The Best School Preparation

Most of us have been taught that knowing letters, numbers, shapes and colors are the keys to being ready to begin school. Mothers often speak of their child’s school readiness saying, "She knows the alphabet and most letter sounds and can count to twenty." But actually children don’t need academic knowledge before they start school - they really need listening skills, a good attention span, and fine motor skills.

Recently I read an article in which someone had asked a bunch of kindergarten teachers and a bunch of mothers of preschoolers what skills children needed before they started kindergarten. There was no overlap at all between the answers of the two groups! The mothers all mentioned academic things like letters and numbers. The teachers said listening skills, fine motor skills, and self discipline

So there’s nothing wrong with letters and numbers. But all the non-academic activities that people recommend for preschoolers are actually better preparation for school. Reading to your child develops listening skills and attention span. Projects like putting together puzzles, stringing beads, and cutting construction paper all develop fine motor skills and attention span. So does participating in household chores and cooking. There’s a lot of learning in sweeping a floor, planting a garden, or baking a batch of cookies - don’t sell them short! And of course, nature walks and trips to the zoo or train station or children’s museum develop curiosity and a love of learning. That’s probably the best school preparation of all.