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Getting him/her ready for school ..

Readiness :
Readiness of many kind happen in many stages in our life. It simply means a state where we undertake a new task with ease and profitably. It has many dimensions and it is a never ending process (Morrison, 1995).

Aspects of Readiness
1.

Psychomotor Readiness
refers to the mastery of skills and techniques that involve body movements. Psychomotor readiness becomes optimum when physical maturation is parallel to appropriate training. It involves the development of sensory-perceptual skills; muscles become strong, flexible and coordinated; followed by the development of fine motor strength and skills. The development of psychomotor readiness will influence other aspects of a childs development.

2. Affective Readiness
refers to students attitudes, needs, feelings and interests to accept the things being taught.

composes of students attitudes as well as values when doing learning task


positive affective readiness determines students academic achievement and performance Qualities needed to cultivate affective readiness: confidence independence curiosity persistence self-control

3.

Social Readiness refers to the growing ability to relate to others and to become productive members of society.

The development of social readiness is interrelated and influenced by the kinds of experiences and social relationships that children have with their families and others and also by their level of cognitive development.

4. Cognitive Readiness refers to the mental readiness to learn something. language develops fast between infancy and the ages of 3 or 4. By the year 8-9, a childs language system more or less completely formed. The rate of thinking and problem solving also increased but not as rapid as language acquisition. Understanding the cognitive development of the young child can help avoid pressuring him to learn something before he is ready or missing the golden moment when he is ready.

Readiness for learninng :


Readiness for learning refers to the
stage when the child can learn easily and without emotional strain and can learn profitably (Downing & Thackray, 1975).

Readiness for school :


refers to the condition of children as they enter school

i.e a state of physical, intellectual and social


development that enable a child to assimilate the school's curriculum and fulfill school fixed standard

requirements.
It is always equated with reading readiness.

Readiness to participate :
Readiness to participate in reading / learning experience depends on: The information and skills basic to the new learning Level of intelligence and his possession of appropriate special abilities and aptitudes The desire to learn the new material

Reading Readiness skills in kindergarten:

Cognitive:
-- visual discrimination -- phonological awareness -- alphabetic principle -- vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, writing

Psychological-environmental:
-- emotional maturity -- social development -- behavior -- interest in reading -- environment
reading readiness

Factors Affecting Reading Readiness


Hildreth, 1968: interrelated factors
Harrison & Inglis: physiological, intellectual & personal readiness Rubin, 1991: educational & non-educational factors

Factors affecting RR

Downing & Thackray (1975) - 6 factors:


Physiological Environmental

Emotional
Motivation Personality Intellectual

educational & non-educational factors

Factors affecting RR

McGinnis & Smith (1982) - 4 factors:

physical
cognitive environment

Emotional

Psychological Factors :
Learning to read is a cognitive process Cognitive factors:

i. Intelligence
ii. Mental content (experiential background) : comes from environment Intellectual abilities are influenced by many factors

operate on an individual (McGinnis & Smith, 1982):

personality factors, motivation, interest in a subject, etc


Piaget: intelligence has its origin through process of

adaptation to the environment


The quantity of the environment and the nature of childrens experiences play a major role in the development of intelligence
Psychological factors

Emotional difficulties may affect learning: some are developmentally appropriate but need to be aware by teachers McGinnis & Smith (1982): successful learning relates to confidence, ability to concentrate and to face difficult task, to cope with stressful situations, patience, tension and anxiety

emotional-soc-beh

Failure to read results in: -- frustration -- lack of interest -- inattention -- discouragement -- poor self-concept -- maladjustment lack of success and feelings of inadequacy may contribute to emotional, social &

behavioral maladjustments
emotional-soc-beh

Environmental Factors :
Home, school, community - contribute to

childs attitudes,
points of view, language, learning skills

environmental

Home environment - Parents influence:


-- how much experience children have with books & other reading materials -- familiarity with letters & sounds -- the vocabulary they develop

-- reading & writing habits


-- opportunities and experiences they have in and out of school once they begin school

environmental

Children from poor families:


-- more dependent on school experiences for

their academic literacy development


(Snow et al., 1991) -- come to school with fewer literacy experiences (Clark, 1993; Teale, 1986) -- optimal care & education for children:

formidable challenges

environmental

School environment : teachers attitude and expectation, instructional materias, classroom physical setting Teachers: critical source of stimulation to childrens cognitive, language & socialemotional development (Landry, 2002) Carter (1970): teacher expectations affect

students level of confidence

environmental

MATURATIONIST THEORY
Maturationists believe that development is a biological process that occurs automatically in predictable, sequential stages over time. This perspective assume that young children will acquire knowledge naturally and automatically as they grow physically and become older, provided that they are healthy.

Arnold Gessell (1880-1961)

ENVIRONMENTALIST THEORY

Watson (1878-1958)

Skinner (1904-1990)

Bandura (1925)

Environmentalists believe the child's environment shapes learning and behavior. Thus, human behavior, development and learning are thought of as reactions to the environment.

Optimal language development depends on


interactions with the best possible language models (Morrison, 1995) content of language differ

according to environmental factors


Childrens environment shapes learning and behaviour

Human behaviour, development, and learning are


reactions to the environment

Theories: environmentalis

CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

Piaget (1896-1980)

Montessori (1870-1952)

Vygotsky (1896-1934)

Constructivists believe that learning and development occur when young children interact with the environment and people around them

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