School Readiness
What is it?
The capability of a child to cope in a formal learning school environment from a multidimensional perspective. A child needs to be intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically ready when entering school for the first time.
If a child is not ready for Grade 1 and is placed there regardless, that child is being setup for failure later on.
Some symptoms of a child not being school ready may include:
- reading difficulties
- not understanding Mathematics
- displaying behavioural issues
- not able to follow instructions and tasks
Skills Required For School Readiness
School readiness is directly proportional to the amount and type of stimulation a developing child experiences prior to entering the school system.
To adequately prepare a child for school, that child should be exposed to a multitude of activities that include among others, movement, conversation, imagination and drawing.
These activities should be present in a child’s play to keep the interest level high and encourage the child to revisit them frequently.
Behavioural Readiness
Basic behavioural aspects that are necessary for school readiness include:
- the right muscle tone to be able to move the body correctly (sit properly and hold up a head to concentrate in class),
- not have any visual or hearing impairments (if there are any present, they needed to have been taken care of)
- ability to communicate.
Social Readiness
Being socially ready or mature for school means that a child is:
- independent and self assertive
- participating in cooperative play
- showing healthy competitiveness
- following instructions
- mindful of others
Emotional Readiness
Emotional maturity focuses on the self of the child and signs of school readiness include
- motivation levels before attempting a task
- being able to concentrate
- frustration tolerance (persistence at a task)
- willingness to see tasks through to completion.
Intellectual Readiness
Intellectual readiness encompasses
- verbal skills such as vocabulary and comprehension skills
- thinking skills
- ability to problem solve
- memory skills
CogniBlocks Is The Perfect Tool For School Readiness
With CogniBlocks children:
- practise memory skills
- learn to build structures
- learn to translate 2D models to 3D objects and vice versa
- learn to follow instructions and
- are allowed to practise communication skills by guiding others on what to build.
- Play games, compete with one another and also learn to work as a team.
