The older kindergarten child, who is five to six, is actively preparing for the transition to formal learning in primary school. 

This transition needs to be carefully observed and documented so that the Class One teacher has a picture of the early development of each child in the class.  Between now and the end of the year, the children, in pairs, will be guided through an imaginative journey of activities that enable their skills and understandings to be observed.

The areas of development that indicate readiness for formal learning include; Physical;  Lengthening of limbs, appearance of visible joints, waist and neck appear.

Is the child able to touch the top of the opposite ear with their hand over their head?

The beginning of second dentition (emergence of the first permanent

molar) indicates that the enamel (the hardest substance in the body)is fully formed.  The formative forces that have been working on the teeth and completion of the organs are freed up for thinking.

School-age thinking

Young children rely on repetitious language and habitual activities to support localised memory, which serves as a foundation for internalised memory. When the child develops memory independent of location, they are beginning to be able to think abstractly, and can call  up memories in response to direct questioning.

Social readiness

The child’s intentions are increasingly receptive to being guided by the spoken word of an adult as instinctive imitative activity recedes.

Verbal expression

The child is able to sing, pronounce all speech sounds, retell stories in complete sentences and express ideas in conversation.

Dexterity and Movement

The child has developed fine and gross motor skills necessary for formal learning.

Dominance (or sidedness) of hand, foot, eye and ear is established ( should be either all right sided or all left sided) Able to track with the eyes Horizontal and vertical midlines of the body have been integrated Primitive reflexes have been inhibited.

We need to know that the children have the capacity to meet the expectations in Class One successfully. Children need to be ready for the authority of the teacher in Class One, and be fully incorporated into their bodies. They should be able to sit in an upright posture at the desk to write and draw, and learn to knit. They need to have the gross motor skills to manage the rhythmical movement in the curriculum. Children also need to have the social skills to move and work with their classmates and the consciousness to focus beyond their desk.

Denise Bullen

References; “Developing the Observing Eye; teacher Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Education” Cynthia Murphy-Lang “ School Readiness Today” A report from the pedagogical section of the Goetheanum “First Grade Readiness; Resources, Insights and Tools for Waldorf Educators’ Nancy Blanning,ed