WHAT IS SCHOOL READINESS? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The school readiness or readiness consists of teaching and stimulating by means of different techniques and specific activities the development of young children, both physically, as well as mentally and psychologically.

Preparation is considered to be a process that, regardless of age, time or stage, accompanies us for the rest of our lives. It serves as a preamble or an introduction to any activity that you want to start and depending on the choice, the activities to be carried out will be different.

In the case of school readiness, we find that it begins at a very early age and works to promote and stimulate the correct development of skills, abilities and good habits.

What is the preparation for?

Preparation is like a preparation process that serves as a prelude to when the time comes for the children to arrive at school. School readiness guarantees, both for parents, teachers and other classmates, the correct behavior and adaptation of infants to the school environment.

This process can be recommended by different family psychologists, since it has been shown that on some occasions and opportunities children can suffer from an emotional shock when they become in such a complex stage, such as school.

The preparation can help to overcome fears, nerves and reinforce the ease and spontaneity.

Basically, school readiness aims and purposes to capture the child's attention and that thanks to the implementation of the respective activities, their concentration can be increased and improved, resulting in the completion of planned activities.

Preparation characteristics

-It is a gradual and progressive process. It begins with organized activities that gradually capture the child's attention until a specific goal is reached.

-Stimuli are usually carried out through the senses: sight, touch and hearing are the fundamental approaches and the main areas on which this technique is based to capture the attention of infants.

-School readiness has an Aristotelian approach, where children are taught from the broadest notions, to particular concepts. The abstract and symbolic becomes concrete and representative.

-Thanks to school readiness, the child can have greater social development and a greater capacity for solving problems and conflicts; this can be evident in the long term.

-Recognizing education as something fundamental in the life of any person and a process that lasts many years, this technique is intended to stimulate the child's adaptation to the school environment without problems, recognizing that he will be exposed to it for a long time.

-With school readiness, all the capacities that the child possesses in an innate way are maximized and demonstrated at a higher level.

-School readiness is done for educational purposes and can change –for the better– the behavior of a child: it will increase their maturity and their ability to concentrate.

-The school readiness, mainly, is responsible for developing 7 areas in the child. Starting with a greater socio-affective development, the child will be able to identify her emotions and seek a logical and clear solution to any inconvenience.

-In second and third place, they will have greater body and language development, respectively. The child will increase her ability to recognize time-space.

-In addition, you will improve your coordination and relate in a better way with your environment and the people who are involved in it. Finally, you will develop both your sensitive and perceptual abilities.

-To carry out school readiness, obviously, the involvement of the children is necessary, but also the caregivers or teachers.

-The school readiness, usually begins with the first teachings of the alphabet, numbers and colors. In this way, she has a greater contact with the language but also with the memorization process.

-The activities to be carried out must force the child to use their abilities to express themselves orally, but also visually (through reading and writing). There must be a challenge at the level of time and space, in addition, children have to learn to distinguish small differences and similarities between objects, as well as their color, texture and size.

-Finally, it is important to mention that in addition to being gradual, the activities are according to the different personalities, capacities and characteristics of each child. Therefore, you have a prior planning that allows you to identify the objectives to be achieved.

Importance of school readiness

In a terminological sense, the word readiness means “to be ready” and it is precisely that meaning that makes this technique so important that it is less and less frequently mentioned in schools and preschools.

There, the teachers and caregivers are concerned about complying with a rigid program that does not allow the entrance to the teaching of techniques that will undoubtedly be useful to the children in the long term.

If children are taught to be ready for any challenge they may face, they will be raising good men and women, who in the future will not be afraid of any obstacles or difficulties that may arise.

As for school readiness, it is fundamental in the life of any human being, because the development of all their capacities depends on this.

That is, if a child does not receive a correct school readiness in a literacy sense, in the future, there will be an adult with reading problems, or with little understanding of what is read.

Techniques used by school readiness

Some of the methods and activities most used in school readiness are the following:

1. Stories: Stimulate children's imaginations. Depending on the activities you do, it also helps improve your memory and attention.
2. Poetry: With poetry, children can get used to the rhythm and as with stories, to improve their memory and attention. If they are read by themselves, it will help their reading to be more fluid and spontaneous.
3. Conversations: Helps infants to have a better order of their ideas and greater clarity when communicating.
4. Rhymes: Due to their length, they attract children's attention and help them think and memorize.

References

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2. Cruz, OH (2000). School initiation rituals. The case of a Costa Rican Caribbean school. Education Magazine, 24 (1), 61-76. Recovered from: magazines.ucr.ac.cr
3. Duncan, GJ, Dowsett, CJ, Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, AC, Klebanov, P.,… & Sexton, H. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental psychology, 43 (6), 1428. Recovered from: psycnet.apa.org
4. MERINO, C., HONORES, L., GARCÍA, W., & LIVIA, J. (2014). School Readiness Tests for First Grade: A Comparative Psychometric Assessment. Peruvian Journal of Psychometry, 1 (1). Recovered from: rppsicometria.com.pe
5. Raver, C. (2003). Young children's emotional development and school readiness. Social policy report, 16 (3), 3-19. Recovered from: researchgate.net
6. Raver, CC, & Knitzer, J. (2002). Ready to enter: What research tells policymakers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three-and four-year-olds (No. 0205). Recovered from: ideas.repec.org
7. Shepard, LA, & Smith, ML (1986). Synthesis of research on school readiness and kindergarten retention. Educational Leadership, 44 (3), 78-86. Recovered from: eric.ed.gov.