What makes a child ready for school?
There is no singular answer to that question. Some individuals believe it may be self-help skills such as toileting, opening their own food or tying their shoes. For others, it may be establishing social and emotional understandings and resilience. Yet for others, it will be to write their name, count to 10 and know their alphabet. Whatever your personal beliefs are on this, the science is overwhelming. For children to thrive to school, they need a sense of self-worth, social skills, emotional understanding, appropriate physical and muscular development, abilities to communicate, levels of resilience or emotional regulation and importantly, positive dispositions towards learning. It is when children are curious, excited to learn and feel capable of learning, that they are truly ready to learn!
We have a long way to go in Australia to apply the emerging research about early years appropriate pedagogy to support school readiness in the one or two years before formal schooling begins. There is still massive pressure from families, companies or even perceived social pressures within the sector for early years educators and teachers to 'get children ready for school' in a push for school readiness. This often equals children being sat down for formal ‘group times’ for upwards of 15-20 minutes or more! Formal learning are literacy and numeracy concepts, teaching children to count by rote, to write their name when they can’t yet use a pencil grip in their hand and learn a letter a week are still sadly all too often, seen as expected, and even more as evidence of ‘learning.’
Children at the age of 3-5 are not built to sit still. They are built to run, climb, crawl, spin, scream, yell, play-fight one another, throw things and push their minds and bodies to the limits. They do this, so that they develop those bodies and minds. Without us giving children the time, space and opportunity to move and play in this way, they end up developmentally unready for school both neurobiologically and physically. This focus on getting children ready for school, by making early learning services a miniature version of school, often creates a push back from children who are not developmentally ready to learn in this way. At Phoenix Support for Educators, we strongly advocate for age-appropriate curriculum and pedagogy decisions, and believe that there is absolutely no need for a preparatory preparator (pre-prep) year. We need to give children one last year of childhood to allow them to grow and develop physically, socially, and emotionally, before attempting to 'institutionalise them.'
Teaching children compliance through listening at large group times, sitting for extended periods of time with large groups of children, and learning to write and read before they're ready does not get them ready for school. In fact, it may have the opposite effect we are aiming for. Consider a common child we have all met – let's call him Johnny. Johnny is a child who has a big developmental need to move his body. He needs to breathe the fresh air and run. He learns best by doing (as most children do). He loves receiving deep proprioceptive input through heavy work – every time you turn around he is hefting something up that he probably shouldn’t be lifting, hanging from a tree branch way over your head or wrestling a friend on the ground in a playful game of rough and tumble play. Whenever Johnny is ‘strongly encouraged’ to attend group time, where he has to sit with his legs crossed, on a scratchy mat, with his hands still, mouth closed, eyes forward and actively listen... We can all picture how he is going to respond. He is going to wriggle and jiggle and fidget, talk out of turn and repeatedly distract everyone around him. This is not because he is not interested in what we are discussing, or the book we are reading, but because his body and brain are not developmentally ready to do this yet.
In fact, this is relevant to all children in our service as research tells us that children will learn most effectively in groups of children that equal their age plus 1. So for the year before school, that is groups of 5-6 children or less. Additionally, children’s concentration span for adult-led activities it is suggested to be approximately 3 minutes multiplied by their age – so approximately 12-15 minutes at the top end.
Consider then, a key element of school readiness is a positive disposition towards learning, a love of acquiring new knowledge and skills and an intrinsic belief, that “I can do this. I am good at learning. I am excited to learn.” What belief and disposition to learning is encouraged in children like Johnny? In our formalised experiences focused on ‘school readiness,’ all he is learning is “This is not fun. I can’t do this. I always get in trouble. I don’t want to sit here. I don’t like it.” So whilst we are focusing on preparing children for school by exposing them to school routines, we in fact may be hampering their readiness for school by creating a negative attitude towards learning and learning environments.
Longitudinal and focused studies are plentiful and have overwhelming evidence that children learn best through play, interest-based, inquiry and project based programs. Children that receive more physical input, outdoor time, sensory stimulation and child-led, open-ended play have significantly more positive short and long-term outcomes. These outcomes register across all domains, including socially, professionally and academically, as well as positive health outcomes for physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
It is important for your opinion on this topic to be an informed one - consider the below links and resources then develop your own statement around how you could support healthy and successful transitions to school and push back on the push down for school readiness.
