Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/some-misunderstandings-of-school-readiness/5018049/
The phrase ‘school readiness’ was, until recently, most often used in connection with a child’s preparedness to meet the demands of a first grade classroom. With the contemporary push down of the curriculum, readiness is now taken to mean the child’s preparedness to meet the demands of kindergarten. Whether in regard to first grade or kindergarten, this way of thinking assumes that school readiness resides entirely in the child’s head. It also assumes that readiness is primarily academic, namely, knowing one’s letters and numbers. In addition, readiness is often taken to mean that a child has acquired his or her knowledge of numbers and letters through one or another form of academic instruction. Finally, another interpretation of readiness is that it is a matter of maturation and is related to age. While all of these ideas about readiness are understandable, they happen to be incorrect. They are a misunderstanding as to what readiness is all about.Readiness is in the child’s head
The belief that school readiness exists within the child’s head does not stand up when examined a bit more closely. Consider the following analogy. If you are a runner who is trained to compete in a race, you are ready for ...