How Can I Help My Child Get Ready For School?

Scientists who study how the brain works have shown that children learn earlier and learn more than we once thought possible. From birth through age 5, children are developing the language, thinking, physical, emotional and social skills that they will need for the rest of their lives.

The Get Ready For School program is for families and caregivers who want to help their preschool children to learn and develop some of the skills necessary for success in school.

As a parent, you can help your child want to learn in a way no one else can. That desire to learn is a key to your child's later success. Enjoyment is important!

The first five years of a child's life are a time of tremendous physical, emotional, social and cognitive growth. Children enter the world with many needs in order to grow: love, nutrition, health, social and emotional security and stimulation in the important skills that prepare them for school success. Children also enter the world with a great capacity to learn.

Research shows clearly that children are more likely to succeed in learning when their families actively support them. Families who involve their children in activities that allow the children to talk, explore, experiment and wonder, show that learning is both enjoyable and important. They motivate their children to take pleasure in learning and to want to learn more. They prepare them to be successful in school and in life. There is a strong connection between the development a child undergoes early in life and the level of success that the child will experience later in life. When young children are provided an environment rich in language and literacy interactions and full of opportunities to listen to and use language constantly, they can begin to acquire the essential building blocks for learning how to read. A child who enters school without these skills runs a significant risk of starting behind and staying behind.

While the No Child Left Behind Act is important because it ensures that public schools are teaching students what they need to know to be successful in life, it also draws attention to the need to prepare children before they start school. You and your family help to create this critical foundation by talking, listening and reading to your child every day and by showing your child that you value learning and education.

The Get Ready For School program includes activities for families with children from 3.5 through age 5 but remember children all develop at different rates, what your child cannot achieve today, with a bit of practice, may be very easy to do tomorrow. Some of the activities make learning experiences out of the everyday routines in which you and your child already participate. The activities are designed to be fun for both you and your child as well as helping your child gain some of the skills needed for school. Enjoy them!

How Can I Help My Child Get Ready For School?