What Personal/Social Skills are Important for Young Children Commencing Kindergarten? Exploring teachers' and parents' insights

Abstract

This article reports on a study that investigated the importance of children possessing personal/social skills when starting kindergarten, from teachers' and parents' perspectives. The study involved a sample of 16 kindergarten teachers and 63 parents of kindergarten children from government schools in one of the six education districts within the Tasmanian Department of Education. Data was collected through mailed questionnaires, which utilised 22 personal/social skills sourced from the Early Social Skills brochure (Department of Education, 2002a) and the Kindergarten Development Check (Department of Education, 2003). Results from the study support the importance of socially preparing children for the kindergarten environment, with emphasis being placed upon children commencing kindergarten with many of the specified personal/social skills. It was revealed that there was a lack of congruence between teachers' and parents' perceptions in respect of some items, in the areas of 'attitude to learning' and 'social communication'. This indicates that there may be inconsistent expectations between home and school which have the potential to impact negatively upon a child's personal/social development.

Parental Involvement in Improving Independence in Early Childhood

“…In children aged 5-6 years, independence of children in taking care of itself should have been formed because the child will begin to enter elementary school. In detail based on various theories of child development, child independence consists of several dimensions: maintaining cleanliness and neatness, cleaning up his possessions [8], eating and drinking himself properly without being helped [9], and wearing clothes and shoes without help. This study focuses on the independence of children in eating and drinking themselves properly without being assisted.…”

Αντιλήψεις Γονέων, Νηπιαγωγών, Δασκάλων Και Ειδικών Ψυχικής Υγείας Για Τη Σχολική Ετοιμότητα

“…Μια άλλη έρευνα από τους King & Boardman (2006) βρήκε ότι οι δάσκαλοι πίστευαν ότι κοινωνικές δεξιότητες όπως το να περιμένει το παιδί τη σειρά του, να ζητάει βοήθεια, να ολοκληρώνει μια εργασία που του έχει ανατεθεί, το να έχει καλούς τρόπους και να ακούει τους άλλους, μολονότι έχουν αξία για την είσοδο στο σχολείο, αναπτύσσονται ούτως ή άλλως στην πορεία της φοίτησης σε αυτό. Οι γονείς ανέφεραν ότι τέτοιες δεξιότητες είναι σημαντικό να υπάρχουν ήδη κατά την είσοδο στο σχολείο, έτσι ώστε οι δάσκαλοι να επικεντρωθούν σε περισσότερο ακαδημαϊκές ικανότητες.…”