Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #1135 - School Readiness With Zoe Wragg

Transcript

#1135 - School Readiness With Zoe Wragg · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.
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  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: wants answers.
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  Speaker 1: Now, school holidays they've arrived in some states, they're just
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  Speaker 1: around the corner in other states and for a whole
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  Speaker 1: cohort of the Australian population, our three, four or five
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  Speaker 1: year old depending on when you're starting school, well, big
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  Speaker 1: school is about to happen, brand new experiences, lots of
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  Speaker 1: tears on the part of both parents and kids as
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  Speaker 1: we moved through our final Christmas before little ones go
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  Speaker 1: to school. Now, if you're in that target demographic, today's
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  Speaker 1: podcast is just for you, if the kids are about
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  Speaker 1: to start school, or if you know someone you need
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  Speaker 1: to share this one with them. Zoe Rag is a
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  Speaker 1: parent educator, former primary school teacher and a mom of
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  Speaker 1: two little ones, a little boy and little girl. And
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  Speaker 1: Zoe facilitates a weekly educational playgroup in Brisbane and educates
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  Speaker 1: parents around transitioning children to primary school. Oh my goodness,
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  Speaker 1: I've done this six times and it still makes my
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  Speaker 1: heart go oh, Like, there's just this whole I turned
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  Speaker 1: into a big, soppy mess. Anyway, Zoe's on a mission
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  Speaker 1: to empower parents by instilling confidence enhancing their knowledge and
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  Speaker 1: skill set because parents the child's first and best teacher. So, Zoe,
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  Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. You're
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  Speaker 1: looking after a whole lot of kids that around this age,
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  Speaker 1: and a big bunch of kids that you've been looking
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  Speaker 1: after all year are about to head off to big school.
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  Speaker 1: We hear this term school readiness all the time. It's
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  Speaker 1: thrown around a lot. What does school readiness mean?
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  Speaker 2: Hello, justin thank you so much for having me so
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  Speaker 2: school readiness. Yes, it is a very common term that
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  Speaker 2: we hear a lot. And I think two things about this.
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  Speaker 2: I think that we can parents can support their children's
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  Speaker 2: transition to be, you know, ready for school. But also
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  Speaker 2: what about ready schools, you know, schools being ready for
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  Speaker 2: the diverse range of learners that are coming their way too.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that parents can really take a lot
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  Speaker 2: of action to support and have a smoother transition for
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  Speaker 2: their children. And I like to think about school readiness
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  Speaker 2: as essentials and advantages, you know, So when I think
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  Speaker 2: about essentials, I think about the things that these would
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  Speaker 2: be really really helpful for your child to know ahead
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  Speaker 2: of starting school to just ease that transition for them.
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  Speaker 2: Things like self help skills. Are they confident and independent
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  Speaker 2: undressing and dressing themselves because they're going to need that
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  Speaker 2: when they go and use the bathrooms because there won't
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  Speaker 2: be an educator in the bathrooms with them. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: things like focusing for short bursts of time. And also
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  Speaker 2: another essential I think is recognizing their name. So say,
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  Speaker 2: for instance, you had your child's name written on a
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  Speaker 2: little piece of paper in front of them, and you
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  Speaker 2: had two other names as well. Could they look at
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  Speaker 2: it and go, hey, that's my name. So recognizing their
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  Speaker 2: name is really important. I do have a free checklist
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  Speaker 2: as well, which has an extensive list of things that
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  Speaker 2: parents can download and have a look at. So and
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  Speaker 2: when I think about an advantage, let's compare the name.
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  Speaker 2: So an essential would be recognizing their name, going hey,
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  Speaker 2: that's my name. I know that an advantage could be
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  Speaker 2: being able to write their name starting with a capital
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  Speaker 2: letter and continuing with lowercase letters. In terms of for
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  Speaker 2: parents what they can do to support their child, I
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  Speaker 2: think about finding their child's missing skills, So working out
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  Speaker 2: what it is that your child may need to work
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  Speaker 2: on in the first year of school. It's less about
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  Speaker 2: because they're learning to read, they're learning to write, It's
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  Speaker 2: less about showing what they know in terms of written
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  Speaker 2: form and being able to explain with their spoken word
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  Speaker 2: about what they know. So being able to have a
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  Speaker 2: strong vocabulary, being able to speak in sentences and really
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  Speaker 2: grow their knowledge bank about different topics is really important.
