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Ready! Or not?
I remember when the last weeks of summer meant a trip to the Ex, back-to-school clothing shopping/swapping and the end of summer camps, which most of the neighbourhood kids referred to as “Summer School”. We went to a Catholic school in town, which really wasn’t any different from the public school a few blocks away except we had to take a bus to school. A Grey Coach bus met us up on Main Street and we were whisked away into Weston to learn our A B Cs and 1, 2, 3s. Most of the teachers at St. John’s School were lay persons. However, the grade one teacher was a delightful woman we knew as Mother Leone and the Principal/Grade Eight teacher was a scary woman, Mother Cecily. I never had the pleasure of being in either one’s class and I suppose I didn’t miss out on anything in that regard. I wasn’t exactly the kid who bought into the whole Catholic dialogue, Catechism and the other things that were faith-based. I may have been the kiddo who asked too many questions when things just didn’t seem logical. I’m still that kid. I’m a lot older, but I still get a wrinkly nose when I don’t see the logic in a process. Speaking of logic in the process, are your littles ready for their first day of school?
Right now, there’s probably a whole bunch of little kids who will be heading off to school for the first time who are, plain and simple, not ready. They aren’t ready for six hours of reading, writing and arithmetic. They aren’t ready for listening to, or taking, directions. They aren’t ready to sit quietly during a lesson or a story. They aren’t ready to share. They are clueless about respect. They don’t know their whole name. They don’t know their address. They aren’t ready to get their snacks and lunch out of those fancy containers and into their bellies without help. They aren’t ready to wash their own hands, blow their noses or even wipe their own bums. Some of them won’t know how to put their jackets, sweaters or shoes on. Some of them won’t know how to get to the bathroom, on time, without someone suggesting their “pee pee dance” might be a good indicator of the need to use the facilities. Little kids absolutely need to be taught all of those things before they head into a classroom for the first time next week. The classroom teacher and, possibly, the educational assistant, are not there to teach your kid how to do those things. Of course, I’m not writing about children who are neurodivergent and/or have special needs requiring assistance from an aide or attendant.
By the time a child is five years old they should know how to follow simple rules and know how to take turns. They should be able to answer simple questions about a story they’ve just heard. Little school kids should know how to count to ten. They should understand the concept of “today, tomorrow, yesterday, morning, afternoon and night”. They should know their parents’ or caregivers’ names. A five year old should know all of the primary colours and recognize some of the letters of the alphabet. They should be able to convey what’s hurting and use appropriate language to describe body parts. A fiveyear- old kid still has big emotions, but should be well on their way to coping with those emotions without resorting to shouting, crying, hitting or having a tantrum. Imagine, if you can, being a kindergarten teacher who has a room full of five-year-olds, some of who aren’t really ready to be there! If you’re the parent/caregiver of a soon-to-be-in-kindergarten student, you have to remember the teacher isn’t you. You are the parent and your responsibility is to make sure your child is, indeed, ready to take the next step in their growth, learning and development. The teacher is there to use their knowledge and skills to engage with the students, inspire them to learn and help them investigate the lesson topics. They don’t have time to tie twenty-five pairs of shoes, wipe twenty-five derrieres, open twenty-five lunch boxes/drink boxes/cheese string packages or button twenty-five sweaters/jackets/shirts. If your five-year-old kid can’t manage the basics maybe they aren’t ready for a full day of kindergarten. You’ve got less than a week to get all of those boxes checked.
“If you can read this, thank a teacher.” If you can tie your own shoes and know how to wipe your hiney, thank your parents or caregivers.
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