9 Tips for School Readiness

Learning, whether in the classroom or elsewhere, is based on a strong foundation of sensory and motor skills.

These skills can be developed through simple everyday activities, where your child has the opportunity to develop their physical and emotional awareness.

Time spent developing these skills early on will pay massive dividends in the long run, not only in the classroom, but throughout life. No digital devices, no flash cards, just games and other activities using their bodies, that you can do at home together.

  1. Sense of Balance

    A well-developed sense of balance will help your child to listen, sit up straight, focus and pay attention, listen, sit still and take their eyes away from the horizon to read a page of text. Reading difficulties, such as dyslexia, and ADHD-type behaviours, are often linked to immaturities in the sense of balance.

  1. Sense of Vision

    Good visual skills are essential for classroom learning, such as reading and writing. Your child’s eyes need to be able to work together as a team, and interpret the written symbols on the page.

  1. Listening (Auditory Processing)

    You know your child can hear, but how well can they listen? Can they tune out background sounds and focus on the teacher’s voice? Will they struggle to listen in a noisy room?

  1. Memory

    A good memory is essential for learning to read, to be able to memorise those  small sounds with in words, and follow instructions.

  1. Gross Motor Skills (the big muscles)

    Strong leg, arm, tummy and back muscles will help your child to maintain a good posture for learning, to sit still and focus in the classroom

  1. Fine Motor Skills (the smaller muscles)

    These little muscles develop after the bigger muscles, and will help your child hold a pencil and maintain focus while moving their eyes together across a page of writing.

  1. Hand-eye Coordination

    Your child’s eyes need to be able to work together and follow their hand movements in order to be able to write neatly and legibly and catch a ball

  1. Sense of Touch

    Our sense of touch helps us to connect to others, and also ourselves. It is an important sense for forming relationships, developing an awareness of feelings, empathy (noticing how others might be feeling)

  1. Communication Skills

    Good communication skills help with forming friendships, bringing thought to words, especially in creative writing tasks, and making meaning from written texts.

Tips for Raising Happy Healthy Children

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About Rosalind

Since 2005 Rosalind has been helping children with learning and behavioural challenges such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD and other sensory processing difficulties. She brings an holistic, or whole child approach, to counselling, and is passionate about helping children to realise their individual potential. She has a private counselling practise and sees clients in person at Moruya South Head.

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