ARE WE READY TO LEARN?

Ready to learn skills. What are they? Ready to learn skills refer to a group of skills that all children need to develop to be able to learn from the natural environment. Ready to learn skills are foundational skills.

Think about the construction of a skyscraper. There is a construction site. You see the machineries and you see the builders. That is all you see for a long time and not much else! This however, is THE most crucial step to constructing a skyscraper or any building. The laying of a solid foundation. Failing to do so can lead to catastrophic outcomes.

The learning and the development of children is similar. Children need to develop foundational skills called ready to learn skills. Research on child development supports that when ready to learn skills are under developed, learning and development often reflect delays in subsequent years (National Institute of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics). What are ready to learn skills?

1. Engagement and Awareness. Engagement and awareness to people and ongoings in their environment. A child that is disengaged and unaware will unlikely take note of the people and ongoings in their environment thus missing learning opportunities.

2. Communication. To communicate what one needs and wants is important in learning and development. For many this may be in form of speech. For some this may be in form of gestures, signs and language. In the absence of a means to communicate, many children may engage in maladaptive behaviors that can hinder their learning and dvelopment.

3. Cooperate and Tolerate. Learning often is an interaction with another person or the environment. The ability to cooperate, to tolerate and to interact with another flexibly is important for chilldren to be able to learn and develop prosocial skills. As parents we may be all to familiar with the Terrible Twos and Threenagers!, teaching young children to cooperate and interact flexibly with others is a vital skill.

4. Imitation. Every child learns first by imitating. Take a look at the development of a young baby. I see and I do is common when we follow the development of young babies. This is how children learn simple to complex actions. Imitation is also a vital skill to the development of speech.

5. Attending Skills. In a noisy world, it can get confusing to children what to attend to. With the advent of modern technology, attention has become sparsed and divided. The ability to attend to what is important and ignore what is not important plays a vital role in learning and development. Take the classic classroom example where many things may be happening at the same time. The child that is easily distracted can easily miss the lesson taking place. The importance of strong attending skills cannot be stressed enough. Keep screen times low especially in young children.

These are the 5 Ready to Learn Skills all children need to develop to be able to learn successfully from their environment. Join us as we explore steps we can take to help build and promote ready to learn skills in the next post. So are we ready to learn?

Welcome to our community and we've enjoyed having you! Teacher Charmaine, Eye Level SS2.