What should children know before starting reception?

osian

My daughter will be starting reception in September. She will be nearly 4 at that point.

I'd like to be able to help her and make sure that she is adequately prepared for school.

I was just wondering if there is some kind of checklist that I could refer to. What are they expected to know at that stage?

mummyroysof3

my daughter started reception in september and they were mostly concerned with them trying to dress/undress and do their coat shoes and that they enjoyed a variety of things such as stories, drawing etc

devildog

I would agree that your daughter should be able to dress and undress herself reasonably well (including shoes)
She should also 'know' when she needs to go to the toilet and to be able to express this.
Anything else is a bonus so if she is able to count to 10 or even 20 that would be helpful although not really too important.

mishkanorman

its almost pointless teaching children things like their alphabet and numbers as they will only go through it all again in class anyway and she will either get bored re-doing it or will be taught in a different way and get confused by it all.

I would make sure they have good pencil control (fine motor skills make a lot of difference, my eldest is 8 and still struggles with writing as he was never interested in drawing/play-doh as a little-un) can recognise and perhaps spell their own name (depending on where she is at at the minute) and as the other poster said can dress and un dress themselves.

Xaniwoop

Has she been attending the nursery attached to the school? My DD started school last Sept and had been to a different preschool, when she started it turned out that they had already taught the phonic alphabet in the nursery class so any child who had not attended the school nursery was already behind!

Luckily she had asked to learn to read at 3 and so I had already done this with her. I'd even checked the school information to find out what scheme they used in reception so we didn't clash. It worked out fine for my dd but I am still horrified that they do this - its not what nursery is for - exploring letters at the instigation of the child yes but sitting on the carpet with flashcards not so much!

So my answer is if she's been in the onsite nursery I would expect that they would teach her anything they think she should know and you could concentrate on things like dressing and toileting. If she's been somewhere else I'd make inquiries either with the reception teacher or a parent with a child currently in reception.

msb5262

Hi OP,
It's really nice that you are looking ahead like this and thinking about what your little one needs to be able to do.
There are 3 main areas to consider -
a) managing practical tasks e.g. using the loo, washing hands, dressing and undressing, hanging up coat etc.
b) pre-reading and basic number skills if she is ready e.g. recognise her name, find "her" initial letter in the alphabet, identify the digits 1-9 as meaning one to nine, simple counting e.g. counting and pointing to objects one by one, and so on
c) familiarity with books, inset jigsaws, playdough, Duplo, wax crayons etc and...
TALKING! Talking about everything and naturally using language about colour, size, shape, more, less, and everything else. Talking about how you're feeling - happy, upset, worried? Talking about what we're going to do today, what we did yesterday, what we're going to do tomorrow etc etc. This is all what comes naturally to most parents when they're spending time with a young child.
That pretty much sums it up.
HTH
MsB

osian

Thanks all!

Xaniwoop, there's no nursery attached to this school, but she does attend another pre-school type nursery for 2 mornings a week. I know they do some educational things there, but I'm not sure what kind of depth they go into.

maire1

I have to second what msb says about talking!!!

There is nothing as good for children's language and social skills as good old chatting!

thorsoak

Can she go to the toilet by herself, pull up her knickers and wash her hands afterwards?

Does she know how to put her shoes on the right feet?

Does she know how to use a knife and fork? Has she learned to sit at a table?

These are the basics that she should know

minimoneysaver

I'd say your priority should be bathrooming, changing clothing, dealing with buttons etc. Secondly I'd look at your childs ability to hold a pencil/crayon/paintbrush. You could look at making zig zag and swirly lines for your child to go over. My daughter started school with the skill of reading, which meant she was able to spend some time doing more advance literacy activities with a level 3 TA with two other children who could also read. She's due to do her yr 2 SATS in May and is predicted a level 2b... if she gets it, I'll be one very proud mummy :-)

s4mmy

People have given some really good advice for your dd but I'm sure that her lucky teacher will be really pleased with you if you name ALL of her clothes that she will remove when getting changed for PE. 30 children and 30 sets of clothes often get muddled and without a name tag it's simply a guessing game