Course 05 Shool Readiness 2
Course 05 Shool Readiness 2
Course 05 Shool Readiness 2
Course: 05
School Readiness
Foreword
The first six years of a child’s life are the most crucial years due to the rapid pace of development
during this period. These are the years in which the child’s brain develops at a rapid rate and about
85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs. To ensure healthy brain development
and growth, appropriate care and stimulation is needed. Various researchers in this area have
demonstrated that in order to promote young children’s success, we need to provide them
holistic care and appropriate educational experiences. Age group requires careful nurturing in
a stimulating and enriching environment to develop their full potential and progress along the
learning ladder. Providing quality early childhood education is one of the goals envisaged under
the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. It is of paramount importance to invest in the
early years by ensuring an emotionally supportive and enabling play- based environment for
every child, which is not only the right of each child but also lays the sound foundation for their
lifelong learning.
The NEP 2020, reformulated the early stage of learning and covered the 3-8 age group of children
calling it the “Foundational Stage of Learning and Development”. Here for NISHTHA ECCE we
are talking about young children in the age group of 3 to 6 years. The new pedagogical and
curricular structure is aimed to attain optimal outcomes, in all domains of Child’s personality
and development of early literacy and numeracy. Thus, for a child in the age group of 3-8
years, practitioners play a critical role. Teachers and ECE programmes / centres act as a second
home to the children. The NEP 2020, has also kept the teacher at the centre, to bring out the
fundamental reforms in education. It emphasises that the teachers are mainly responsible
for shaping the citizens of the next generation, and all possible efforts need to be made for
empowering teachers to inculcate healthy habits and good values in children.
The National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS), 2022 has been designed
with the Teacher as the primary focus - the reason being that the Teacher is at the heart of
the practice of education. The dream of NEP 2020 and NCF-FS, 2022 will come true when the
teachers and all those who are concerned for young children and their learning will work
together to bring quality and success across the foundational stage.
The present document titled, ‘NISHTHA ECCE’ is being brought out specifically to meet the
demands and requirements of NEP 2020 and of all those who are working in the area of ECCE.
It is hoped that teachers, teacher trainees, teacher educators, key functionaries, etc. would find
this resource material interactive, useful and interesting.
I appreciate the efforts and hard work of the Department of Elementary Education, NCERT in
coordinating and finalising NISHTHA (ECCE). We look forward to useful feedback from the users
to help us further improve NISHTHA ECCE.
Director
NCERT
New Delhi
November 2022
Preface
Quality Early Childhood Education programmes can make a significant contribution to the
young children’s holistic development which includes physical, psychomotor, cognitive, social
and emotional development including the acquisition of language and literacy. The brain is
most flexible and adaptable to learning during these early years. According to research in the
field of neuroscience, 90 percent of brain growth occurs by the time a child is 5 years of age.
This growth is influenced not only by the nutritional and health status of the child but also
by the psycho-social experiences and environment the child is exposed to during these early
years. Therefore, investing in early years in the form of setting up of anganwadi and preschool /
balvatika settings, creating appropriate provisions and developing quality programmes for early
years are extremely important requirements. These years are also known as habit formation
years, so we need to inculcate good habits and age-appropriate values at this stage through
value-based stories, rhymes and bonding with parents, and families. National Education Policy
2020 (NEP 2020) emphasizes on providing universal access to ECCE; anganwadi centers /
preschools / balvatikas will be strengthened with well-trained anganwadi workers / teachers.
The policy also suggests that prior to class 1, every child will move to a “preparatory class” or
Balvatika, which has an ECCE qualified teacher. The National Curriculum Framework for the
Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) has been developed based on the vision of the National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 to enable its implementation. This NCF-FS is designed with the Teacher as the
primary focus - the reason being that the Teacher is at the heart of the practice of education.
NISHTHA ECCE is a step towards fulfilling this dream of NEP 2020 and NCF-FS and in this context
six courses have been designed for master trainers who would train the preschool teachers
and anganwadi workers tomake them ready for developing their ECCE settings emotionally
supportive, stimulating, and vibrant where all our young children would play, learn, explore,
enjoy and move to class-1 happily.
The six courses of NISHTHA ECCE offer master trainers to help the anganwadi workers /
preschool teachers to maximize early learning opportunities in their anganwadis / schools.
