School Readiness

Children who settle into school easily are the ones who have attended a quality Early Learning Centre or Pre-School with a professional school readiness program, says new entrant teachers.

Our Fantail Flyers school readiness program has been created by our experienced and qualified team, in collaboration with the new entrant teachers of our local schools. Special attention is given to not just word recognition, numeracy and vocabulary but also concentration, working in a group and routines.

As part of the program Fantails will provide lunchboxes and drink bottles to help with this change of routine as children enter school. Our aim is to build confidence so children can move comfortably into "big school".

While every child is different, by the time they leave Fantails to go to school we would like them to have developed the following:

Early literacy and numeracy skills

• Name recognition and writing
• Alphabet recognition and letter sounds
• Counting and number recognition
• Matching one to one

Characteristics needed for ongoing learning

• Taking an interest
• Communicating with others
• Persisting with difficulty
• Being involved
• Taking responsibility

Confidence in self-help routines

• Being able to go to the toilet and change their clothes
• Managing their lunch box so they don't eat it all at morning tea
• Packing their bag at the end of the day

A good grasp of problem solving skills

• Asking questions
• Developing a hypothesis
• Negotiation
• Willingness to try a number of approaches and not being discouraged by failure

Sound social skills

• Working collaboratively with peers
• Having confidence to contribute ideas in both formal and informal settings\Solving conflicts themselves
• Making friends and showing empathy
• Managing their emotions

At Fantails literacy and numeracy are taught in a variety of ways including:

• Active outdoor games that include Alphabet/number/shape/colour matching /grouping of people, objects and things
• Sequencing.  What's next? Who is missing? First and last games
• Individual printing books
• One on one to learn to copy and write own name and other family members names
• Copy a story they have recited about a picture or theme
• Whiteboard and markers/magnetic letters to create words
• Letter recognition games. My name begins with.............? Ben's name begins with..........?
• Children's name to copy in their art
• Story listening and retelling and/or acting out
• Letter sound games
• Games with rules
• Letter/Number Hunts.  Matching a letter or number written on their hand to one hidden somewhere in the centre or outside
• Rote learning of numbers
• Opposites board games
• Setting lunch tables - counting cups/plates etc.

Be part of our unique programme, contact us today.