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  Speaker 1: So, Zoe, I am listening to this very, very very
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  Speaker 1: long list of all the different things that parents need
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  Speaker 1: to worry about to make sure the kids are ready
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  Speaker 1: for school, and I'm sort of thinking we're making too
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  Speaker 1: much of this? Is this too hard? Because my youngest
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  Speaker 1: is now ten, she started school a few years ago,
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  Speaker 1: and I reckon, if I got a list like that,
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  Speaker 1: I'd crack. I'd just say I'm not sending her she's
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  Speaker 1: not ready. This feels overwhelming, And yet is this the
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  Speaker 1: expectation in schools now? That kids are going to show
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  Speaker 1: up and be capable and confident of number one, recognizing
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  Speaker 1: their name and nuther two being able to manage a
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  Speaker 1: couple of tricky social situations and also being able to
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  Speaker 1: I mean a lot of it sounds simple, right, be
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  Speaker 1: able to go to the toil and be able to
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  Speaker 1: dress and undress on your own, I get it. Much
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  Speaker 1: of this should be able to be done, but a
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  Speaker 1: lot of it feels like a lot, especially as more
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  Speaker 1: and more parents are feeling forced to send their kids
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  Speaker 1: to school younger and younger, which is clearly not developmentally
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  Speaker 1: appropriate for them. I don't know. I mean, I hear
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  Speaker 1: this list and I just feel overwhelmed. I feel burdened.
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  Speaker 1: You're talking to parents every day literally who are getting
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  Speaker 1: ready to send their kids to school. Are they responding
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  Speaker 1: the same way? Are they just saying I think I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to wait a year.
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  Speaker 2: I think that a lot of parents are. They definitely
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  Speaker 2: know they think, Okay, my child's born in July, I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to wait another year until they can go. I
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  Speaker 2: do think that you're right. It is overwhelming when you
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  Speaker 2: hear a long list in your joint thing. And that's
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  Speaker 2: why I think, just break it down and go, what's
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  Speaker 2: one thing I can work on.
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  Speaker 1: Let me hit you with another question then, because if
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  Speaker 1: it is such a big list, did kids a generation
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  Speaker 1: ago did they tick all those boxes? Have we up
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  Speaker 1: the ante? Have we raised the stakes here? Are we
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  Speaker 1: demanding more? Because I know that there's been an educational
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  Speaker 1: pushdown in terms of we're expecting more and more of
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  Speaker 1: younger and younger kids in terms of sitting still, being quiet,
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  Speaker 1: learning stuff in the classroom. When you were talking about
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  Speaker 1: a whole lot of academic stuff a few minutes ago,
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  Speaker 1: years ago, I remember when one of my kids, I
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  Speaker 1: can't remember which one it was now, maybe my third
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  Speaker 1: or fourth one going back away here, maybe fifteen years now,
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  Speaker 1: But in New South Wales, the expectation was that the
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  Speaker 1: kids would submit themselves to a test before they began
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  Speaker 1: their first year of school, like in the months leading
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  Speaker 1: up to their first year of school. And as my
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  Speaker 1: daughter was going through this test with her next year teacher,
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  Speaker 1: I said, what, what's the purpose of this test? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: there's a whole lot of academic content being covered, and
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  Speaker 1: the teacher said, well, it's just so that we can
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  Speaker 1: identify where the gaps are so that we know where
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  Speaker 1: to pick up the teaching for next year. And I'm like,
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  Speaker 1: she's going into her first year of primary school like
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  Speaker 1: it's all gaps. Her whole life is a gap. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know why while we're doing this. So anyway back
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  Speaker 1: to my original question, are kids less competent as they
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  Speaker 1: start school today than they were a generation ago or
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  Speaker 1: ten twenty years ago.
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  Speaker 2: I can only think about my own experience of me starting.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we didn't have in Queensland prep when I
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  Speaker 2: went to school. We started in grade one, and I
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  Speaker 2: do feel like it's pushed a year earlier. What was
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  Speaker 2: grade one you know in the nineties, Whiz is now prep.