Training on these six courses of NISHTHA ECCE will guide the School Heads / Child Development
Project Officers (CDPOs) and District Programme Officers (DPOs) on how to orient and train the
anganwadi workers for improving the quality in the transactional processes in the anganwadi
and for bringing quality in the early childhood education programmes of anganwadi / preschools.
The NISHTHA on ECCE focuses on all these important aspects through six (6) Courses.
ᨻ Course 1: Significance of the Early Years
Course 1 titled “Significance of the Early Years” throws light on how early childhood education
and the first six to eight years of children are critical and crucial in their development.
For the holistic development of children, it is important that all aspects and domains of
development, including cognitive, language, physical, and socio-emotional, are taken care
of while planning for ECCE.
ᨻ Course 2: Planning for Children’s Play and Learning
Course 2 details out about planning a play based physical learning environment for
anganwadi children. The requirement of a clean, safe, and adequate physical space for
each child is necessary so that all children are able to explore and play in a vibrant and
lively anganwadi and preschool setting. A well-designed physical learning environment
facilitates anganwadi management and supports the implementation of curricular goals
and objectives. A well-planned pedagogy and play environment for children, both indoors
and outdoors, supports early learning.
ᨻ Course 3: Play-based Activities for Holistic Development
This course describes briefly about play based activities for children’s holistic development.
It includes the characteristics of the child, his / her learning, and developmental needs.
The use of play and activity-based pedagogy, role of toys and suggested activities for
achievement of developmental goals are the focus points of this module. It also talks about
observation and assessment of children’s progress including Holistic Progress Card for
tracking children’s all-round development.
ᨻ Course 4 : Partnerships with Parents and Communities
This is an important course that emphasizes on the quality of stimulating activities at home
for the well-being and holistic development of young children and this would be possible
when there are close links between homes of children, preschools and anganwadis. The
course discusses the need for involving parents and community, how to engage parents/
families and community members like local leaders / panchayat for better functioning of
anganwadis. The need for formal and informal communication and how to do it has also
been mentioned in the course. Some exemplar activities have been written which can be
suggested to parents to be done at home. It also sheds light on reasons for low participation
by parents and community and suggestions to overcome these barriers.
ᨻ Course 5: School Readiness
This module aims to explain the concept of “School Readiness”, the learning crisis and
importance of ECCE and the dimensions of school readiness. It also explains the need
for readiness of children for school , school’s readiness for children and parent’s readiness
for children. This course highlights the inter-relationship of children, parents / families
and communities and schools which need to function together to provide experiences to
children for holistic development and lifelong learning.
ᨻ Course 6: Birth to Three years - Early identification for intervention of special needs
The sixth course aims at generating awareness about the importance of catching disabilities
early. The first 1000 days are most important from the developmental perspectives of all
children. The disability can be easily addressed if parents are supported by anganwadi
workers and Preschool teachers to identify the red flags and refer the children for
identification of disabilities if any. This would help in getting timely services and the advice
of specialists for early stimulation of children in natural home environments. These small
efforts are vital in building a strong equitable foundation of learning and for achieving
inclusive early childhood education.
The six courses of NISHTHA ECCE are intended for master trainers and these master trainers will
be - CDPOs (Child Development Project Officers) and DPOs (District Programme Officers) who
are responsible for helping anganwadi workers learn the appropriate pedagogical practices
suitable for the young children of 3–6 years old who will use the appropriate teaching-learning
strategies to help promote children’s holistic development i.e., physical-motor, language
and literacy, cognitive, social-emotional and creative development. anganwadi workers and
preschool teachers in making the anganwadis/ preprimary schools a vibrant and great place
where young children will play and learn to develop holistically.
NISHTHA ECCE aims to bring and improve quality in the ECCE programmes in all the preschool
settings so that a seamless and smooth transitions across the foundational stage becomes
possible. Teachers are expected to grasp the pedagogy suggested in these six modules so that
she / he can plan for interesting classroom processes where every child is learning and enjoying
the learning.
The success of NISHTHA ECCE is largely dependent on the teachers across the preschool settings
who will use these modules. We encourage them to modify and adapt the activities as per their
immediate context and include knowledge in the local context.
Romila Soni
Academic Coordinator
November 2022
Acknowledgement
The National Council of Educational Research and Training acknowledges the valuable
contributions of the following participants, during the development of Course 05: “School
Readiness” of NISHTHA (ECCE).
