Forget ‘school readiness’ it’s a load of baloney.
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Will my child be ready for school when they leave you?
We often get asked this question by the new families at Free Rangers Forest School Nursery. Families are anxious about the next step in their child’s learning before they’ve even reached our door.
The simple and honest answer to this question is that we don’t support your child’s entry into school.
We simply support your child, because letting them learn at the own pace is crucial for their long term development.
We support their engagement with learning and their wellbeing.
We support
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the development of their self esteem and self worth.
We support their desire to be independent.
We support their desire to take physical risks by encouraging them to manage risk.
We support their future mental health by emotion coaching.
We support their curiosity.
Forget school readiness, it’s outdated terminology that has hung around since I went to school, instead ask your child’s future school if they are ready for your child.
Ask:
How do they promote curiosity?
How often and for how long are children expected to sit?
What is the
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school’s policy on mental health?
How much learning takes place outside?
How is empathy taught?
How is my child’s engagement and wellbeing measured?
With threats of increased testing for young children; as parents and carers we need to ask for change and our actions and the questions we ask will bring about that change. Wouldn’t it be great if we fought for our child’s education as much as we fight and talk about the greatness of the NHS. As a nation our children aren’t amongst the happiest, education has a huge part to play in that.
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Formalised testing doesn’t cut the mustard anymore, maybe during the industrial revolution, but times have changed and as parents we need to bring about change within our education system.
This is T, he was out on Forest School today and he was wholly confident in his body and happy to just ”be.” His engagement in simply sharing snack time with his peers and practitioners was high and his non-verbal body language backed this up. He’s confident and assured and he has plenty to share with those around him, as well as empathising with his friends. A
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little message to the school he is heading on to in September:
Please protect and nurture T’s love for learning. With the system and processes you currently have in place, I’m worried it’s a flickering flame that will not be fanned but extinguished.
Kind regards,
Charlotte Lucas & The Free Rangers Team
@freerangecharl (Instagram)
@freerangersnursery (Facebook)
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Charlotte Lucas - 14 Mar 18
Will my child be ready for school when they leave you?
We often get asked this question by the new families at Free Rangers Forest School Nursery. Families are anxious about the next step in their child’s learning before they’ve even reached our door.
The simple and honest answer to this question is that we don’t support your child’s entry into school.
We simply support your child, because letting them learn at the own pace is crucial for their long term development.
We support their engagement with learning and their wellbeing.
We support the development of their self esteem and self worth.
We support their desire to be independent.
We support their desire to take physical risks by encouraging them to manage risk.
We support their future mental health by emotion coaching.
We support their curiosity.
Forget school readiness, it’s outdated terminology that has hung around since I went to school, instead ask your child’s future school if they are ready for your child.
Ask:
How do they promote curiosity?
How often and for how long are children expected to sit?
What is the school’s policy on mental health?
How much learning takes place outside?
How is empathy taught?
How is my child’s engagement and wellbeing measured?
With threats of increased testing for young children; as parents and carers we need to ask for change and our actions and the questions we ask will bring about that change. Wouldn’t it be great if we fought for our child’s education as much as we fight and talk about the greatness of the NHS. As a nation our children aren’t amongst the happiest, education has a huge part to play in that. Formalised testing doesn’t cut the mustard anymore, maybe during the industrial revolution, but times have changed and as parents we need to bring about change within our education system.
This is T, he was out on Forest School today and he was wholly confident in his body and happy to just “be.” His engagement in simply sharing snack time with his peers and practitioners was high and his non-verbal body language backed this up. He’s confident and assured and he has plenty to share with those around him, as well as empathising with his friends. A little message to the school he is heading on to in September:
Please protect and nurture T’s love for learning. With the system and processes you currently have in place, I’m worried it’s a flickering flame that will not be fanned but extinguished.
Kind regards,
Charlotte Lucas & The Free Rangers Team
@freerangecharl (Instagram)
@freerangersnursery (Facebook)
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A mum of three boys under the age of eight, once a primary school teacher, felt and saw education turning to rote learning and decided to set up a nursery school. We now welcome 90 children per day and support children's learning for over 400 hundred children in Somerset.
We really also want to open a school.
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