Starting school is a major milestone for children and a big deal for parents too. An exciting time in a child and parent’s life as your little one reaches yet another new life stage. But what is school readiness, and does it matter?
School readiness is a measure of the skills that enable a child to transition to school successfully. This is much more than the academic skills of learning to read and write or mathematics. It is the readiness of the whole child: Their physical skills - gross and fine motor, social skills, emotional skills, language and communication, cognitive skills and being independent in areas of self-care.
Starting school will require skills for classroom and outdoor activities whereby children learn to manage themselves without constant adult supervision. Each child will be required to work independently, participate in groups, share with others, follow multi-step instructions, communicate their needs, manage their emotions, understand rules, toilet independently, organise their belongings, use scissors, craft tools and pencils, recognise letters and sounds, navigating playgrounds, jump, throw, catch, run and much more!
Clarity & Me School Readiness program is occupational therapy designed, meaning it is carefully structured from a developmental lens. Our program works on foundational skills and brain building activities, the ones that grow vital brain connections crucial in early years development.
What are foundational skills? The skills that need to be mastered first before other skills can develop. e.g. learning to handwrite is not just about being able to hold a pencil, and tracing letters, it is much more. For accurate handwriting skills, a developmental progression of hand skills needs to be reached.
As an occupational therapist I've seen all types of pencil grasps some of which I've observed causes children pain, fatigue and creates frustrations later in cursive writing. In our example of handwriting these foundational skills are:
Gross motor (big muscle movements, trunk, arms, head)
Having a strong core (a stable base of support)
Upper body strength (strong shoulders and arms)
Bilateral co-ordination (co-ordination of one hand holding the paper, the other the pencil)
Developmentally appropriate pencil grasp
Developing a dominant hand
Fine motor skills including, dexterity, strength, and in-hand manipulation skills
Crossing midline (movement of your hand and eyes to cross the body's imaginary midline, the line down the middle of the body. As writing goes across the page across that midline!)
Visual Motor skills (interpreting what you see and co-ordinating eye and hand to produce a motor movement)
Recognising letters and numbers
Pre-writing strokes (the lines that children learn to form before handwriting)
This is just for handwriting! One of many areas we support.
Research shows children who are developmentally ready to learn do better in school.
Clarity & Me School Readiness Program is ready to help your child make that transition a positive experience. If your child is heading to school over the next year or two, it’s always a good idea to start our school readiness program early so goals can be practiced or individual therapy can be offered. Our program is also available if your child has commenced school and you’ve noticed they need some support.
Get in touch! We want to give your child as much opportunity so they grow confidently and successfully in that critical first year.