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One of the most common questions I need to deal with as educational psychologist (intern) is parent's concerns about school readiness. They ask questions like: "How do I know my child is ready for school?", or "How do I support my child to ensure school readiness?" or "Where do I start do get my child ready for school?".
My advice and experience as educational psychologist (intern) is:
RELAX. The process for preparing your child for school readiness is easier than you might think. Research has shown that it is not so much about the amount of formal learning, spending huge amounts of money, working through lots of workbooks and buying expensive learning material for your child. It's all about play!
Researchers describe play as a child's work or job. Educational psychologists have called play "a window into the child's world" and "an activity through which children gain control and come to understand life". According to Hymes (1968) play is: "... thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problemsolving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met."
School readiness entails developing the child as a whole. "Whole child" means: emotional, physical, social, mental ability and spiritual. So to have balance, all of these aspects have to be equally developed in your child.
In my next blog post, I will start discussing exciting practical ideas of how to develop a balanced, happy child while at the same time preparing your child to get ready for school.
In the mean time, please share this post with anybody who might also benefit from this information, and join my newsletter to receive up to date information.
Resources: (De Witt & Booysen1994; Gordon & Browne 2004)
My advice and experience as educational psychologist (intern) is:
RELAX. The process for preparing your child for school readiness is easier than you might think. Research has shown that it is not so much about the amount of formal learning, spending huge amounts of money, working through lots of workbooks and buying expensive learning material for your child. It's all about play!
Researchers describe play as a child's work or job. Educational psychologists have called play "a window into the child's world" and "an activity through which children gain control and come to understand life". According to Hymes (1968) play is: "... thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problemsolving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met."
School readiness entails developing the child as a whole. "Whole child" means: emotional, physical, social, mental ability and spiritual. So to have balance, all of these aspects have to be equally developed in your child.
In my next blog post, I will start discussing exciting practical ideas of how to develop a balanced, happy child while at the same time preparing your child to get ready for school.
In the mean time, please share this post with anybody who might also benefit from this information, and join my newsletter to receive up to date information.
Resources: (De Witt & Booysen1994; Gordon & Browne 2004)
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