What should my child be able to do until he or she starts school?
Children develop at an individually different pace. In order for children to get off to the best possible start in their new “school” environment, a few factors should be checked before they start school. These are language development, social behavior and motor skills.The child’s language development can be checked by the following aspects: The child is able to express his wishes and needs with words He writes his name and simple words The child hears certain letters from individual words and is interested in them The child notices which word does not fit in simple rhymes, such as “mouse, house, garden, louse” In addition, social behavior plays an important role The child can follow rules The child is able to concentrate for about thirty minutes The child is able to fit into a group and perceive the feelings of other children of the same age The child can accept a “no” and withstand conflict situations To test the child’s fine and gross motor skills, the following points can help: The child is usually able to dress and undress well The child can easily use scissors or a pen He or she can jump over something with both legs at the same time, do jumping jacks and balance The child can sit still for more than 15 minutes
- The child can express its wishes and needs in words
- It writes its name and simple words
- The child hears certain letters from individual words and is interested in them
- The child notices with simple rhymes, like “mouse, house, garden, louse”, which word does not fit
- The child can follow rules
- The child is able to concentrate for about thirty minutes
- The child is able to fit into a group and perceive the feelings of other children of the same age
- The child can accept a no and withstand conflict situations
- The child can usually dress and undress well
- The child can use scissors or a pencil without any problems
- It can jump over something with both legs at the same time, make a jumping jack and balance
- The child can sit still for more than 15 minutes
As a parent you can practice coordination with your child very well.
Body control and fine motor skills are very important when playing, doing handicrafts and in the group. Possible everyday tasks are brushing teeth, tying bows, coloring pictures and folding paper. In addition, you can balance with the children over tree trunks, play bouncing games and ride a bicycle to promote whole-body coordination.
What you should also practice with your child is to take responsibility. For this you can give the child light household tasks, like wiping the table or watering the flowers. Or, when shopping, ask your child to remember three things from the shopping list, look for them and put them in the shopping cart.
Patience is just as important. School lessons can last a long time for the child. Patience can be practiced with the child by practicing sitting still at mealtimes, doing handicrafts such as beading or playing puzzles.
A good way is to let the child look at the book while reading aloud so that the text can be followed with the finger. This helps with learning the ABCs and understanding the direction of writing from left to right. To get the child to school as quickly as possible, you can “play school” with the child beforehand.
For example, you can cut out letters and numbers from paper and color them or draw templates so that the child memorizes the shapes. Rhyming is also a good exercise, as many children develop their imagination and desire to learn. In addition, you should encourage enthusiasm for school as much as possible. Some children look at school enrollment with mixed feelings and are afraid of the new. A joint purchase of school supplies, where the child can choose things like gym bags or satchels, can help.
