Starting your child in school is a big deal, and feeling confident in your child’s readiness is something that all parents struggle with, regardless of how socially comfortable or academically, if you like, ready they seem. This is why it’s so very important to arm your children with as much ‘school nouse’ as you can before they enter big school. This is where preschool comes in.
Preschool isn’t just daycare. There’s a big difference, but the two can work happily side-by-side in preparing your kids for the future. Everyone agrees that attending a high-quality preschool will prepare your kids sufficiently for their first year at school, and beyond.
The main differences between daycare and preschool are that daycare, or childcare, is usually a service used by working parents who need their children looked after during their working day, and most will care for children of all ages – babies through to preschoolers. Preschool is an early learning platform that focuses entirely on school readiness and early childhood education for 4 to 6 year olds. While there are some independent preschools in operation, most preschools are usually incorporated in to childcare programs catering to the wider age group.
Children gain a lot from attending preschool. They are exposed to numbers, letters, and shapes. And, more important, they learn how to socialise, how to get along with other children, how to share, how to contribute, and how to focus.
Children who attend a high-quality preschool start their first year of school (kindergarten or prep) with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic math skills than those who don’t.
Children don’t need to be able to read and write before school – that’s what school is for, but they do need to know how to fit in and contribute to a classroom environment, know to work independently and as part of a group, and be able to tend to their own needs such as dressing, eating, and going to the toilet. With these basic skills your child will start school with good social and behavior-management skills.
If you have any questions about school readiness or starting your child in preschool, please call Oxford Falls Early Learning Centre on (02) 9975 5650.
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