Preparing for School

Preparing for School

At Ponyara Preschool we begin to prepare your child for school from their first day they attend.

Our stimulating, high quality early childhood educational program is based on the children’s interests, needs and strengths. We provide a variety of play based experiences to encourage development across all areas. We also implement a Pre Literacy group each day for the children who will be attending formal school the following year – refer to Pre-Lit Program page for more information.

We recognise that both families and educators play an integral role in supporting children with preparing for school.

We believe that the stimulating, high quality early childhood educational program that Ponyara Preschool implements will not only prepare your child with skills for school, but also skills for life.

It is important to remember that:

Children will learn to write but first they need to ……..

• Imagine – Making up stories when they paint and create will help them to write
• Build – Will strengthen their fingers to support writing
• Scribble and Draw – Making marks and shapes convey their message and will help them to write
• Manipulate – using paintbrushes, crayons, pencils and pens will help them to write
• Climb – To provide strong arms and body muscles to sit up straight and write
• Play with letters and words – To encourage interest in letters and words to write

……… and they need someone to show them how important writing is every day!

Children will learn maths but first they need to …………….

• Count – Understanding numbers will help them in all areas of maths
• Sort and Match – Understanding same and different will help them to classify
• Explore – Exploring will help them understand spatial terms like: in front, behind, above, below, left and right.
• Measure – Measuring will help them understand the concepts of height, length, weight, time and money.
• Pattern – Making and recognising patterns will help them make maths predictions.
• Recognising shapes – Recognising 2D and 3D shapes will help them in all areas with geometry

………………… and they need someone to explore these concepts with them every day!

Children will learn to read but first they need to …………….

• Rhyme – They need to recognise the sounds that letters make before they can read.
• Look at books – They need to be interested in words and books to read.
• Track – They need to follow objects with their eyes to read.
• Talk – They need an extensive vocabulary to understand what they read.
• Do puzzles – They need to differentiate size, shapes, lines and directions to read.
• Build – They need to use their fingers independently to hold books and turn the pages.

…………. and they need someone to read to them every day!