The school environment is different to childcare in the sense that there is much greater expectation on your child. Your child is now expected to do more independently and to show their ability without assistance.
Language Concepts
A Prep aged child should understand language concepts like ‘before’ ‘after’ ‘first’ ‘last’ and so on. This is vital for being able to interpret and follow instructions from teachers. Can they be clearly understood by strangers?
Narrative Skills
Your child should be able to tell a coherent story about an event in the past with a beginning, middle, end and a cohesive theme. “Yesterday we went to the shops. My brother fell down and daddy laughed.”
Early Literacy
Your child should know what sounds letters make. Can they tell you the first sound in ‘cat’ is a /k/ sound?
Social Skills
Your child should at least be beginning to share with others, verbally initiate play with others and ask adults appropriately for things. Do they use their words when upset to tell you what’s wrong and how to fix it? Can you verbally negotiate with them? Can they ask for help appropriately before getting too upset?
What Can You Do?
First, if you suspect that your child may be having problems in any of the areas above, act now. We can’t stress this enough. 6 months is a lot of time, if you use it wisely. Please don’t wait till October or November. Talk to us now and sort it out. Often we can advise you on what you can do at home to fix things without the need for further therapy. We also excel at teaching and showing childcare educators how to help.
