Parents are central to helping children develop and as their greatest teacher and role model we want to work together with you make sure all children feel happy, cared for, safe and ready to learn.
As part of our planning we asked families accessing Let's Play sessions what they would like to know more about to support their child to be school ready.
School readiness can mean different things to everyone.
The first 5 years of a child's life are important for preparing them to be school ready.
Parents attending our sessions shared that they were worried about teaching their child to read or write before starting school.
This document below was created to bust some of these common myths and make sure that parents/carers, practitioners and schools in Cheshire West and Chester had a shared understanding of what it meant for children to 'school ready'.
Cheshire West and Chester School Readiness Booklet - pdf
Lots of parents wanted to know more about what their child will need to be able to do for themselves by the time they start school. Its important to remember that all child develop at different rates but there are some things you could practice at home together to get started:
- Chat together throughout whilst doing daily routines, this will help your child develop the skills to communicate when they are hungry and want something to eat or when they are tired and need a rest.
- Encourage your child to practice washing and drying their hands by them self including turning the tap on and off and getting their own soap!
- Practice putting on and taking off their own coat and finishing off doing the zip when you start it. (try the coat flip trick! LINK).
- Practice opening and closing their snack box and use cutlery independently to feed them self.
- It might be useful to practice simple routines to help them do things independently - putting on own shoes, taking off and putting on jumper/cardigan.
- Think about letting your child choose what they want to play with and share their ideas with you.
- Explore and use use tools like scissors, spoons, and hammers to do different things together.
- Get creative and use lots of different things like paint, paper, and wool to make a picture using the materials.
- Encourage your child to try new and different things to help them develop a sense of self and what they like doing more than other things eg I may like painting and drawing more than dancing or singing.
Using the Toilet Independently
One of the most common topics requested by parents was how to support their child to use the toilet independently, including how to teach your child to wipe themselves. We have collated some useful resources that will give you lots of ideas to help at home:
Having Difficulty with Bottom Wiping - pdf
Toilets and School Readiness - pdf
Learning Bottom Wiping: A Step-by-Step Guide - ERIC
Sensory Needs and Toileting - ERIC