child to read aloud to them can help them learn how to sit still and focus on one thing. In the beginning, you may want to let them choose a short and engaging book, however as time goes on, you may wish to choose the book yourself and make it slightly longer. In the classroom, your child may sometimes have the option to choose the book that is read, however other times another child or the teacher may choose and your child will need to be present even if it's not the book they would have liked.

Doing some of these simple school readiness activities that we have mentioned with your child, can significantly increase their independence, reduce their separation anxiety, as well as ensure they can show up amongst their peers confident and sure of themselves.