Childhood Readiness Research Paper

RYAN PORTER
I. Introduction (Website GreatSchools.org)
1. My topic for this paper is Assessing School Readiness According to Childhood Readiness. I chose to do this topic mainly because this issue has been occurring lately more and more in the education board discussions. Assessing a child into school at the right time will influence and have an effect on the way a child learns through school.
2. In today’s society about 68 percent of children aged four and below do not go to early childhood development and that has many consequences that can affect a child’s kindergarten and elementary school years
3. Preschool provides a foundation for learning both socially and academically that will help children succeed in Elementary School.
4. Preschool

Most preschool programs last a half day and provide structured activities and some preliminary studies to prepare your child for kindergarten.

II. Reasons why children don’t attend preschool (great schools.org and Nancy Neis)
A. Preschool is not free and the parents do have to pay for it and that is a reason why many children don’t go to preschool is because their parents can’t afford it
1. Ethnic minorities are a large percentage of the children who don’t attend
B. Parents are lazy and don’t care about the child’s early education
C. Transportation is a big issue because a lot of parents have jobs and most preschools are half days and do not provide transportation
D. Parents feel that preschool cuts into important play time and pushes a child to grow up to fast
1. This is a number one reason why parents don’t sent their children to preschool is because they feel that structured work can be saved for later

III. Consequences if kids don’t attend preschool before kindergarten (Nancy Neis)
A. They are already a year and a half behind the other kids who did attend preschool and the kids who didn’t attend preschool are going to be behind although out elementary school years
B. Kindergarten will be a different atmosphere because the children won’t be used to all day everyday

Children who participate in preschool education have more advanced skills in areas such as following directions, problem solving, and joining activities which allows kindergarten teachers more time to work directly with children and less time on classroom management

V. What children learn in preschool(School readiness and the transition to kindergarten)
A. In preschool they will learn poetry and many songs
B. They will learn the building blocks needed to grasp phonics and reading skills
C. They will learn matching
D. Sequencing
E. Graphing
F. Patterning
G. During group activities such as circle time children learn to focus attention on the teacher, listen while others are speaking and wait their turn to talk
H. They learn language and cognitive skills
1. Teachers help children stretch their language skills by asking thought provoking questions and introducing new vocabulary during times like science, art, snack time and other activities

VI. What kids should know before they enter kindergarten (Nancy Neis Kindergarten Teacher)
A. How to write name
B. Know letters and sounds (that is huge)
C. Shapes and colors
D. How to share
E. How to tie shoes

VII. Final suggestions
A. The best thing you can do for your child is to send them to preschool before kindergarten because it has so many benefits like all the ones I talked about