Program Coordinator:
Dr. Romila Soni, Associate Professor, Department of Elementary Education, NCERT, New Delhi
Course Coordinator
Prof. Suniti Sanwal, Head, Department of Elementary Education, NCERT
Reviewer:
Dr. Kalpana Venugopal, Professor, ECE, RIE, Mysuru, Karnataka
Language Editor:
Ms. Sushmita Mallik
Technical Coordinator:
Dr. Angel Rathnabai, Assistant Professor, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET),
NCERT, New Delhi
Technical Team:
Dr. Varun Ashokan, Senior Academic Consultant, Central Institute of Educational Technology
(CIET), NCERT, New Delhi
Ms. Aprajita, Academic Consultant, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT,
New Delhi
Ms. Kunica, Academic Consultant, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT,
New Delhi
Ms. Bhawana Mehlawat, Junior Project Fellow, Central Institute of Educational Technology
(CIET), NCERT, New Delhi
Ms. Manisha, Junior Project Fellow, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT,
New Delhi
Mr. Tanmay Kulshrestha, Junior Project Fellow, Central Institute of Educational Technology
(CIET), NCERT, New Delhi
Graphics Team
Mr. Ayaz Ahmad Ansari, DTP Operator, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET),
NCERT, New Delhi
We thank the administrative staff of the Department of Elementary Education, for providing
administrative support, during the development of the NISHTHA ECCE. Efforts of Ms. Chanchal
Rani is gratefully acknowledged for typing the courses.
NISHTHA (ECCE)
An Integrated Training Programme for Teachers
and School Heads’ at Pre-primary and Primary
Stage of Education
COURSE 05
School Readiness
Course Overview
Description of the Course
Keywords
Objectives
Course Outline
1. Introduction to School Readiness
1.1 Need for School Readiness
1.2 Significance of the Early Years of Life and the Critical Periods
1.3 Activity 1: Critical Period of Child’s Life - Do Yourself
2. Importance of School Readiness and Its Dimensions
2.1 The Learning Crisis and School Readiness
2.2 Learning Crisis - Reflect
2.3 What Determines School Readiness?
2.4 Definition of School Readiness
2.5 Activity 3: School Readiness - Do Yourself
2.6 Why is School Readiness Important?
2.7 Activity 4: Check Your Understanding
3. Dimensions of School Readiness
3.1 Three Dimensions of School Readiness
3.2 Dimension 1: Children’s Readiness for School
3.3 Activity 5: Check Your Understanding
3.4 Activities for Developing Readiness in Children
3.5 Dimension 2: Readiness of Family
3.6 Suggestions for Developing Readiness of Parents
3.7 Dimension 3: School’s Readiness for Children
3.8 Activity 6: Challenges in School Readiness - Share Your Thoughts
3.9 Assessment of School Readiness
Summary
Portfolio Activity
» Assignment
Additional Resources
» References
» Weblinks
Course Overview
Keywords
NISHTHAECCE, SCHOOL READINESS, VIDYA PRAVESH, READY SCHOOLS, READY
FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES, HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT, ECCE
Objectives
On completion of this Course, the learners will be able to:
Introduction to School
Readiness
Module 1: Introduction to School Readiness
Or
Transcript
Welcome! Every child is born ready to learn and adapt to a new environment.
Before children enter the school, they have already learned to move, talk, listen,
interact with others, manipulate objects, play and explore and express their
preferences. From the beginning of life, human beings are neuro-biologically
wired with readiness to learn. The experiences and opportunities children receive
in the early years of life, will set the foundation for how and what they learn in the
next stage of their lives, including academic and school life. These early years are
crucial in getting children ready to successfully learn in school situations. Studies
have shown that children who have poor school readiness are more likely to have
lower school achievement. School readiness is an important issue not only for
children, but for policy makers, educators, parents and the community.
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in getting children ready to meet the child’s needs. School readiness does not
comprise of academic driven skills, but covers a large range of developmental
skills. There are three key constituents of school readiness: readiness in children,
readiness in families, readiness in schools.
The experiences children have during early development, prepare them for later
learning. Children learn optimally and develop resilience for life, when they are
provided with early experiences which are consistent, developmentally sound,
and emotionally supportive. Children need to be provided opportunities to learn
at their own pace as they enter the school from diverse contexts and backgrounds.
They should not be pushed to learn too fast. Therefore, school readiness is an
important issue for parents, educators, and policy makers. They need to know
when the child will be ready to enter school, and how children can be prepared
for school.