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  Speaker 2: So yes, I do think that there is that push earlier.
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  Speaker 2: Is it a good thing? I don't think so.
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  Speaker 1: No, no, no, I just feel like we're putting more pressure
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  Speaker 1: on the kids. I'm a really big believer in keeping
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  Speaker 1: the kids out of school for as long as you
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  Speaker 1: possibly can until it becomes a legal requirement. You stretch
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  Speaker 1: it out as far as you can so they can
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  Speaker 1: just enjoy their childhood for as long as they can.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, there are financial realities and other challenges. I
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  Speaker 1: got a couple other questions for you around this, Zoe,
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  Speaker 1: and the preparation for starting school for any families just
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  Speaker 1: kicking it off next year. What a parents seem to
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  Speaker 1: struggle with the most. I mean, I'm obviously as a
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  Speaker 1: parent struggling with the enormity of the list and saying
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  Speaker 1: just slow it down and let them develop normally and
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  Speaker 1: healthy and don't rush this stuff. But outside of stress
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  Speaker 1: around development, what else do parents worry about when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to supporting their child with that entry to school.
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  Speaker 2: Part of the reason I started my business was I
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  Speaker 2: saw parents struggle with two main things, the transition to
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  Speaker 2: school and how different that was from their pre school
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  Speaker 2: in kindergarten, and then also supporting their beginning reader, supporting
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  Speaker 2: their child learning to read. I think that there's this
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  Speaker 2: myth that learning to read is a natural skill, when
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  Speaker 2: in fact it just isn't.
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  Speaker 1: So, Zoe, let's talk about those two things. First of all,
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  Speaker 1: the transition to school. When you say that that's a struggle,
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  Speaker 1: do you mean the extra hours where the child's out
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  Speaker 1: of the home, The child comes home tired, parents have
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  Speaker 1: got to deal with all of the logistics around drop
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  Speaker 1: off and pickups and just a shift in the routine
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  Speaker 1: or is it something else that you're highlighting here.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's the shift in the routine. I think
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  Speaker 2: it's also the shift for the child in terms of
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  Speaker 2: the rhythm of the day at school. You know, it
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  Speaker 2: is not only could be longer for their child, but
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  Speaker 2: also there's a more academic aspect. There's you know, sitting
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  Speaker 2: and there's this expectation that everyone's doing the same thing
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  Speaker 2: at the same time. In the same place, whereas at
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  Speaker 2: preschool they could be doing a range of five different activities.
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  Speaker 2: There's more choice, there's more flexibility, and I think that
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  Speaker 2: that's what children find hard and also the exhaustion of
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  Speaker 2: the day.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's standardized model. While it obviously has some efficiency benefits,
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  Speaker 1: it definitely can make things a little bit harder for kids.
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  Speaker 1: You've mentioned reading. This is something that I've emphasized time
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  Speaker 1: and time again on the podcast and am I writing
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  Speaker 1: and so on. Nothing predicts academic outcomes and ultimately even
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  Speaker 1: being able to be successful in life as much as
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  Speaker 1: loving reading. What are your top tips for parents who
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  Speaker 1: want their kids to be able to step into that
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  Speaker 1: first year of school and figure out reading. As you said,
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  Speaker 1: it's not a it's not something that we're born with
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  Speaker 1: the capacity to do. It really is something that's got
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  Speaker 1: to be learned. What have you found is the most
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  Speaker 1: helpful here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that there's this myth that reading is natural,
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  Speaker 2: when in fact, research has said that only five percent
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  Speaker 2: of children learn to read effortlessly. Most children will need
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  Speaker 2: direct instruction and a lot of repetition and learning playful
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  Speaker 2: ways to learn how to read and really multisensory ways.
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  Speaker 2: I think that laying that strong foundation. So in terms
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  Speaker 2: of pre reading skills, pre reading mean before we start reading,
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  Speaker 2: expanding their vocabulary, being able to actually hear the sounds
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  Speaker 2: they hear in words. That's the fancy word for that
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  Speaker 2: is phonological awareness.
