Welcome to part 1 of our blogpost, All Things School Readiness!
It’s that time of the year where Occupational Therapist’s start receiving lots of pre-schooler referrals, to assist their parents in deciding whether to send their child to school the following year or whether to hold them back. This decision is particularly significant and topical within NSW, as children can start their primary schooling once they turn 5 before July 31st. When you factor in a child who was held back and turns 6 in January, Kindergarten teachers face the challenge of meeting the diverse needs within an 18-month age range.
When considering your child’s readiness for school, it’s valuable to focus on the skills they will need upon starting Kindergarten. With the work we conduct in a variety of school settings, it allows us to closely observe what these essential skills are. So, you might be wondering now, what specific skills are necessary for Kindergarten?
Self-Care Skills
Can they manage to open their snack packets, drink bottles, and lunch boxes?
Can they manage their uniform – put their own shoes and socks on, take a jumper on/off and do up their buttons and zippers?
Are they able to toilet independently?
Are they able to manage their own belongings? Can they keep all their school belongings together and bring it home each day?
Self-care skills are crucial for kindergarten readiness as they empower children to independently manage their daily routines and personal needs. These skills include tasks such as dressing themselves, using the restroom independently, and basic hygiene practices like washing hands. Mastering self-care fosters confidence, promotes a sense of responsibility, and enhances a child’s ability to participate fully in classroom activities and social interactions. Moreover, it lays a foundational groundwork for future academic and personal success by promoting autonomy and self-reliance from an early age.
Fine Motor Skills
Can your child hold a pencil with a functional grip?
While we talk about pencil grips a lot, the correct grip requires your child to have adequate shoulder, arm, hand and finger strength, good finger dexterity, a dominant hand established, with adequate motor control. Emerging evidence suggests a variety of pencil grasps are appropriate if the above skills and action of handwriting itself is not functionally impacted.
Can your child orientate their scissors and cut around shapes using fluid movements?
Learning how to hold and manipulate scissors correctly helps children strengthen their hand muscles and improve coordination. Additionally, mastering scissor orientation fosters spatial awareness and enhances creativity by enabling children to engage more effectively in arts and crafts projects.
Is your child able to write their name with the correct letter formations?
When your child is learning to write their name at home, it’s important not to let them get into bad habits with their letter forms. It is crucial they learn to write their names using NSW foundation font as they do at school. In addition to this, only the first letter of their name should be a capital.
Can your child draw basic geometric shapes?
Shapes are foundational skills for writing letters and numbers. It’s important that children learn to draw them before they start school and progress onto learning the alphabet and numbers. It is age appropriate for children to draw the following shapes before school:
- Vertical Line (2 years 10 months)
- Horizontal Line (3 years)
- Circle (3 years)
- Cross (4 years 1 month)
- Diagonal Line (4 years 4 months)
- Sqaure (4 years 4 months)
- X (4 years 11 months)
- Triangle (5 years 3 months)
Stay tuned for Part two of All Things School Readiness!