This course aims to explain the concept of “School Readiness”, the significance of
the early years of life and the critical periods and importance of early childhood
care and education. It discusses different dimensions of school readiness and
the kind of actions to be taken by parents and schools to facilitate readiness
in children. This course will also highlight how children, parents, families and
communities can function together to provide experiences to children for holistic
development and lifelong learning.
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stimulation, which forms the basis for the development of more advanced
neural structures and skills. As the brain matures, higher-level circuits build
on lower-level circuits (Shonkoff & Richter, 2013); confirming the fact that the
learning process is cumulative and continuous in nature. These critical periods
provide “windows of opportunity” for developing some specific competencies,
such as language fluency and social competency with peers, symbolic relevance,
and certain cognitive competencies which are foundational, not only for school
learning, but for lifelong learning and development (Doherty, 1997).
Talk to parents about their perception on the significance of early years for a
child. Analyse their responses and prepare a writeup on the need for developing
parental readiness.
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Module 2
Importance of
School Readiness
and Its Dimensions
Module 2: Importance of School Readiness
and Its Dimensions
National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century and
aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country. The
gap between the current state of learning outcomes and what is required must
be bridged through undertaking major reforms that bring the highest quality,
equity, and integrity into the system, from early childhood care and education
(ECCE) through higher education.
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2.2 Learning Crisis - Reflect
What is lacking in our educational system that a large number of children are
facing learning crisis? What steps can be taken to improve it? Share your thoughts.
https://tinyurl.com/ecceEc5a2
Option 2: Download this pdf from DIKSHA and copy this URL.
https://nishtha-ecce.blogspot.com/2023/01/course-05-activity-2-reflect.html
Paste the link in the browser’ address bar to access the blog post
Option 3: Install mobile app ‘ePathshala Scanner’ from play store. Using the
app, scan the QR code given below.
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Step 2: Following any of the above option will take to an external site as
shown below
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ᨻ Type your response in the comment box.
ᨻ Click PUBLISH
ᨻ If you are already logged in with your Gmail account then the comment will
be published. If you are not logged in, then you will be directed to the Gmail
login page.
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ᨻ After logging in, enter Display Name and then click on Continue to Blogger.
Or
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Transcript
School readiness is a time of transition, this is a time when children make a transition
from home environments to settings like playschools, pre-schools, anganwadis,
balwadis and kindergartens. It is a time of transition from early care and learning
environments which are small scale and highly personalized relationships to
large scale interactions which are less personalized. It is a transition to a new
paradigm of learning, education and care. The concept of school readiness is
often misunderstood as parents as well as schools focus on learning of alphabets
and numbers and push children to recite and write these with a belief that they
are equipping the children for future learning. These good intentions are often
found to be detrimental in children’s learning. The impact of this is that we are
not providing children the foundational abilities and understanding which will
form the basis for formal academic learning.
In order for children to be ready for school there are certain requirements which
need to be fulfilled. Children’s basic needs for proper nutrition, adequate clothing
and shelter, economic security and primary security and preventive physical and
mental health services. Children need strong nurturing relationships with their
peer groups, their families and communities. Children need opportunities to
develop their talents and skills and to contribute to their communities. Children
displaying difficulties or indications of disability need early assessment and
intervention to prevent more serious problems that occur late. Children need
a safe environment and protection from injury, abuse, and neglect as well as
from exposure to violence and discrimination. Children need a lot of emotional
support in order to overcome any harm they might have suffered. Their mental
and physical health care needs to be addressed, which builds resilience in children.
Children displaying difficulties or indication of disability need early assessment
and intervention to prevent more serious problems that occur later.
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2.4 Definition of School Readiness
The United Nations World Fit For Children (UN WFFC) mission statement of
2002, defines school readiness as “a good start in life, in a nurturing and safe
environment that enables children to survive and be physically healthy, mentally
alert, emotionally secure, socially competent and able to learn”.
School readiness means that children have developed social, mental and physical
skills before starting school, that prepares them for classroom learning. It involves
more than just children; it includes the readiness of the individual child, readiness
of school for the children, and the ability of family and community to support
optimal early child development. School readiness, is strongly influenced by
their families, the interactions of children with other people and their immediate
environment before coming to school.
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Solve problems, ask questions, inquire, explore Being able to count to 20.
and experiment.
Become independent, communicative, feeding and Being able to tie shoelaces.
dressing themselves, using the toilet.
Turn-taking, helping and sharing together at home. Being able to do homework.
Why is School Readiness important for every child? Create a poster/ presentation
to explain it to parents.
