Is your child ready for school?

There is a lot of talk these days about school readiness and some of the challenges that elementary schools are seeing. Children are often arriving at school without the tools they need to thrive. As an environment for preschool age children, we are always cognizant of the skills we need to pay attention to for the sake of the child's ongoing school success.

While your child is part of our classroom we will be working with families to ensure that certain milestones are met.

1. First and foremost is potty training. Licensing requires us to only enroll children who are toilet independent. That means that they are able to do the entire toileting activity independently from acknowledging the cues that they need to go to the bathroom, all the way through wiping and putting their clothing back on. If you are in process at home, make sure that the expectation is that they try to do all of the aspects to the best of their ability. Starting the process in the two-year-old year takes advantage of the child's desire for independence and their fierce determination for autonomy.

2. Dressing themselves down to shoes and socks. We are often faced with being told that a child can dress themselves "with help". Too often, that means they can't actually dress themselves at all! Imagine how much help your child needs, then multiply it by 8 children! It would take all day. Practice offering the least amount of assistance and then backing away. It's okay for children to struggle a little and be frustrated! You may need to step away and tell them you'll be right back. You'll be shocked at how capable your children are. If they are truly struggling, consider slightly bigger clothing, and easy to put on shoes. Once they master the skill you can progress to more advanced clothing.

3. Practice walking WITH your child instead of carrying them. Your child's teachers are not averse to cuddles! But with many children, who all have valid needs, children who insist on being carried may have additional sad feelings when the adult cannot just pick them up.

4. Your children can carry their things! Lunchboxes, jackets, etc. are all their responsibility. They can do it!

5. Work on containers and lunch items that your child can open. Don't always open everything, see if they can do it themselves.

Let's make the start of school fun and ex