Limited School Readiness: Emotional and Psychological Effects on the Child

The term “school readiness” refers to the child’s emotional, behavioural, linguistic, and cognitive preparedness when they receive formal education from a school or any educational institution. It is also the measure of how prepared the child is to succeed in school. 

Quantitative research on teaching professionals shows that only 50% of the students who are starting school in 2021 are school ready. This means that only half of the students have reached the minimum requirement cognitively, emotionally, and socially for them to perform well in a school setting. The research also found out that the limited school readiness of some students has an impact on the whole classroom. Teachers and teaching aids spend more time assisting and providing support to students who are less school-ready. As an effect, children who are less school-ready struggle to catch up with the learning pace of the whole classroom! 

In the same study “teachers stress that limited school readiness can lead to children feeling frustrated, exhausted and developing low self-esteem”. These negative effects that happen to children who are less school-ready are an important takeaway from the study and should be given attention. Moreover, parents should also be more aware of the negative emotional and psychological effects of the child not being ready to enter school.

A study by the National Literacy Trust has a practical suggestion to parents of children who will be entering school in a year or less: “A supportive home learning environment, including reading to or with a child, helps young children to develop positive attitudes towards reading and encourages reading for enjoyment, which in turn improves vocabulary, comprehension and reading proficiency.” 

Limited School Readiness: Academic Disadvantage 

Limited school readiness also has a lot of academic disadvantages for the child. Children who are less school-ready by the time they enter school are less likely to get good grades in school. This is the effect of them having a hard time keeping up with the lessons compared to their school ready peers. Moreover, teachers will also have to spend more time assisting kids who struggle to catch up with the lessons. Students who are less school-ready by the time they start school have a hard time understanding their lessons and have trouble comprehending. 

The research also noted that: “teachers also acknowledge other important factors causing children to not be ‘school ready’, including parents’ lack of attention and a lack of peer/community support for parents.” To address this, teachers are now urging parents to spend more time getting their children ready for school, even before they start school. The study also noted the importance of reading in helping the child keep up with their peers. Parents play an important role in the development of their children, reading with the child helps them develop their comprehension which is a key factor in learning. 

A study by the National Literacy Trust further suggests that children who read personalised books have improved their reading comprehension scores by 40%! Parents play an important role in bridging the world of books and the world of the child. The study stresses the importance of reading books to children that they can relate to. “Ownership of text, both in the literal and metaphorical sense is a significant element in the process of becoming and perceiving oneself as a reader” (Dymore and Griffiths, 2010). 

Early childhood education is an important phase in every child’s life, it should be given attention and importance by the parents. How well the child does in school in their first years of learning greatly affects how well they do in school later on in life. Parents should also be made more aware of the effects that limited school readiness has on their children. Schools should also help the parents assess whether or not the children are ready to be admitted to the schools. More importantly, help also be available and accessible to students who need help getting ready to start their academic journey!