School readiness is important for children, their families, and for society at
large. Research indicates that children who are ready to learn when they begin
schooling, learn more quickly and are more likely to get engaged in learning, stay
in school, and graduate and be successful in the workplace and in life. Children
who succeed in early years have more self-confidence and higher self-esteem.
We have learnt that children enter schools with diverse backgrounds having
differences in the cognitive, non-cognitive and social skills needed for success in
the school environment. School readiness is a framework for making access to
education more equitable, and in improving the learning outcomes, especially
for marginalised children, who are less likely to receive support for early learning
at home. Research indicates that school readiness is linked to learning, later skill
development, success in school, retention in school, and school completion.
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2.7 Activity 4: Check Your Understanding
Or
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Module 3
Dimensions of
School Readiness
Module 3: Dimensions of School Readiness
School readiness has three dimensions:- Ready families, Ready children and
Ready schools.
Readiness for school implies that all children, especially the vulnerable and
disadvantaged, including girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minorities and
those living in rural areas are being prepared to succeed in a structured learning
environment. In order to ensure that children at the foundational stage have the
requisite competencies for successful transitions to primary grades an interface
between individuals, families and systems is required, therefore, it is important
that all the three dimensions must work in tandem.
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A child needs basic skills and knowledge in the following domains which help in
being successful in school:-
ᨻ Physical well-being, good health status and sensory motor development-
This dimension covers a child’s development of senses, birth weight, health
and nutritional status, gross and fine motor skills and disabilities. Studies
indicate that low birth weight, poor nutrition and health disparities are linked
to poor school readiness (Hair et al., 2006; Janus & Duke, 2007). Policies need
to focus on balanced nutrition for mothers and children, adequate health
care and children’s ample indoor and outdoor motor experiences for fine
and gross motor development.
ᨻ Social and emotional development - This includes self-regulation, attention,
impulse control, capacity to limit aggressive and disruptive behaviours, turn-
taking, cooperation, empathy, and the ability to communicate one’s own
emotions; identification of feelings and facilitates accurate communication
of these feelings. Preschool/Anganwadi teachers’ classroom management
styles, secure attachment of children to the teacher and responsive
relationship were also found to be related to children’s school readiness.
ᨻ Approaches to learning - It focuses on the skills and behaviours that
children use to engage in learning. Approaches to learning refer to children’s
dispositions, learning attitudes, enthusiasm, inclinations, and styles. Curiosity,
creativity, persistence, initiative, task mastery, cooperativeness, problem-
solving, imagination and invention are the key components of this domain.
High quality preschool environments and developmentally appropriate
play-based learning experiences have the potential to enhance children’s
approaches to learning. Supporting children helps them acquire knowledge,
learn new skills, set goals and achieve them.
ᨻ Language development - Children require a good command over language
in order to communicate with others, share their ideas and experiences
and express their feelings. Good oral language is the foundation for the
development of reading and writing skills. Some key skills for language
learning are phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, concepts about
print, oral language skills, vocabulary and emergent writing skills. Research
indicates that parental educational level and income, parent-child interactions,
the home literacy environment and shared reading activities are associated
with children’s early language development.
ᨻ General knowledge and cognition, including early literacy and math
skills - This domain includes children’s problem-solving skills, attention,
memory, representational thoughts, mathematical thinking and the child’s
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general and physical knowledge, social-conventional knowledge and logico-
mathematical abilities along with language abilities. Research indicates
that children’s cognition and general knowledge are predictors for school
readiness, elementary math, reading and general academic achievement
(Duncan et al., 2007; Romana et al., 2010). Children require play based
experiences, rich and high-quality home and school environments and
parent child interactions for children’s cognition and general knowledge
development.
Or
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Transcript
Activity 1:
Teacher: Hello bachhon! Today we will play a game called “ What is gone?”
Teacher: Let’s take off and see what’s behind this cloth. Now take a look what’s
behind it. Take a good look, see it. Now put it back. Let’s close your eyes now.
Done? Now open your eyes. Now tell me what is missing in it?
Teacher: Yes very good , banana is the correct answer.Now put it back. Let’s close
your eyes now. 1,2,3 open your eyes. What’s missing now?
Teacher: Grapes are missing. “ What’s this gone”. With this game we can enhance
the memory of children. If they forget the objects we can clue them. Like, objects
used in the kitchen. Yeah, objects used for self cleaning etc.
