What is expected starting school.

wolfpawnat

I have no doubt this has been done to death, but I was hoping someone would be able to help me with this. My son is starting gaelscoil in September and he is just after finishing pre-school yesterday. I got his "workbook" for the year and the like and I noticed that he has little of it done and when I went through it with him, that he has no clue of some of the alphabet. I am worried that he won't be ready and as a result will have to be held back a year. He will be not much over the 4 and a half mark, so I know it won't be the end of the world if he does get held back, but I would like him to at least try.

What should he be able to do? Alphabet, basic attempts at writing, etc?

Thank you for all replies.

Cailin CoisFarraige

The most important thing for your son starting school is a little independence. Can he take on and off his own coat? Go to the bathroom and wash his hands unassisted, peel an orange/open a yoghurt/water bottle etc.?

He will learn his letters and sounds soon enough so don't worry. Make sure there are plenty of reading materials at home, or go the library occasionally. Obviously he doesn't need to be able to read the stories himself, but having others read to him, and beginning to understand that words and letters have meanings will all be beneficial. Get him to talk about the pictures in the books. Make some coloured paper or a small copy available to him with a variety of crayons and pencils. He may not be able to form letters at this stage but let him "write" his own words and "letters" and draw pictures. These are all pre-writing skills. If you wish, get him to explain to you what he has written.

If it's specifically the Gaeilge aspect you're worried about, try using any bits of Irish you have yourself on a casual, informal, daily basis. Simple things like "Dún an doras", "Ith do lón" or "Cuir ort do chóta". It doesn't have to be grammatically correct (you don't mention if you're a Gaeilgeoir yourself), he'll pick those things up eventually.

The most important thing for his development and progress is that he clearly has a parent who is interested in his education.

wolfpawnat

Thank you.

He is somewhat bilingual (he actually needs to learn the English for a few things like ambulance and water:o) We read a lot, mostly in English and he does attempt to write, and is always happy to explain his "writing".

He is well able to look after everything, clothes, bathroom and lunches are fine.

I just want to give him the best start. I know he is on the younger scale of the school age, a lot of children are 5 and over starting, so I want to make sure he starts off on a par with his classmates. I know there will be some children there able to do a lot more than him, but I know he will be more able in other aspects too. I just don't want him behind before he even starts.

Lisha

My son is finishing junior infants now.

I agree that what they really need to be able to do is open and eat their lunch, wash/dry hands and use toilet by themselves .
They need to be able to speak to teacher if something is wrong like sickness etc.

Also to be able to open and close school bag pencil case and put in/off coat .

Just on the alphabet and letters in our school they use phonics so kids who know the alphabet actually have to unlearn it and learn the phonics system.
If you are not familiar I would recommend you ask teacher for notes explaining the system.
For example for each letter the kids say the phonic sound and there is an action too to help them remember it.
Our teacher gave a page explaining 6 letters but she never gave us any more!

Also to be able to hold pencil properly.

IMHO if kids know too much before starting they could get bored and disinterested.

Best of luck

Moonbeam

Don't worry once he can take on and off his coat,manage his lunch and do what the muinteoir tells him he will be fine.
It is more to do with emotional maturity that children are delayed rather then physical and mental ability.
D would have been more then able for the academic work side of it last year but she would not have been mature enough where as this year I know she is more than ready.
The last 4 years in so many ways flew by and in so many ways I can not remember life before them.

C is starting Naíonra they will not know what hit them;)

wolfpawnat

Lisha wrote: »

IMHO if kids know too much before starting they could get bored and disinterested.

Yes, the principal stated many of the kids don't even have Irish so to be careful not to have him too advanced as he will get bored. I just want him on a par with the class.

wolfpawnat

Moonbeam wrote: »

Don't worry once he can take on and off his coat,manage his lunch and do what the muinteoir tells him he will be fine.
It is more to do with emotional maturity that children are delayed rather then physical and mental ability.
D would have been more then able for the academic work side of it last year but she would not have been mature enough where as this year I know she is more than ready.
The last 4 years in so many ways flew by and in so many ways I can not remember life before them.

C is starting Naíonra they will not know what hit them;)

D will buy and sell them and C is a good little thing too, but if she is anything like D they will be in for a shock

RH149

I sent my first son to a Montessori from 3 to 5 where he learnt loads and then he started school were they began right at the beginning....and I now realise...proper order!! I thought I had a genius on my hands because he knew all his alphabet and could count to 100 etc etc and then in Junior Infants they get as far as 5...yes 5! It seemed silly at first when they were doing more advanced stuff in preschool but it makes sense-pre-schoolers might learn to recite their letters and their numbers but they are merely repeating them like parrots and have no concept of what say 16 apples are or about the sound the letter G makes until later-that's what they learn in 'Big School'.
The writing doesn't begin with letters its all about tracing squiggly lines and connecting dots and colouring in shapes and lots of cutting paper and using glue so that they learn hand control and a huge thing is how to hold their pencil. Seems very basic but they can't write well later if they don't learn that in Junior Infants. My genius still struggled with that in First class despite learning so much beforehand in Montessori.
- I sent my next child to a preschool with far less expectations and was delighted to see far more of the cutting shapes (holding scissors really strengthens their fingers) and the playing which is what preschool should be.
Prepare him over the Summer for taking out his lunchbox, putting the lid back on afterwards, putting it back in his (own) bag,washing his hands after the toilet etc and don't worry about the academic stuff.
Hope he has a great time at school!:P