Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten?

Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten? ‘Being ready’ for kindergarten is not about a set of skills you need to make sure your child has before they start kindergarten. It is about preparing your child for this next transition and it is useful to think about the conditions you want present in your child’s life to ensure kindergarten is a positive and enriching experience for them.

Written by Ruth Hanson, Head of NAIS Early Year Campus

Big Decisions for Our Little Ones

‘Being ready’ for kindergarten is not about a set of skills you need to make sure your child has before they start kindergarten. It is about preparing your child for this next transition and it is useful to think about the conditions you want present in your child’s life to ensure kindergarten is a positive and enriching experience for them.

Language Skills

Being able to express oneself and being understood is very enabling. To develop your child’s language skills, you can support them by:

• Modelling simple sentences and phrases your child can imitate and use.
• Encouraging them to express their needs verbally, using these modelled phrases.
• Engaging in ‘real’ conversations with your child, where you take turns to talk and listen to one another.

Social Skills  

• Developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with others is a vital skill that we all need throughout life. We can help to prepare our children by:

• Playing simple games that require turn taking and sharing
• Visiting parks or play areas where they will share the space with other children, supporting them in their play and modelling turn taking and consideration
• Talking about feelings and emotions and looking at pictures of what the feelings may look like in others.
• Praising them when they recognise the feelings and needs of others.

Independence Skills

Here are some practical self-help skills that you can develop with your child. Consider these to see how they are getting along:

• Can they go to the bathroom by themselves?
• Can they cope without your company for part of the day?
• Can they complete the basic aspects of dressing themselves - even if the shoes are on the wrong feet or jacket is on backwards!
• Can they ask for help if they need it?

Remember, a kindergarten’s role is to care and teach your child, in partnership with the you. So, even if your child cannot do the above perfectly, a good kindergarten will understand their role to continue to develop these self-help skills with your child.

Is My Child Emotionally Ready for Kindergarten?

Emotional development is important to consider as your child approaches kindergarten. Consider the following questions and talk them through with your child’s teacher before they start kindergarten:

• How does your child deal with frustrations?
• Can they comfortably spend time apart from you?
• How do they like to be comforted?
• How do they approach new people and new tasks?

The Importance of Time and Relationships

When the big day finally arrives, do not rush the settling period. Allow your child time to get to know their teachers and carers and time to become familiar with the environment and the new routines that will be structuring their day.

If your child is not used to being separated from you, gradually increase the separation time, making those periods manageable for your child - they will soon come to realise that you always return. When your child sees you trusting the adults in the setting; smiling, laughing and chatting, they will often follow suit.

When settling a new child, I would always ask the parents questions, like the ones above, to help me understand and know their child. All of this information would help me respond individually to their child, helping them to feel safe and secure in their new kindergarten.

At Nord Anglia we know that children develop best when they feel safe and secure. Our pre-schools create a caring, inspiring and happy environment, where we build strong partnerships with the family in order to support every young child’s holistic development.