Their deficiencies are so common that the government is to introduce a checklist of skills that children should possess by the time they start school.
Teachers are increasingly finding that on top of their normal teaching functions they're having to do things like changing nappies and helping children up the stairs - things parents should have taken care of long before start of school.
As I recall from my early schooldays, there weren't any children who lacked such basic skills. It would have been totally shocking if they had. My mother obviously had a very clear idea of what school readiness meant, and would have been mortified if I'd turned up at school in nappies.
It seems a lot of young children are simply not getting enough exercise and not using their muscles enough to strengthen them because they spend so much time looking at screens.
While nine out of ten parents considered their child ready for school, teachers said one in three children weren't. Some parental education is plainly much needed.
I die a little inside whenever I'm out walking and see a mother using her phone while pushing her child in a stroller. I think it's more that the parents are always on their phones, ignoring their children.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Good point about the parents also looking at their screens.
DeleteI remember when my daughter started kindergarten she had to be able to use the toilet herself, write her name, count to 10, know basic colors and a few other things before they would even let her start school.
ReplyDeleteMary: Wow, that's really demanding. I didn't have to satisfy all those conditions when I started school.
DeleteI saw a short video recently of a school bus driver answering questions that had been put to her. No, she would not wait with the bus while Johnny got up. No, won't change nappies. No, won't stop at the store for you on the way back. And on and on.
ReplyDelete