TRANSITION TO SCHOOL
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Transition To School
by Kelly Emmerson (Primary School Teacher)
School Readiness
Being ready for school is more than just knowing your ABC and counting to a hundred. The most valued and important thing we can give our children is a love of learning and an enthusiasm for new and interesting things. For all children it is most important that they are socially able to cope with the demands of the school environment. If children have good self-esteem and feel socially secure then they will be able to grasp new ideas and concepts as they start formal education.
The following is a summary of The NSW Department of Education leaflet for parents, which amongst other things lists skills that if achieved, may make starting school easier.
It includes:
Personal & Social Skills:
• Uses the toilet independently
• Can say own name and address
• Adapts to unfamiliar settings and new experiences
• Can finish a task and tidy up afterwards
• Plays co-operatively with other children: shares and takes turns
• Can sit and listen to a story
• Is curious about the world
• Can share adult attention with other children
• Participates in a variety of games
Language Skills:
• Talks to other people about familiar objects or events
• Answers and asks simple questions
• Makes needs known in appropriate ways
• Follows simple instructions
• Uses books for enjoyment or for looking at pictures
• Identifies pictures in books, magazines or on t.v or video
• Joins in singing familiar songs
Physical Skills:
• Uses scissors to cut along a straight line
• Enjoys a variety of outdoor and indoor play
• Uses a variety of objects (textas, crayons & pencils) to draw, scribble or write
• Can put on and take off jumpers shoes and socks independently
• Makes and designs things using a variety of materials
Mathematics:
• Recognises that numbers can be used to count
• Uses words like all, many, a lot, more, less, bigger and smaller
• Identifies things in a group that are different
• Sees differences in shapes
• Differentiates between opposites: up & down, under & over, in front & behind, day & night
Helping Children Learn:
Parents, other family members and friends can help children by:
• Giving them lots of time and opportunity for play
• Listening to them
• Answering their questions
• Talking to them about things they want to learn about
• Looking at books together, singing songs and saying rhymes
• Reading and telling stories
• Enjoying pretend play
• Doing everyday things together, like shopping, washing the car and playing in the park
• Providing them with different kinds of materials to make things
• Sharing their excitement about learning and discovery
• Imagining things together
• Giving lots of encouragement, understanding affection & acceptance
• Showing you appreciate their efforts
Experiences like these are rich in learning for young children, before they start school and throughout their school years.
NSW Board of Studies and NSW Dept of Education (2000) Partners in Education: Parents Teachers and Children.
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