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Wednesday, June 17, 2015In Singapore, children can start primary (elementary) school the year they turn 7 years old. When we talk about development, we have to look at the different aspects of: emotional, social, physical, intellectual and language development before we decide if they are ready for primary school. Having taught Primary 1 pupils for several years, I have compiled a list of the skills which I felt that my pupils will need to have before they enter Primary 1:
Language Development:
Receptive
- Follows one-step to three step simple instructions (e.g. sit down, line up in twos, take out your Math textbook)
- Knows the names of classroom furniture (e.g. table, chair, whiteboard)
- Recognises the various rooms and facilities in the school (e.g. classroom, hall, toilets, canteen)
- Know the different times of day – morning, afternoon and night
Expressive
- Understand the English and Mother tongue languages
- Can speak in simple phrases for the English and Mother tongue languages
- Makes simple requests (Can I go to the toilet?)
- Relay messages from teachers to parents
Cognitive Development
Literacy Skills:
- Recites A to Z
- Recognises A to Z randomly both in lower and upper case
- Writes A to Z randomly both in lower and upper case
- Writes letters when being dictated to
- Recognises and reads common sight words (e.g. a, an, the, is, are, am, I, in, on)
- Spells some common sight words
- Reads instructional words (e.g. circle, write, tick, colour, draw)
- Reads simple sentences
- Reads simple books
- Writes short sentences
Cognitive Skills:
- Says full name
- Writes full name
- Knows and says age
- Recognises the basic colours (e.g. red, blue, yellow, orange, green, brown, black)
- Knows the basic shapes (e.g. circle, square, triangle, rectangle)
- Understands the concept of size – bigger and smaller
- Understands the concept of length – longer and shorter
- Understands the concept of height – taller and shorter
- Understands the concept of weight – heavier and lighter
- Can order a few objects from first to last
- Knows opposites
- Can pay attention to others when they are speaking
- Can plan the execution of an activity
- Can copy patterns
- Know position in space – above, below, in front, behind, etc.
- Can persist in doing a task
- Able to categorize objects
Numeracy skills:
- Can recite and count up to 10 (preferably up to 20)
- Writes numeral from 1 to 10
- Arranges 1 to 10 in sequence
- Matches the numeral to correct number of objects
- Knows which number is bigger/smaller
- Adds up to 10 using manipulatives
- Subtracts up to 10 using manipulatives
- Understand the concepts of counting, sorting and grouping
Social Skills:
- Knows how to ask for something
- Can share
- Can take turns
- Able to listen quietly
- Can relate appropriately to adults and peers.
Physical Development
Fine motor Skills:
- Cuts straight and curved lines using scissors
- Able to use an eraser
- Able to paste small pieces of paper on another piece of paper
- Able to draw straight lines using a ruler and pencil
Gross motor Skills:
- Able to walk and run
- Able to walk up and down stairs carrying a school bag
- Can jump
- Can hop
- Can balance on 1 foot
- Can catch and throw a ball
Self-help/independence/organisational skills:
Eating and drinking
- Can use a spoon and fork to eat without making a mess
- Can drink from a cup and bottle without spilling
- Know what food and drink to buy with a certain amount of money
- Can find a place to sit in the canteen
- Returns cutlery to the allocated place after eating
Toileting
- Toilet trained
- Can use the bathroom on his/her own
- Can clean up after defecating on his/her own
- Flushes toilet
- Washes hands with soap
Personal hygiene
- Can blow his/her nose and disposes tissue paper properly
- Can brush teeth on his/her own
Dressing skills
- Can take off and put on his/her own shoes
- Dresses and undresses on his/her own (able to button, zip and tuck in shirt)
Organisational skills
- Takes care of own belongings
- Packs own stationery, books and bag
- Organises own desk
- Differentiates between his/her own belongings from classmates’ belongings
- Knows what are the things to bring along when going to other locations in the school
Independence skills
- Recognises coins and notes up to $2
- Knows how much he/she has spend
- Knows how to wait for change
- Able to buy food and drink from different stalls
- Can find his/her way around the school
Social/ emotional/adaptive skills:
Emotional Skills:
- Can ask for help
- Realise that she cannot always get her own way
- Able to manage anger and frustration
- Can work independently
- Can cope with criticism and failure
- Able to separate from a caregiver
- Able to effectively express her feelings and needs
- Holds her own in a group activity
- Able to postpone the need for immediate gratification.
Social Skills:
- Complies with rules
- Knows how to take turns and waits for his/her turn
- Shares things with peers
- Works with peers
- Puts up hand to talk in class
- Knows the appropriate volume to use when speaking in different settings (e.g. pair-work, group discussions or whole class)
Attending Skills:
- Can sit quietly at his/her seat for about 30 minutes
- Can pay attention for about 30 minutes
- Can do the work given for about 30 minutes
- Can stand without fidgeting for about 10 minutes
- Able to arrange furniture in the classroom neatly
- Able to perform simple cleaning chores like sweeping and emptying the dustbin
This checklist should give you an indication if your child is ready to enter Primary 1.
It is important to prepare your children adequately before they enter Primary 1 so that they can perform tasks required of them with many success experiences. When their experiences in school are positive, it will build their confidence. They will then enjoy school and look forward to school everyday.
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