School Readiness

How do we know if a child is ready for school? How do we know if a school is ready for all children? What about the role of communities and families in school readiness? These are questions that parents and other family members, early childhood educators, and preschool and kindergarten teachers ask daily as they plan for and hope for successful lives for all children.

Even as these questions are repeatedly asked, some ideas are clear about a child’s readiness for school:

• Children begin learning before they are born, and they keep learning every day of their lives.
• Readiness is a process that is shaped by the people and experiences in a child’s life as well as by the intelligence a child is born with.
  

Most child development experts and other educators believe children are ready for school who are:

• Healthy, immunized, and rested,
• Able to manage their feelings and their relationships with other children and adults,
• Eager to learn,
• Able to speak clearly with others, and
• Who know something about the world around them.

Parents and other family members can best help children be ready for school success by:

• Listening attentively to their children,
• Talking with them and answering their questions,
• Reading to them,
• Showing interest in all they do, from drawing a picture to building with blocks,
• Taking them places in the community, like the library, the park, or the grocery store,
• Limiting TV and choosing programs carefully, and
• Acting in a respectful manner with their children and other adults.

Everyday things parents can do to make sure children are ready to succeed are:

• Encourage social and emotional skills. Say please and thank you, get along with others, share and take turns, follow directions, tolerate frustration.
• Read, read, read! Read books, street signs, cereal boxes, grocery signs, billboards.
• Count everything. Count cars, people, toys, furniture in the room, blocks, silverware on the table, plants.
• Identify colors. What colors are flowers, clothes, animals, hair, food, the room?
• Name everything. Those are eyes, ears, nose, books, buildings, plants, clothes.
• Promote self-help skills. Can you wash your hands, brush your teeth, set the table, put your toys away, dress yourself, use the bathroom alone?