A school readiness test can help educators to help a child. Thousands of children commence formal schooling in first grade and experience difficulties due to developmental difficulties that were not identified early on.
Children are compelled by law to enter school, be it at a government institution or home school environment, but in some countries, formal school readiness assessments are not as regularly conducted as they were in previous years.
What is a School Readiness Assessment?
Broadly defined, a school readiness assessment can be an indicator as to whether a child is ready to benefit from formal education.
The following are aspects of development that are considered to be critical indicators of the children’s degree of school readiness:
- Physical, sensory and motor development,
- Cognitive development (which includes intellectual, perceptual, language and numerical development, reasoning ability, memory, and general knowledge),
- Emotional and social development.
According to the US National Education Goals Panel, school readiness in children is no longer limited to a "narrowly constructed, academically-driven definition of readiness." Instead, based on the research of child development and early education the NGEP recognizes that children's readiness for school is multi-faceted.
This free downloadable school readiness test from Brainline, which is a home school curriculum resource designed by Prof. Cheryl Foxcroft and Prof Sandy Shillington, gives educators the ability to score children's abilities in the above areas.
Physical, Sensory and Motor Development
This covers things such as health, status, growth and disabilities. It also includes physical abilities such as gross and fine motor skills (testing, for example, whether or not a child can balance on a beam, tie shoelaces and so on).
Cognitive Development and Language
This dimension includes verbal language (listening, speaking and vocabulary) and emerging literacy (story sense, assigning of sounds to letter combinations etc), enthusiasm, curiosity and persistence on tasks.
Social and Emotional Development
Social development refers to children's ability to take turns, share, co-operate and interact with other children socially. Emotional development examines how the child sees him/herself and the ability to understand other people's emotions. The child should also be able to interpret and express his/her feelings.
The purpose of a school readiness assessment is not to label a child or put pressure on him or her to conform to a certain standard; rather, as the NGEP points out, it is "to promote learning and development in order to shape instruction for individuals by identifying what they already know and what they need help with." If a child may need health or other special services and he or she can then get this additional help if necessary.
More Articles on Homeschooling and Education that may Interest the Reader:
Setting up a home school classroom can be quite a challenge. The article Best Home School Furniture Solutions looks at practical, modular furniture to help get organized.
Ever wondered what homeschooling curriculum to buy? The article Choosing the Best Homeschooling Curriculum can give some tips.
Children who struggle with maths will benefit from the article Find Fun Math Online Games for Kids.
Sources:
Martha Zaslow, Kathryn Tout, Tamara Halle, Nicole Forry. "Multiple purposes for Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Settings: Implications for Collecting and Communicating Information on Quality." (May 2009) PDF downloadable file found on Childtrends.org, information retrieved 29 November, 2009.
Fleur Hupston - Fleur Hupston is a professional freelance writer based in Botswana, Southern Africa. From this unique perspective, she writes travel ...
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