Starting school is a monumental moment in a child’s life! Make sure your child enjoys their first educational experiences by preparing them for it! To have a successful and happy start to school, there are several key communication skills that will help your child adjust. While all children develop at different rates and all children have a right to be accepted as they are, here are some of the key areas where you, as a parent/caregiver, can help prepare your child. Here are the key things your child needs to understand before starting school, to stay on track and even excel:

– Language development: Child speaks confidently, has a good vocabulary, has been exposed to books, and exhibits pre-reading skills and a desire to read.

– Social maturity: the child makes friends easily and is able to cooperate with others; he is secure, confident, and independent in activities rather than thought (eg, he is able to go to the bathroom on his own).

– Behavior and discipline: The child accepts and respects authority, is obedient and can sit still and listen.

– Health: The child is in good health and has also acquired certain physical skills. He also has the ability to cope with personal hygiene.

– Desire to learn: The child is curious.

– Specific skills: the child can use equipment (such as scissors or a pencil); count, recognize letters, know his address and write his own name.

To get started, take a few quick checks to see how ready your child is for school:

Can your child:

– Listen to stories, learn rhymes and recognize and name colors?
– Play, share, take turns and adapt to do things differently?
– Cope with change and deal with challenges?
– Dressing alone, pulling up and down his pants, wiping his buttocks and washing his hands?
– Talk socially and express their needs?
– Run, jump, catch, swing and dance?
– Cut, paste and use pencils?
– Recognize numbers and start counting?

Information on the B4 School Check, a checklist New Zealand’s Plunket recommends all four-year-olds review, can be found on this website: http://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/articles/is-your- child-school -Ready/

How a speech therapist can help

Below are the key skills related to communication and social skills with which a speech and language therapist can help prepare your precious child for school.

Communication skills:

Start and maintain conversations with adults and other children.
Speak clearly and audibly and maintain eye contact.
Speech is understood by people other than immediate family.
Speak without yelling or whispering
Answer inferential questions, eg why? Whats Next?
Describe recent experiences.
Recite rhythms and sing songs.
retell stories
Understand prompts/instructions and seek clarification
Carry out three directions in sequence
Listen carefully and answer questions in a group situation.
Talk reciprocally with classmates and participate in the conversation.
Interrupt conversations appropriately
Join a conversation appropriately

Social skills

Look at a person when they are speaking and make “eye contact”
Comply with requests, cease activity when requested
Manage frustration and avoid tantrums
Wait patiently for several minutes for adult attention.
Sit at a table and work for 10 minutes (with help)

separated from parents

Start an activity independently.
Ask for and accept help if needed
Play in an activity for 20 minutes or more
Play cooperatively with friends for 20 minutes or more
Share your own toys with friends.
Take turns in a small group game without help
Understand the needs and feelings of others.

emotional skills

Cope with change
Can be separated from parents easily
Fulfill requests to finish an activity when prompted
You can share your own toys.
Take turns in a small group without help
Has reasonable control over emotions.
Can fend for himself on the playground
You are responsible for your own possessions.

Intellectual skills

Can work independently on an assigned task
You can order and combine elements according to simple attributes (size, function, color)
Able to sustain attention in a group setting.
Draw a recognizable picture of your family.
Name basic shapes and colors.
Able to count objects up to 10