Australian Government Links and Resources
Age-Appropriate Pedagogies
Age-appropriate pedagogies presented on the QLD Government Early Childhood Education and Care website provides shared language around effective early years pedagogies and a decision-making framework. The framework has strategies and tools aimed to support Early Childhood Teachers supporting children through the transition into formal schooling with the aim to develop a whole-school approach to pedagogy through:
- Actively engaging children in purposeful learning experiences.
- Enhancing learning outcomes.
- Building positive dispositions towards learning, now and in the future.
Supporting Successful Transitions
Effective transition programs are based on strong relationships and communication between the child, their family, early education and care services, the school and the community. Government agencies outline expectations, roles and strategies to support transitions.
QLD Government Early Childhood Education & Care
TAS Government Education, Children & Young People
VIC Government Education & Training
Supporting Successful Transitions Inquiry Guide / School Decision Making Tool
A framework kit for schools to reflect on age-appropriate pedagogies for children entering school. Sets out a 4-step process to assess current practices, then develop (and measure the effectiveness of) your transition to school strategies and practices while working with community partners to create evidence-based actions.
First Year at School - Essential Tips for Parents and Carers
By Early Childhood Australia and the Australian Primary Principals Association. Full of information, this book helps parents support their child through the transition from early years education into school.
Transitions: Preparing Children and Young People for Change
Video exploring the emotional and mental health impacts of change for children through the transition to school. Includes practical tips and information to manage the potential impact of transitions on the mental health of children, young people and their families.
Continuity of Learning: A resource to support effective transition to school and school age care
This first national resource has been developed by the Educational Transitions Continuity and Change research team at Charles Sturt University and includes effective transition practices, which reflect the experiences of children, families, educators and communities as they support transitions to school and school age care. This document links directly with the Early Years Learning Framework.
ACECQA Article: Transitions to School
Blog article by Rhonda Livingstone provides links, resources, research and ideas for early years educators to support children through the transition to school.
Opinions and Blogs for Rethinking School Readiness
Royal Children’s Hospital, Centre for Community Child Health & Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
This brief focuses on what the research tells us about the nature of and pathways to school readiness. It emphasises the importance of schools, services and communities supporting children and families and providing the conditions and experiences needed to ensure that all children reach school able to take advantage of the academic and social learning experiences that schools provide.
Benefits of High Quality Child Care Persist 30 Years Later
Adults who participated in a high-quality early childhood education program in the 1970s are still benefiting from their early experiences in a variety of ways, according to a new study.
School Readiness and Learning – Is your child ready for school?
Maggie Dent explores the impacts of starting school too early and the shift within the National Curriculum towards pushing academic learning younger within the schooling system.
New Study Discovers the Best Age for Starting School
Research has demonstrated the benefits of delaying school entry for children. Ongoing and new emerging research in the field.
Research Finds No Advantage in Learning to Read From Age Five
A University of Otago researcher has uncovered for the first time quantitative evidence that teaching children to read from age five is not likely to make that child any more successful at reading than a child who learns reading later, from age seven.
The Incredible Ridiculousness of Readiness
What is the meaning of “readiness” when we consider schooling for children? Susan Ochshorn argues that effective early years education leads to lifelong outcomes, and this process requires reimagining of the current system as children grow into active, innovative, and productive citizens through play, hands-on investigation, and engagement with their peers and adults.
Experts Warn Starting School Too Young Harms Learning and Wellbeing
Collating several research works, this article discusses that children in Australia start school younger than almost anywhere else in the developed world, up to two years ahead of students in top-performing countries such as Finland and Korea. The impact this has on children’s learning and development is explored in light of scientific research.
Delayed Kindergarten Enrollment and ADHD
Delaying kindergarten enrolment for one year shows significant mental health benefits for children according to a recent study. Findings included delaying kindergarten for 1 year reduced inattention and hyperactivity by 73% for an average child at age 11.
School Readiness: A Conceptual Framework
What is school readiness? Why is school readiness important? And what are the consequences of inaction? This paper presents a broad concept of school readiness and explores children’s readiness for school, schools’ readiness for children, and families’ and communities’ readiness for school.
4 Things Worse Than Not Learning to Read in Kindergarten
A parent perspective and case study on school readiness and the role of early years education for children and families.
Is Your Child Ready for School? - Maggie Dent
Supporting Agency (acecqa.gov.au)
Resources (education.qld.gov.au)
School readiness (louiseporter.com.au)
How to Explore Maths in the Early Years | Phoenix Support For Educators