The classrooms at Children’s House are designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. All children are different, and some are developmentally ready before others. The following are a few examples of behaviors that indicate a child may be developmentally ready to begin our school:
- able to sit at circle time and listen to stories and engage in group activities for 15 to 20 minutes.
- will allow teachers to show him/her how to use the activities on the shelf.
- will take suggestions from the teacher of work for which he is ready.
- able to complete the work cycle — take work out, complete the work, and put it away, or at least be willing to let the teacher help her do these things.
- able to follow simple directions like lining up, washing hands, putting on a coat to go outside.
- willing to participate in the toileting routine.
- able to communicate needs to the teacher and other children appropriately.
Children who are entering our program have so much to learn in their first few weeks and months! A willingness to take direction and follow the teachers’ directions are the key components to a successful transition to the classroom.
When considering acceptance of a child, we at Children’s House are obligated to consider not just the readiness of the individual child, but also the needs of the whole classroom. Children who are too young take an extraordinary amount of the teacher’s time, to the detriment of the classroom as a whole. We want every child to be happy in the classroom, which means that he or she needs to be developmentally ready for the experience.