It’s still ten months before your pre-schooler goes to big school, so what should you do to make sure they are ready? Teach them to read? Teach them to spell? Teach them how to add up?
The short answer is no. But what should you do? Here are my big four! The most important thing is to read to them every day. If you read one book a day, your child will have read 1825 books by the time they start school. We all know the connection between reading and learning. Children who struggle with reading generally struggle with learning. By reading to your child every day, you instil a love of reading and all the conventions of reading, such as the direction of print, that words make up sentences, that reading makes sense and conveys same meaning every time. The children will pick up all this information without being taught it. Don’t teach them to read. That will happen at school. But if you have read to your child every day they will take off with their reading once they get to school. There is nothing more exciting for a child to come home in the first couple of weeks of school to exclaim to their parents that they can read! Reading fosters curiosity, teaches empathy, stimulates the imagination, is relaxing, and of course is entertaining. Snuggling up in bed with mum or dad and a good book at the end of the day is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child! The second most important thing to do to prepare your child for school is to play with them, especially board games. Any board game is good; children learn to take turns, learn to follow rules, learn what happens when you break the rules, learn counting, learn positions, and learn directions. Play enables children to learning without them even knowing it. Play becomes a practice for life…playing families, playing doctors, playing dress ups, playing with building blocks, playing with train tracks, the list goes on! Research tells us that children learn concepts five times quicker through play. The third most important preparation for children coming to school is helping children to regulate their emotions. There nothing wrong with strong emotions. They are part of life! We all get sad, angry, anxious, excited, scared, and elated. We want our children to feel these emotions too, but when our emotions get in the way of our normal everyday life, then they need regulation. When a child in a classroom has an emotional outburst that affects the whole class and their learning, that is not good for anyone. We can teach our children emotional regulation by practising mindfulness, having quiet time in the house, giving children choices, teaching children to cound to five before they have an outburst, teach deep breathing, and most importantly, talk about emotions with your child. Use lines like, “I see you are angry. What is making you so angry? What good choices can you make now that you are angry?” In other words, get your children to ‘use their words.’ It will hold them in good stead! And finally, foster the curiosity of your children. Curiosity is our ability and drive to keep asking questions. If children are curious and keep asking questions, they will learn. Pre-schoolers ask between 200 and 300 questions at day. Lots of them are ‘why?’ questions. Asking ‘why?’ questions help children to clarify their thinking, build on their current knowledge, and develops their critical thinking skills. While ‘why?’ questions can be exhausting for parents, they essential for children. By the time children are five, the numbers of questions has dropped dramatically until they get to high school and they ask none. Keep answering their questions and keep supporting your child’s curiosity! Most parents would say, “Yes, I do those things!” Great! Keep it up! These are the things that will set your child up for success at school. Children are at school for a good chunk of their lives. Let’s together, in partnership, make it a great experience! Here’s some useful links: https://welcometothefamilytable.com/10-reasons-you-should-read-to-your-children-every-day/ https://amorebeautifulquestion.com/why-do-kids-ask-so-many-questions-but-more-importantly-why-do-they-stop/ https://www.auessays.com/essays/young-people/theories-surrounding-learning-through-play-young-people-essay.php https://www.lifehack.org/844538/emotional-regulation
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AuthorGreg Cumming is a Primary Principal in the Diocese of Maitland Newcastle, NSW Australia Archives
March 2024
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