Child Assessment & Testing - Developmental Level and School Readiness
The concept of school readiness is a widely researched area and views regarding what determines if a child is ready for school vary accordingly. Some view age and the child's ability to learn as the primary factors, while others place more emphasis on social and emotional skills and the interaction between an individual child and his/her environment. Most child psychologists, however, would agree that school readiness is the combination of different individual and environmental factors.
We offer a range of academic assessments to determine the school readiness of your child.
We offer sound, research based advice about school entry and expected outcomes. Although we encourage parents to make the final decision, we provide suggestions whether to pursue school entry or to hold children back. We provide a review of the different areas that may need further attention to ensure smooth transition to the school system. If your child is attending pre-school or childcare, we may ask permission to talk to pre-school teachers to gain more information about his/her functioning.
Language skills incorporate expressive and receptive language use. To perform in a school environment a child must be able to communicate with teachers (and the teacher must be able to communicate with the child) and with his/her peers. The emphasis here is on appropriate use of language, not necessarily word knowledge.
Cognitive skills refer to a child's academic ability within the learning environment. It is the ability to learn new information, to be curious and eager to learn and to be able to use language for one's learning needs. A child needs to be able to concentrate and carry out instructions and integrate the new information presented by teachers. The emphasis here is on the mental/academic capacity to function within the school environment.
Motor skills include fine motor skills, such as holding a pen or scissors, eye hand and motor coordination and gross motor skills, such as dressing, running and physical play activities. Additionally, physical health is important to attend school and meet learning requirements. Physical health not only refers to the child's health status, but his or her general well being, including nutrition, good sleep hygiene and regular exercise.
Social and emotional competence is an integral part of being in school and interacting with others. Although children are not required to possess complex social skills and attending school also teaches prosocial behaviour, before entering the school system children should have some level of social competence. Children are likely to do well in school if they generally positive and independent, willing to learn, can cope with setbacks, experience empathy towards others and able to build at least one or two significant relationships. In order to do so, children should be able to reason and express emotions (especially difficult emotions such as anger and frustration) on an age appropriate level, be able to engage in discussions with others and be able to compromise.
Self help skills refer to a child's ability to function without adult supervision. These include independent toileting, dressing, tying shoelaces, feeding or eating skills, putting toys and things away without being asked, offering help and knowing and following rules.
Questions that parents often ask when their child seems to be behind in some developmental area are:
- would holding him/her back a year have a negative impact,
- isn't sending him/her to school would actually help him/her to develop these skills, and
- what do they need to do to prepare the child for school?
The answers to these questions are difficult, as each individual child is different and requires a different approach. However, when a child is not meeting most of the above listed developmental milestones, holding him or her back from school entry can be helpful, given that the parents are willing to put extra effort into preparing the child for school entry.
When helping a child to gain the necessary skills for school entry, parents should always keep in mind that focus should not be restricted to the developmental area they would like to improve, but should include all areas of the child's functioning. Most importantly, make sure that children held back from school entry remain in pre-school and have adequate level of social contact.
