 Skills
for School
Babyworld are presenting the new research that reveals that most British
parents are totally unaware of the skills their children should have before
they start school. An expert guide for parents entitled 'Hi-5 Curricu-mum'
has been launched containing 22 key skills children should have started
to develop by the time they start school, with practical advice on how
to nurture them.
THE 'HI-5 CURRICU-MUM' CHECKLIST
The 22 skills your child should have developed by the time they start
school
How to:
- Write their own name
- Know the letters of the alphabet
- Sing and recite songs
- Take turns and share things with other people without a fuss
- Complete simple activities on their own without help from you
- Be sensitive to other people's feelings and know the difference between
right and wrong
- Dress and feed themselves (even if they get it wrong)
- Be confident enough to join in on group activities with other children
- Make up stories (even if they make no sense) " Join in on general
conversation at home with friends and family
- Tell the difference between the past and the future
- Be able to focus their attention on one thing for a prolonged period
of time without getting restless
- Count basic numbers and answer number based questions like 'how many
carrots are on your plate?'
- Complete simple puzzles such as jigsaws on their own
- Ask lots and lots of questions ('Why? Why? Why?' is a great way to
encourage curiosity)
- Understand the difference between different groups of things e.g.
cats and dogs
- Experiment with basic technology, such as typing their name on a computer
or playing on one by using the mouse
- Have fun playing outside and being active
- Tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods
- Play 'make believe' and use their imagination
- Make things and get messy with paints and crafts
- Make music with toy instruments and experiment with making different
sounds on their own
You can download a pdf file with some advice and assistance to achieve
that skills with your baby or child. Open
PDF
The Survey
The 'Hi-5 Curricu-mum' guide comes as 46 per cent of the parents surveyed
felt that they needed further advice and information on how to better
prepare their children for school and 60 per cent claimed the responsibility
left them feeling anxious and worried.
While most parents leave the education of their little ones in the hands
of schools from the age of four or five, parents of pre-schoolers are
less sure where to turn for advice. Fewer than half of parents (45 per
cent) feel that they have access to adequate information and only 18 per
cent claimed to know where to go for guidelines and advice. Instead, parents
are turning to family, friends, and in some cases child carers for guidance,
rather than relying on the official child development guidelines.
Cecilia Persson, Programme Director for Cartoonito said, "The 'Hi-5 Curricu-mum'
is exactly what parents of pre-school children have been looking for;
a simple and straight to the point checklist ensuring that their pre-school
children are already developing and learning the skills they need for
school in a fun way. Like the 'Hi-5 Curricu-mum', Hi-5 the show also ensures
that these lessons are reflected in the show in a fun, energetic and interactive
manner."
Dr Janine Spencer comments, "As a parent, ensuring that your children
are adequately prepared for school is one of the most important things
that you do, but it can be very challenging and daunting when you don't
feel that you have the guidance and information you need. A lot of the
available material on pre-school development is focused on teaching child
carers the skills, but can be difficult for parents with young children
to access and understand.
The 'Hi-5 Curricu-mum' guide translates the 'learning through play' content
of the new TV show so that parents can easily teach their kids the skills
they need for school based on the official child development guidelines."
Hi-5 Hi-5 will be aired on Cartoonito, Sky channel 619, Monday to Friday
at 8am, 11am and 3pm from Monday 3rd November 2008.
Research based on 1169 parents of 0 to 6 year olds, by Fly Research
and prepared by Survey Wisdom Ltd
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