Psychological readiness for school is best determined a year before admission to school, in this case there will be time to correct or correct, what needs it.
Many parents think that the readiness for schooling is only in the mental readiness of the child. Therefore, lead the child to the development of attention, memory, thinking.
However, the child's psychological readiness for schooling has the following parameters.
- Motivational readiness is the most important component of readiness for school, it consists in the child's motivation for learning activity. Distinguish internal and external motivation. If you ask the child if he wants to go to school, many will say "I want". But it will be different "I want". External attributes are associated with external motivation, for example, "I want a pencil case like my sister's" or "I want a beautiful portfolio." The internal motivation of the child is related to the desire to acquire knowledge, to learn.
- Volition readiness. It consists in the fact that the child is able to act on command, according to the appropriate pattern. A child, neglecting his desires, must be able to follow certain rules.
- Communicative readiness . The child should have the skills to interact with adults (teachers), and with their peers. When communicating with adults, for example, he should know when during the lesson you can get up; teachers ask questions, not trivial matters, etc. When communicating with peers, the child must be able to cooperate and negotiate with other children. In addition, he must feel calm enough in a competitive environment, since school life is a competition!
- Speech readiness . This type of readiness is very important. The child should be able to ask and answer questions, communicate in a dialogue, have the skill of retelling.
How can a psychologist help in preparing a child for school?
First , he can conduct a diagnosis of the child's readiness for schooling;
Secondly, a psychologist can help develop attention, thinking, imagination, memory to the required level, so that you can begin to study;
Thirdly , the psychologist can adjust the motivational, speech, volitional and communicative spheres.
Fourthly, a psychologist will help minimize your child's anxiety, which inevitably arises before important changes in life.
Why is it necessary ?
The calmer and more confident the school life begins for your child, the better the child adapts to the school, classmates and teachers, the more chances that the child will not have problems either in the primary or in the senior classes. If we want children to grow up to be self-confident, educated, happy people, then for this we must create all the necessary conditions. The school is the most important link in this work.
Remember that a child's readiness to learn means only that he has a basis for his development in the next period. But do not think that this willingness will automatically avoid future problems. Calming the teachers and parents will lead to the fact that there will be no further development. Therefore, you can not in any case stop. It is necessary to go all the time further.
Psychological readiness of parents
First of all, it is necessary to say about the psychological readiness of parents, because their child will soon go to school. Of course, the child must be ready for school, and this is very important. And this, above all, intellectual and communication skills, as well as the overall development of the child. But if parents somehow think about intellectual skills (they teach the child to write and read, develop memory, imagination, etc.), then they often forget about communicative skills. And in the readiness of the child for school is also a very important parameter. If a child is being brought up in the family all the time, if he does not attend special places, where he could learn to communicate with his peers, this child's adaptation to the school can be much more difficult.
An important factor in children's readiness for schooling is the general development of the child.
Under the general development is understood not the ability to write and count, but the inner content of the child. Interest in the hamster, the ability to rejoice in the butterfly flying by, curiosity about what is written in the book - all this is a component of the overall development of the child. What the child takes out of the family and what helps to find his place in the new school life. To ensure that your child has such a development, you need to talk a lot with him, sincerely interested in his feelings, thoughts, and not just what he ate for lunch and did the lessons.
If the child is not ready for school
Sometimes it happens that the child is not ready for school. Of course, this is not a verdict. And in this case, the talent of the teacher is very important. The teacher must create the necessary conditions for the child to enter the school life smoothly and not painfully. He should help the child find himself in an unfamiliar, new environment for him, teach him how to communicate with peers.
In this case, there is another side - these are the parents of the child. They must trust the teacher, and if there is no disagreement between the teacher and the parents, the child will be much easier. This is to ensure that it does not happen as in the well-known proverb: "who is in the woods and who is on the wood". Parental honesty with teachers is a very important component in the education of the child. If the child has any problems that parents see, or some difficulties, then you need to tell the teacher about this and it will be correct. In this case, the teacher will know and understand the child's difficulties and will be able to help him adapt better. The talent and sensitivity of the teacher, as well as the sensible behavior of parents, can compensate for all difficulties in teaching the child and make his school life easy and joyful.