Sarah Vanover - The Beginnings of School Readiness: Foundations of the Infant and Toddler Classroom

The Beginnings of School Readiness

The Beginnings of School Readiness

Foundations of the Infant and Toddler Classroom

Sarah Taylor Vanover

This book is dedicated to my husband, Rob, who read each and every draft and supported me every step of the way!

Contents

School readiness has become a popular term for preparing each young child to be successful in kindergarten. With increased elementary school standards and teacher accountability, kindergarten expectations have become rigorous. Children spend much of their day sitting in seats while working on early reading and math skills. There has been a huge shift from the play-based learning environment seen a generation or two in the past to beginning a traditional elementary education with five-year-old students.

Although many kindergarten classrooms begin by teaching alphabet letters at the beginning of the school year, by winter break, students are focused on reading short words. Young students are required to follow directions, focus on the teachers lessons, and demonstrate self-control. Physical activity during the school day is limited due to large academic demands.

As families look ahead to these daunting academic standards, they are often tempted to begin teaching their children these academic skills at a young age. Families who place their children in childcare programs frequently ask the preschool classrooms to focus more on the academic piece of school readiness; however, that is only one portion of the skills needed to be prepared for kindergarten.

When you ask kindergarten teachers, they will frequently tell you that they have been trained to teach children the alphabet and how to read. That is part of the yearly curriculum that they plan for their students. When students arrive at kindergarten without well-developed social skills, the ability to follow instructions, or the ability to zip their own coats, the kindergarten teachers must stop their academic curriculum to address other skills.

By this standard, school readiness means more than a young child who can identify letters and numbers. It means more than a young child who is prepared to learn to read. School readiness addresses skills in all of the developmental (e.g., motor, language, cognition, social, and emotional areas skills). Families and early childhood educators need to view school readiness with regard to preparing the whole child for the next stage of life in elementary school.

Defining School Readiness

School readiness can be defined as each child beginning school with the skills that he or she needs in order to benefit, to learn, and to be successful. Many early childhood specialists believe that school readiness goes far beyond the abilities of the children. Children are strongly influenced by those in their natural environment like family members, friends, teachers, and members of the community, so it is essential that each childs community encourages learning and support (Maxwell and Clifford, 2004).

The families and childcare programs must work together to create an environment that gives the student confidence to try new things and learn from past mistakes. Relationships are the foundation for additional learning. The teachers and caregivers must determine how each child learns (i.e., visually, kinesthetically) and find learning strategies for that student to be successful. It is also essential for the first few years of learning to be positive experiences so that children develop a thirst for knowledge. When we look at the areas of school readiness and the skills that children need to enter school, they can be divided into five categories:

Health and physical growth

Language and communication skills

Social and emotional skills

Independence and disposition skills

Cognitive and academic skills

Areas of School Readiness

Using five broad categories for school readiness skills seems very vague until you analyze the skills in each category. Led by Pamela High (2008), the American Academy of Pediatrics created a summary of these categories. They described health and physical skills to include health status, growth, and disability. Social and emotional skills include turn-taking, cooperation, empathy, and the ability to express ones own emotions. Independence and disposition skills include self-help skills like feeding, diapering, and dressing, along with enthusiasm, curiosity, temperament, culture, and values. Language and communication skills include listening, speaking, and vocabulary, as well as literacy skills like print awareness, story sense, and writing and drawing processes. Cognitive skills include problem-solving, sound-letter association, spatial relations, and number concepts. A summative list of school readiness skills would look like this:

Health and physical growth

eats a balanced diet

gets plenty of rest

receives all required immunizations and medical exams

runs, jumps, climbs, and does other activities that develop large muscles

uses pencils, crayons, scissors, paints, and other small motor activities

Language and communication skills

will speak with children or adults

speaks in five-word or six-word sentences

takes turns in a conversation

sings simple songs

knows full name

reads and writes own name

can recite home address, phone number, and birthday

knows how a book works

recognizes familiar print from surroundings (logos, traffic signs, etc.)

listens and responds to stories read to them

uses scribbles and drawings to express ideas

recites the letters of the alphabet

Social and emotional skills

plays and shares with other children

follows simple rules and routines

demonstrates pretend play

expresses own needs and wants

explores and tries new things

separates easily from parents and family

works well alone

is able to focus on one activity until it is complete

asks for help when encountering a problem

Independence and disposition skills

uses the toilet without help

fastens and unfastens clothing without help (zippers, snaps, Velcro)

feeds oneself using utensils

helps put away toys or clothing