Children gain a lot from attending pre-school

I have two children and my first born is in kindergarten. My second-born daughter is two years and two months. Every morning when her brother is leaving for school, she cries and throws tantrums, saying she also wants to go to school.

 

She speaks fluently, and also sings many nursery rhymes. Is it okay to take her to kindergarten in September this year? 

 

Dear Rehema, 

How lucky you are to have such a bright and assertive two-year-old. While she will not actually be in kindergarten until she is about five years old, start searching now for an early childhood education programme. It may be on the same premises as a quality kindergarten.

 

There are childcare centres that will accept babies and toddlers for full-time, year around programmes, but these are generally an option for working parents, who need their children to be taken care of all the time. 

 

An actual pre-school educational programme is for three and four-year-old children.   

Kathleen McCartney, PhD, dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education, says: “There is increasing evidence that children gain a lot from going to pre-school.

 

At pre-school, they become exposed to numbers, letters and shapes. And more important, they learn how to socialise — get along with and share with other children.” 

 

In a quality pre-school setting, young children should not just be sitting down to be taught letters and numbers. 

 

At your daughter’s age and up to the time she is in kindergarten, she will learn best by having fun and acquiring social skills. Hopefully, she will be encouraged to ask creative questions that start with “why” or “how”. Her teachers need to help her find answers through conversation, exploration and experimentation.

 

Now is a good time to start investigating which pre-primary nursery school would be good for your daughter as there can be waiting lists at the better schools. 

 

Some schools start accepting pupils at two years of age; others do not begin enrolling them until they are three or four years old. Starting off part-time instead of a full day stay at school is recommended for two and three-year-old children to help them adjust more easily. 

 

Your search should include finding out the essentials like location and price, but also, if the pre-school meets the quality benchmarks of above minimum health and first aid, safety and hygiene, and cleanliness standards.

 

Ensure that your child’s primary teacher has been trained at one of the institutions of Early Child Education and Care. Find out what the curriculum will be. 

 

Have a list of questions ready when you go to visit a prospective school. Is there a safe outdoor playing area? Do you see lots of fun toys and books? Is the art displayed on the walls or just pages from colouring books or have the children had the opportunity to be creatively expressive in an individual way? 

 

Are the children allowed to choose some activities independently? If you feel comfortable at the school when you visit, it is probably because you feel your child will enjoy being there and you feel confident that she will be well-cared for there. 

 

If a proper school is not available, or you decide that she is not quite ready to go to school, there are steps you can take in the meanwhile. Gather your friends and acquaintances who have other two and three-year-olds in the neighbourhood, mosque or church and see who is willing to get together once or twice a week to have a group play date. 

 

You may be able to take turns meeting at each other’s homes. Arrange planning some activities for the gatherings of the toddlers.

 

 

 

 

Dear Rehema,

You must be anxious to see your daughter begin kindergarten. Your anxiety notwithstanding, you need to keep in mind that there is time for everything. Your daughter can only begin school when she is ready to do so. This is because a school environment comes with challenges that a child has to be ready to face. 

 

The concept of readiness is, therefore, critical especially for kindergarten education. A child who is attending kindergarten for the first time should be assessed for readiness. Your daughter will only benefit from kindergarten experience when she is ready for it. 

 

How do you tell your child is ready for school? In Uganda, many kindergartens still use a child’s date of birth to determine readiness. However, research shows that a child’s chronological age is only one of the benchmarks used.

 

Readiness is much broader than chronological age. In assessing a child’s readiness for kindergarten, we look at the social, emotional, mental and physical abilities. 

 

A child should be able to regulate her emotions, to share and to take turns with others. She should also be able to understand and accept rules, such as sitting in a circle quietly, waiting in line, and adapting to a classroom routine.

 

Together these features define some of the contributing skills that promote kindergarten readiness. 

 

Can your daughter listen to and follow instructions at her age? She needs these skills to function in class, to keep up with the teacher and with her peers. Has she learnt toilet skills? She needs sufficient bowel and bladder control skills before joining school. Can she work together with others as part of a group? She will be interacting with other children all day, so her social skills are particularly important. 

 

Play is a critical learning component at kindergarten. Play style varies and gets more sophisticated as a child develops. At two, your daughter most likely plays by herself and has little interaction with others.

 

Collaborative play that involves sharing, taking turns, obeying rules and negotiating often comes around the age of four.

 

Throwing tantrums or desiring to attend school is not a factor considered in determining a child’s readiness for school.

 

Yes, your daughter speaks fluently and can sing nursery rhymes, but there is more to school readiness than these abilities. Your daughter should be emotionally ready to handle separation from her parent or caregiver and be able to place her trust in the teachers. 

 

For a two-year-old, this might be too much to expect. How about waiting for just one more year? Did you know that children develop a strong bond with parents or caretakers and premature separation can inflict lasting emotional wounds?

 

This bond lays a foundation for emotional stability and prepares the child for future relationships.  At her age, your daughter’s world revolves around the home, family members and parents.

 

She is not yet socially and emotionally ready to expand her world to include a multitude of children and teachers in a strange school environment.

 

This readiness comes with age and cannot be rushed. The last thing you want is for your daughter to start her school years off with a negative impression of school. 

 

School should be something exciting that she looks forward to. It is at kindergarten level where the foundation is laid.

 

 Anything that goes wrong at this level might be recipe for a stormy educational journey ahead.