Readiness?
he aim of a school
readiness program
is to teach children the
fundamental foundation
skills for learning. In most
cases the classes comprise
of an intensive one-hour
session, once a week
during school terms. For
continuity of learning,
attendance for the whole
year is recommended.
In each session
children are
introduced to
a range of
concepts
that will prepare them for the
demands of their first classes
at `big school.'
Children can start the
program as early as two
years prior starting school.
Classes are tailored to suit
the age and ability of the
individual child.
In Literacy, children are
introduced to letters, sounds,
and words. Lessons include
learning individual sounds,
using sounds to make
words (blending), generating
the sounds for words
(segmenting) and exploring
words that start with the
sounds they know.
The programs tend to avoid
rote learning the alphabet
but rather strive to develop a
complete understanding of
the letters and their sounds.
Numeracy skills are
introduced to the children by
first teaching the numbers
1 through 10. Children learn
to recognise numbers
out of sequence, connect
the numbers to groups of
objects, and count forward
What is
School
With the introduction of the new Australian curriculum, parents are
looking for additional ways to help their child prepare for the academic
expectations of school. Some parents are choosing to send their little
ones to school readiness classes.
T