I keep hearing parents discuss, ask, question and worry ‘is my child school ready?’
As parents, we constantly question ourselves – and this is no exception.
Is my child ready?
Will they need a nap during the day?
How will they feel with the sudden structure, and being without me?
Should I have some sort of checklist?
So, I’m here to offer my advice and my insight.
My answer to all the questions above.. Ok, here it is:
There is no hard and fast rule for ‘school ready’.
I have to say that I really don’t like the phrase ‘school ready’ AT ALL!
It suggests that our children need to reach some invisible milestone in order to walk in the school gates, or that they all need to be like robots ready to jump into action on the first day of term.
The truth is that children enter reception at a myriad of stages. Even the fact that there will be a year between the September and August born tells you this.
School starters are gloriously varied and that’s exactly how we like it!
Yes – some will be quite independent; many won’t.
Some will be able to write their name; most won’t.
Some will be delighted to be going to school; others will be anxious.
Everything is normal.
So when you read things about your child being ‘school ready’, my advice to you is this.
Don’t worry about your child.
They will be looked after and nurtured in school by the experts.
But you – you as the adult can get school ready.
You can find out about what happens behind those school gates day to day. You can educate yourself on what this country and government expects from our 4 and 5 year olds.
You can learn the jargon and the skills and the knowledge of what we teach in the classroom. Then you can hold your child’s hand gently as they move through this huge transition… and be there to support them all the way.
Let me help you – we are all in the same boat. My eldest child starts Reception in September – so I know EXACTLY how you feel.
This is why I have developed my 4th parents workshop:
How are you feeling about all of this?
If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you; just hit reply. Or you can find me, and nine thousand (yes, really!) other like-minded parents/teachers in my community Facebook group Ask A Teacher.
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