April 27, 2017
If you have a preschool-age child or grandchild, I am sure you have heard the buzz words “kindergarten ready.” Although kindergarten readiness isn’t a new concept, it is apparent that the concept has changed over the last couple of decades.
When I was 6, kindergarten was half day and more play-based than today’s classrooms. I remember napping, building forts with big red cardboard blocks, cooking in the play kitchen, coloring, learning to tie my shoes, writing the alphabet, and counting.
In many cases, these once core kindergarten activities are now being taught at the preschool level.
While most would agree preparing a child for kindergarten is the job of a parent, parents don’t always know what preparing a child for school looks like. Many parents had the same experience I did with kindergarten and believe it remains the same.
Before children reach school age, parents rely heavily on information pertaining to the development of children given to them by their pediatrician or family doctor. While this is typical, it is not always a fool-proof method.
The pediatrician my son sees asks the right questions as far as his speech, cognitive abilities, and motor skills; however, the doctor must trust me, the parent, that my son is hitting the important milestones, because he doesn’t witness firsthand what he is asking about.
Some delays are maybe obvious to parents, such as my 2-year-old is not walking. But some are less easy to recognize such as speech.
When my pediatrician asks whether I can understand my child, the answer is “Yes, I can.” However, this doesn’t mean his speech is age appropriate, as I may have learned my child’s language. Since my chatter box of a child suddenly turns into a mute at the pediatrician’s office, the pediatrician must rely on my observations.
So then, what can be done to do a better job of educating parents on typical child development so families can access needed services earlier so children are school ready?
The Grundy Partnership for Children is a collaboration composed of organizations that work with young children and their families to ensure Grundy County children are school ready. This collaboration has been around since 2009, but took time off in 2016 to refocus. GPC is back and ready to move forward with our goals in 2017.
The goals of the GPC are to increase parental awareness of healthy child development, ensure children have access to developmental screenings, and increase highly qualified and well prepared professionals.
In order to increase parental awareness of healthy child development, GPC would like to see a unified message regarding typical child development used in Grundy County, so there is no doubt what parents should be looking for.
GPC wants to see more screenings being made available to families with children under the age of 3, so delays are caught earlier, by more families. If you have a small child, do not be afraid to bring them to a screening even if you don’t suspect a delay.
It is a great way to see areas your child is exceling in and areas he/she may need to develop skills. And finally, to increase highly qualified and well-prepared professional, GPC will provide trainings for local professionals to earn continuing education credits.
If you work with children in any aspect and would like more information on the Grundy Partnership for Children, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 815-941-0852.