Bienvenido

School readiness is much more than knowing colors and most of the ABC’s, and readiness doesn’t begin at age 4. A school-ready child is eager to learn, experienced with language and numbers, possesses appropriate motor and perceptual skills, is willing and able to follow directions, and has the social skills to adjust to group life.

There’s no reason for most parents to be anxious about school readiness and feel the need for special efforts. Children who come from homes where the adults read, spend engaged time with their children, value literacy, and who have some experience with other children in child care, play groups, or preschool are usually well prepared for kindergarten. But there is much more to life than kindergarten. The material on this site is devoted to helping children succeed in school and life in the broadest sense while also enjoying childhood and family life.

What does the research say about school readiness?
A recent study by 17 states identified the following five factors as most important to a child's readiness for school:

1. Overall physical well-being and motor development: Having age-appropriate fine motor skills, which involve coordinating one’s eyes and hands to complete tasks such as stacking blocks, putting together puzzles, connecting Legos©, drawing, painting, or writing
2. Social and emotional development: Interacting positively with other children, taking turns, sharing, listening to others, developing empathy, and functioning as part of a group
3. Approaches to learning: The ability to follow through on one-step (“Hang up your coat.”) or multistep directions (“Get some crayons, take them to the writing table and have a seat.”), cooperativeness, persistence, independence, curiosity and creativity
4. Cognition and general knowledge: Developing an observant, inquisitive mind that looks at, labels, asks questions, notes similarities and differences, and solves problems
5. Language development and literacy: The development of a significant talking (expressive) and understanding (receptive) vocabulary and recognizing the relationships between letters and sounds

Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative – A 17 State Partnership. (February 2005). Sponsored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Prepared by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.

Click here to download the Bright Horizons School Readiness Study (PDF).