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  Speaker 1: My experience was that the teachers would always hand out
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  Speaker 1: various ways that that could be done, Like the school
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  Speaker 1: really does support families in doing those sorts of things,
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  Speaker 1: don't they. I mean usually.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's one of the struggles that parents face
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  Speaker 2: is because parents, you know, we think, okay, well I'm
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  Speaker 2: just going to send my child to God, they're going
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  Speaker 2: to learn to read. But in fact, because children need
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  Speaker 2: so much repetition, parents do need to support their children
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  Speaker 2: with learning to read. I'll get home little readers, little
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  Speaker 2: books to read, maybe some little sounds, sounds, alphabet sounds
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  Speaker 2: to learn as well, and maybe some even some tricky
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  Speaker 2: words to learn as well. And it can be overwhelming
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  Speaker 2: for parents. They don't know where to start, they're confused,
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  Speaker 2: they don't know how to teach their child how to read.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that that can be a struggle for them.
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  Speaker 2: I think that short bursts, you know, think a few minutes,
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  Speaker 2: five minutes less than that. Think fast, bring the energy,
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  Speaker 2: bring the enthusiasm, and just yet start with those phonological
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  Speaker 2: awareness activities. I do have some resources.
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  Speaker 1: Around that, Zoe, Our time is almost up. This is
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  Speaker 1: the podcast for the time poor parent who just wants
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  Speaker 1: answers now as we step into holidays and get ready
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  Speaker 1: for school kicking off again next year. Well, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of parents are saying I don't even want to think
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  Speaker 1: about school next year. But for those whose kids are
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  Speaker 1: about to start, this is a really big deal. What
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  Speaker 1: are your top three tips to make these holidays work
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  Speaker 1: and have everything in place and ready to go in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five?
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  Speaker 2: Top three tips. Make a playdate with another family of
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  Speaker 2: somebody that you know that will be in your child's
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  Speaker 2: class or your school, you know, sometimes in January, just
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  Speaker 2: to get that familiar face so that when they start
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  Speaker 2: school they go, I feel like I belong here, I
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  Speaker 2: know that person.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, great anxiety reductions. Love it.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, you know, try on their school uniform, you know,
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  Speaker 2: get into that mode of maybe I'm going to be
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  Speaker 2: wearing something different, what do my shoes feel like? What
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  Speaker 2: do my belongings look like? As well?
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  Speaker 1: And the kids usually pretty excited about that let's be honest.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. I mean send three things. They sometimes
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  Speaker 2: feel a bit front, bit scratchy, so it's always good
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  Speaker 2: to have a try on. And then my last one
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  Speaker 2: would just be you know, this is a big change
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  Speaker 2: for you and your child. Just go gently enjoy time
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  Speaker 2: with each other over the holidays, and just know that
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  Speaker 2: the first six weeks it's like the newborn phase all
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  Speaker 2: over again. You know, everyone's just got big emotions, new
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  Speaker 2: routines settling in, and everyone's getting to know one another.
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  Speaker 2: Feature your child, your parent, you as a parent. Just
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: be kind to yourself and just let things settle down,
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  Speaker 2: settle in.
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  Speaker 1: Zoe really appreciate the conversation. If people want to find
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  Speaker 1: out more about the services that you offer and the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: way that what you've shared can support them, You've mentioned
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  Speaker 1: that there's some stuff online that can be useful. Where
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  Speaker 1: should they go? What should they do?
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  Speaker 2: Yes? Follow me on Instagram. I'm at at edzir kate
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  Speaker 2: E d z O C A T E. And I
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  Speaker 2: also have a website www. Dot zokate dot com dot au.
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  Speaker 1: We'll look to those in the show notes as well.
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  Speaker 1: Zoe really appreciate your time time. Thank you for sharing
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: some insights for nervous parents who are gearing up for
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  Speaker 1: the last Christmas holidays before the kiddos go to school.
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  Speaker 1: It's so exciting, so anxiety introducing, it's all of the things.
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  Speaker 1: The Happy Families podcast is produced by Justin Ruland from
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Bridge Media. If you'd like more info about what Zoe
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: spoke about, like I said, check the show notes. We
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: will link to educate and Zoe's resources there. And if
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: you'd like to know more about making your family happier,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: you'll find the details at happy families dot com dot au.