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Ensuring School Readiness for your Child

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If your child is just about to start preschool for the first time, the experience can be quite overwhelming. You obviously want what is best for your child, but you also need to balance between trusting their teachers to do the right thing. In addition, it will be a completely new experience for your child and it may take them sometime to get used to school life.

Ensuring school readiness is therefore a teamwork effort. It involves you, your child and teachers all being on the same page. Here are several important steps to keep in mind as you embark on the journey towards school readiness.

Emotional preparation

Starting school is a significant emotional process for both the parent and the child. You will find yourself undergoing mixed emotions; excitement about your child growing and taking the next big step in their lives, as well as the reality of watching them become independent and spend less time with you. All in all, emotional preparation for school readiness can be achieved by doing the following:

  • Visiting the school beforehand: this allows both you and your child to become accustomed to the school environment and to see how the classes look like, and if all the facilities the child needs are in place.
  • Meet the teachers in advance: it helps to become familiar with the teacher and begin to build a relationship with them
  • Get books about starting school for the children to read: there are great books that your child can begin to read to get more familiar with schooling life.

Practical preparation

Practical preparation involves carrying out all the relevant errands that are associated with school readiness. This involves taking your child uniform shopping, labeling their clothes so they don't lose them, and teaching them how to put their uniform on by themselves.

This is important because when the child starts school, they should know how to do much of these activities by themselves.

Academic preparation

Of course, your child is just beginning school so you can expect them to immediately become academic experts. However, there are several steps you can take to instill a mindset in your child that is ready for learning.

You can do this by getting them interesting books for them to read, teaching them to adhere to a specific timetable while at home, and even teaching them how to read and write their own name beforehand. This will give the child a head start towards school readiness and the confidence they will need moving forward.


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