‘School readiness’ is a hot topic which almost everyone has an opinion on. Common questions we hear are “is my child ready for school?”, “will they struggle?” and “what can I do to help?”
Now, along with the obvious academic skills there are some crucial skills that should be considered but often get overlooked. These skills include their social-emotional skills and self-regulation.
Top Skills for School Readiness
Social-emotional skills
This refers to a child’s ability to interpret and understand their social environment so they can interact appropriately with others. These skills are required because it enables the child to:
Build meaningful relationships
Following the group plan and cooperate with group and individual instructions
Collaborate and cooperate with others
Respect others and engage with kindness
Regulate their own emotional needs and behaviour so they can stay connected
Self-regulation skills
This refers to your child’s capacity to recognise, interpret, and manage their own emotional needs and behaviour so they can remain connected to others. Self-regulation skills are particularly important for the following:
Regulating their own emotions so they can complete non-preferred school-based activities.
Understanding expected behaviour so they can maintain engaged in the daily routine and transition between activities confidently and easily.
Cooperate with others and manage their own emotional responses so they can establish friendships.
Manage stress and activity demands so they can finish the work that is expected of them.
Additional skills needed include:
Handwriting skills
This includes the ability to:
Write their own name and letters of the alphabet
Use visual-processing skills to orientate their work on a single page as well as attend to the white board/smart board during group tasks
Hold on a pencil independently so they can complete written activities when asked
Organisational and daily living skills
Ability to eat their packed meals independently.
Toilet training includes having the capacity to ask to use the toilet when needed.
Able to maintain their concentration for table based activities so they can meet the expectations of their classroom teacher
If you are unsure of whether your child is ready for school or you believe they require some additional support please do not hesitate to contact us.
At Bambini Health, we run social-skills groups, social-behaviour groups based on the Social Thinking curriculums, as well as school readiness groups to prepare children for school.
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