Mariette Greyling – Being ready for school is more than just about children. In the broadest sense, it also involves families, early environments, schools and communities. Children aren’t innately ready or not ready for school. Their skills and development are influenced by their families and interaction with other people and environments.
To cut the umbilical cord, parents need to prepare themselves mentally that the child will be going to school. Education psychologist Brenda van Rooyen advised, “Don’t suffocate your child. Start by leaving the child with a trusted friend, the grandparents, or home carer for periods. Gradually increase the time spent away. In this manner, both parent(s) and the child will accept separation more readily.”
A child who enjoys good mental and emotional health is able to approach new situations, such as entering school life, with confidence. When children are comfortable with themselves, they can express their emotions positively. As they learn to value themselves, they’re building a sense of self-esteem – an important characteristic to aid independence.
Criteria for school readiness
It’s generally agreed that most children need to do a reception year before entering school. Occupational therapist Lourdes Bruwer said not only did Grade R prepare children for separation emotionally, but it was an invaluable year for building self-confidence, interacting with their peers and learning to function in a group.
Starting formal education is a big change – even after attending Grade R. It’s a time of uniforms, structure and a long academic day. Grade 1 teacher Lisa Kaplan said age wasn’t the main factor in determining school readiness. She gave the assurance that Grade R teachers were qualified to recommend whether a child had the skills to start school or not. Usually, at the end of the Grade R year, students did a series of tests to assist with recommendations.
Education psychologist Brenda van Rooyen outlined the criteria for socio-emotional school readiness as:
- Independence – separating from a parent without disabling anxiety, working independently
- Social skills – interacting well in a group, ability to form age-appropriate peer relationships
- Self regulation – ability to control emotions and behaviour, including sitting at a desk and attending for short periods, managing anger or excitement
- An ability to follow instructions
Bruwer added physical criteria to the list. “Their gross motor skills should be sufficiently developed to balance on a beam, jump with two feet together, balance on one leg for 20 seconds and make star jumps. As vital are the fine motor skills, such as drawing and copying simple shapes and designs, holding a pencil comfortably and handling a pair of scissors.
“Furthermore, a child entering school life should be at a stage of perceptual development where he has an awareness of the body and its functions, the ability to point to different shapes, recognise colour and count from 1 to 50.” Santie Smit, also an occupational therapist, felt that apart from good visual memory and discrimination, school-ready children should possess adequate auditory processing skills. For instance, remembering sequences of instructions and recognising alphabet sounds. “Children with phonemic awareness also start reading with more ease. They must be able to see and hear sounds of the alphabet,” she advised.
Agreeing with the above, Madeleine Siddle, senior curriculum advisor for the Foundation Phase/ECD, said, “In our Grade R assessment standards, we expect a child to be able to write his name; know his age and address; have good cognitive language skills, ie retelling a story, speaking clearly in full sentences; and adequate mathematics ability. A child who’s ready for school also understands what’s being counted, recognises pattern repeats and understands both seasons and the passing of time.”
Siddle said social skills played a crucial role in deciding whether a child should start school life. “We look at how they deal with strange situations, resolve conflict, aggression and frustration.”
In Grade R, parents may accompany their child and even sit in on the classes. Many schools also permit parents to visit their Grade 1 child on any day of the year. Kaplan said parents were encouraged to talk to the teacher and look at the child’s books – reaffirming parental interest.
Preparing a child for school
To provide a good foundation for school life, the experts interviewed were unanimous about limiting time in front of the box. Simple steps at home could prepare children not to depend on things being done for them. Kaplan enumerated a few procedures:
- Instil responsibility – making their own beds every day, earning pocket money for chores, carrying their own school bags, making their own lunch boxes
- Learning through experiences – picnics, outings to botanical gardens or zoos, jogging on the beach, camping, family games
- Involve them – weighing fruit and veg at the supermarket, sorting groceries, adding car registration digits
Santie Smit had a few extra tips, “Engage children in ‘spot the difference’ and dot-to-dot activities, memory games such as finding pairs, naming alphabet sounds, repeating telephone numbers and clapping hands on cue.” Other important physical developmental activities are Jungle Jim, water or shaving foam games, cutting different textures with a pair of scissors.
The big day
Finally, the big day arrives. The advice from all quarters was simply to place the child’s hand in the teacher’s hand and say goodbye. Should the child cry, just hug him.
Parents who fear having to cope with an increase in illnesses needn’t worry. Most children who have attended crèches and Grade R build up immunity. Even if they do contract one bug after the other initially, GPs said this phase soon passed.
Enhancing the school experience
Once life in Grade 1 has started, parents truly can enhance the experience, assisting their child to learn faster, better and more efficiently. To help a child cope with structure, Van Rooyen recommended routine: homework at a certain time, regular meals and off to bed at an appointed hour.
“Support the learning process by helping with reading and maths. If a child is struggling, don’t become anxious, or come down hard on the child,” she said. “Children need to trust that things will be okay. On an emotional level, help a child to calm himself when upset.”
To aid emotional development, Siddle said, “Don’t allow children to have unresolved feelings. When they’re sad, let them talk about it. Also, should there be a problem, ask how they would solve it. Most importantly, tell them what the rules are and monitor the rules. Kids should understand why it’s not right to throw mud, scream needlessly, or make nasty comments.” She stressed that adult supervision was the best form of education.
Kaplan warned that children did struggle with structure in the first term. She recommended praise and support from parents as required. “Finally, discipline is fundamental to adapting to structure.”
To smooth the transition between home and school, strive for continuity, help children learn and make sense of their world, commit to your child’s success and maintain strong leadership. Be informed, get involved and build a partnership with your child and the school.
Research suggests that delaying school entry unnecessarily doesn’t generally benefit children. Therefore, it’s up to you as parent to ensure that your child receives the necessary stimulation, routine, discipline and love in preparation for this all-important phase.
Written and edited by Mariette Greyling, www.tomar.co.za for The Schools’ Collection 28 August 2008
