Determining school readiness has changed significantly. This guide, drawing on expert insights, explores a holistic approach that moves beyond traditional benchmarks, emphasising continuous growth and tailored support for each child's unique journey into "big school".
The question, “Is my child ready for big school?” is a common one for parents as their little ones approach formal schooling. In recent years, the approach to determining school readiness has undergone significant changes. Traditionally, school-readiness assessments in Grade 0 focused heavily on evaluating whether children met specific academic and developmental benchmarks. However, this method often overlooked the individual growth and unique strengths of each child. Today, there’s been a shift towards a more holistic and supportive approach, emphasising continuous growth and tailored support. This guide explores this modern perspective on holistic school readiness in SA.
“The modern approach places less emphasis on traditional assessments and more on measuring and supporting pupil growth over time,” says Lynda Eagle, Schools Academic Advisor at ADvTECH. “This shift recognises that each child develops at their own pace and has unique strengths and areas for improvement. By focusing on growth, educators can better support pupils as they progress, extending their strengths and providing scaffolding, where needed”.
What Does School Readiness Truly Mean?
School readiness is an assessment of the degree to which a child is prepared to enter school and succeed in a learning environment, explains Eagle. When considering school readiness, there is a range of developmental areas, all inter-linked, that need to be considered: academic/cognitive, social, emotional, and physical. Collectively, healthy development across these areas will indicate that a child is ready and able to adapt and thrive in their new setting, she says. “School-readiness isn’t just about knowledge. It involves a child’s ability to adapt, manage their emotions, positively interact with others and follow routines”. This is crucial for Grade R preparation tips.
Key Areas of Development for School Readiness
Children’s development will differ according to their age and stage of development. The various elements considered for child development for school are broadly defined as follows:
- Physical Development: This includes both fine and gross motor skills that facilitate the child’s ability to control their body movements with increased accuracy and precision. The development of these skills ultimately prepares children for handwriting (letter and number formation) and more physical activities required when participating in sport, such as running, jumping, and throwing, catching, or hitting a ball.
- Cognitive Development: This is the ability of the child to process and demonstrate their understandings of foundational skills through problem-solving, the following of instructions, the sequencing of events, and the ability to reason and apply what they have learnt to new situations.
- Social Development: This considers the child’s ability to interact and collaborate with others, share, and take turns. It also involves whether they understand social cues and are able to interpret and respond appropriately to these, as well as recognise others’ emotions. Emotional, social and learning preschool activities greatly aid this.
- Emotional Development: This involves the ability of the child to self-regulate and manage their emotions and behaviours. It facilitates the building of the child’s self-confidence and ability to work independently – to make sound choices and operate in a community effectively. In the case of gifted children, who may be intellectually advanced well beyond their age group but not emotionally mature, parents need to be particularly aware of not prioritising academic achievement at the expense of the child’s social and psychological development.
School Readiness Assessments: A Child-Centred Approach
“When we fail to consider the age and developmental stage of a child, we risk trying to grow or develop their skills before they’re ready, or before they’ve had the necessary foundational experiences. This can have a lifetime impact if there’s a rush towards achieving school-readiness,” says Eagle. For parents undertaking a homeschooling readiness assessment, this gentle approach is key.
“An over-emphasis on academic skills can lead to moving to abstract concepts without providing enough concrete experiences. Measuring and judging pupils against uniform pre-determined norms or standards means that there’s a failure to recognise their unique needs, talents and dispositions. This approach places undue pressure on both the adults and the child to meet these milestones – often at the expense of developing important essential or soft skills”. Additionally, failing to consider cultural contexts means that norms are based on standards that do not align with the child’s unique experiences.
“Fostering a competitive environment can place pressure on a child’s well-being, sense of belonging and identity. When a child’s labelled as not ready, it implies that they’re unworthy, leading to judgement, rather than nurturing,” cautions Eagle.
Is the School Ready for Your Child? A Balanced Perspective
Eagle adds that parents and educators need to take a balanced approach by determining whether the school is ready for the child, and whether it can work with a framework that recognises the rights of the child by adapting and designing learning experiences that address gaps and challenges. This perspective is vital for supporting children’s growth.
“Rather than ticking boxes to determine school-readiness, it’s our duty to focus on the child’s emotional, social and mental health: only once they feel safe will they be open to learning. We must be flexible and adaptive, as well as inclusive and affirmative in our actions and behaviours; as well as in the language we use. The overriding recognition should be that children don’t mature or learn in the same ways. That’s as it should be and simply requires us to adjust accordingly,” says Eagle. For more information on child development stages, resources from organisations like UNICEF can be very insightful. In South Africa, Cotlands also provides valuable resources and programmes focused on early childhood development.
The journey to “big school” is a significant milestone where adopting a holistic school readiness in SA perspective is crucial. How do you approach school readiness for your child in South Africa? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
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