Each September with the start of a new school year, the children of the kindergarten become students of primary school. The integration of children into the school community is a big change in their lives. In addition to feelings of joy, it causes anxiety and anguish for parents, who wonder if their child has the qualities and conditions that make them ready to accept the new demands since they will have to learn to write, read, count in a relatively short period of time as well as adjust to it with new rules and unfamiliar people.
School success is directly linked to school readiness.
A school-ready child must have reached a certain level of development in terms of physical development, psychosocial/emotional and language/cognitive development in order to successfully meet the demands of primary school.
Most children have reached this level of development and qualify for inclusion around the age of 6.
However, there are some children who, although they are at this age and formally entitled to attend first grade, are not yet 'mature' enough to cope adequately with this new role.
Scientific research findings show us today that language readiness is a predictive indicator for the mastery of the mechanisms of first writing and reading. This is because the language system is one and the same. Oral and written language have common foundations, so that any immaturity or disorder in oral language has an impact on the learning of Writing and Reading.
What do we mean by a linguistically ready child?
By the age of 6, most children have successfully mastered the basic part of oral language. This has been achieved by completing the phonological system and perfecting morpho-syntax:
- By the completion of the phonological system we mean the child's pure articulation, i.e. being able to produce all consonants correctly.
- To be phonologically aware (e.g. to divide words into syllables).
- By perfecting morpho-syntax we mean being able to apply complex grammatical rules in the spoken word.
- To use the verb tenses (present, past and future) correctly when speaking.
- To know and use the concepts of space and time (up and down, today and tomorrow, etc.).
- Also have a rich expressive vocabulary of about 3,000 words. Use main and subordinate clauses and be able to link events with cause and effect relationships (e.g. 'Mum, let's get an umbrella because it's going to rain').
- To be able to retell a story/fairy tale they heard.
- To give an adequate account of events in his/her personal life (e.g. how he/she spent his/her time at school).
Language readiness as well as the early treatment of speech problems during preschool play a crucial role in the smooth adaptation and further academic progress of the child at school. Research has shown us that the relationship between learning difficulties is directly related to speech and language problems.
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