How to Ensure Your Preschooler is Ready for Primary School

Wondering how to ensure your little one is academically, socially and emotionally ready for ‘big school’? One of the best things you can do is to choose a preschool that actively works towards this goal!

The transition from kindergarten to primary school can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Kids who are academically prepared as well as emotionally ready will walk into primary school with confidence and even excitement! So how do you ensure your little one is ready? Parents play a part in helping kids with the transition but a lot of the groundwork is done at preschool which is why it is so important that you choose a preschool that actively works towards this goal like Shaws Preschool does.

Shaws ensures all their little graduates are not only academically ready for the rigours of local or international school, but they make it their mission to nurture kids throughout their early learning journey so that they are emotionally and socially ready as well.

1. Getting Kids Academically Ready for Primary School

Preschoolers work towards learning to read sight words and high-frequency words by the time they graduate from Shaws Preschool. They learn about numbers through play early on here too so they are very familiar with the basic fundamental skills like more and less, number bonds, place value, simple addition and subtraction. Teachers at Shaws go one step further and answer the ‘why?’ by showing kids how numbers are used in daily life. Kids get to create their own shop and handle real money to buy and sell snacks. They soon become familiar with working out if they have received the right change!

It is through this type of play, that kids become excited about learning – and isn’t that one of the best indicators of being ready for the next learning adventure? 

2. Ensuring Kids Are Emotionally and Socially Ready

Shaws Preschool dedicates a good amount of time to familiarising kids with what to expect at Primary school so that they are safe, confident and excited about the transition. They do this by talking about all the different sides of ‘big school’ from the bigger classrooms, to wearing uniforms, to navigating the school canteen.

Shaw’s educators put a lot of attention and thought into nurturing a strong sense of self in each child, as well as a sense of belonging and community. When kids know they are in a safe space they are more open to sharing their feelings and expressing themselves which in turn makes them feel valued and heard. Throughout the term, kids are taught to be more independent – they are encouraged to engage in independent tasks like packing their school bags, serving lunch to their friends, and even cooking. The self-confidence gained through this goes a long way in ensuring kids are socially and emotionally ready for change.

By the time kids graduate they are not only mentally prepared for big school but they are academically ready and excited for their next learning adventure! Ready to enrol your preschooler into a play-based preschool that actively preps kids for the future? Get in touch with them for a tour today.

Shaws Preschool, multiple locations including Braddel Heights, Lorong Chuan, Katong Post, Tanjong Katong and Mountbatten, Tel: (+65) 9789 2255, shaws.com.sg