Activity 2:
Father: Hi mithu, lets play a game , I will say some rhyming and some non-rhyming
words. You have to clap your hands on rhyming words and on non-rhyming
words, you have to move your neck and say no. Ok, so let’s start?
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Child claps his hands
Father: Wow Mithu, you have learnt to play this game. FISH ,DISH
Father: Wow, very good!Let’s play a new game called Antakshari. Do you
know how to play Antakshari? Ok, I will say a word- TALA, Now , say the next word
with the sound ‘LA’
Child: LAKDI
Father: I for IMLI, now say the next word from ‘LA’
Child: LADKI
Father: K for KABUTAR. Now, say the next word from ‘RA’
Child: GAJAR
Child: SAMAAN
Child: DARWAJA
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Child: RASSI
Child: KABUTAR
Child: NALA
Activity 3:
Teacher: Children, today we will match the pictures to its sound. What do I have
in front of me?
Children: Board!!!!
Teacher: Yes, board. Some alphabets are written on it which you need to recognize.
Now, tell me what is this?( Pointing towards the alphabet on the board)
Children: KA
Teacher: What is this? (Pointing towards the next letter on the board)
Children: MA
Teacher: What is this? (Pointing towards the next letter on the board)
Children: LA
Teacher: What is this? (Pointing towards the next letter on the board)
Children: NA, PA
Teacher: Now, let us match these sounds to the pictures. I will give you these
pictures, now you tell me which pictures start from the letter ‘KA’
Child: KELA
Teacher: Very good. Now tell me which pictures start from the alphabet MA?
Child: MOR
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Teacher: M for MOR
Child: MAACHIS
Teacher: M for MACCHLI, very good! Now we will start with the alphabet ‘LA’.
Which words start with the alphabet ‘LA’.
Teacher: Very good, L for LAKDI and what else starts with the alphabet ‘LA’? Come
on, tell me
Child: LADKA
Teacher: L for LADKA. Now, tell me what starts with the alphabet ‘NA’
Child: NAL
Teacher: N for NAL, very good! Now, tell me which words start with the alphabet
‘PA’
Child: PAPITA
Teacher: PAPITA
Teacher: P for PATANG, P for PALANG, very good! Like you all saw, we taught the
children how to identify the sounds with the help of alphabets and we also taught
them how to match pictures. We can do other similar activities like we can use
odd, even in this. We can give children words that start with the same alphabet
and by adding one word that is different we can teach them the word that is
different.
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Activity 4
Teacher: Today we will all play a game of letter hunting, and before we play that
game, we will first have to read a story. So, you all want to listen to the story?
Child: Yes
Teacher: The story is called “The Baby Bird and The Old Bee”. In this story, there
is a baby bird who has just learned how to fly and is sitting on a branch watching
a honey bee drink the nectar of flowers. Baby bird goes to the honey bee, but
the honey bee says, “I also want to drink the nectar of flowers” , but the baby
bird says “You go and eat your food like nuts and fruits”. Baby bird does that and
goes to a tree to eat the fruits, but the fruits were not as tasty as the nectar of
flowers. Baby bird is looking at the old bee , who is enjoying collecting nectar from
the flowers. And seeing this, the baby bird becomes a little jealous and starts to
follow the bee and sits on the flowers and tries to touch the flowers with her beak
but the flowers break because her beak was very sharp. The old bee was seeing
all this with her other bees and noticed that the flower broke. The baby bird felt
very bad that because of her the flowers broke. And then the bee attacked her
and the baby bird ran away and went to her mother and told her everything that
happened today . Her mother told her that whatever happened, happened but
don’t make the same mistake again. The baby bird promised her mother that she
will never make that mistake again.
In this story, you must have seen that the same letter is coming again and again,
which letter is it?
Children: “B”
Child: B
Teacher: Now we will find out how many times the letter “B” appears. The letter
which looks like this (pointing towards the alphabet ‘b’) So should we start
searching? Look how many times in this line “B” has come? Is there any “B”?
Child: Here
Child: Here
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Child: Yes
Child: Here
Child: No
Child: No
Child: Here
Child: B
Child: Yes
Child: 4
Child: yes
Child: 5
Child: Here
Child: 6
Teacher: Very good! So you all have seen the activity we did , letter hunting throuh
a story .
Anchor: So you saw how simple activities in day to day life and spending a little
time with children actually helps them to acquire the skills which make them
ready for school.
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3.5 Dimension 2: Readiness of Family
A family with reference to school readiness comprises all those members who
co-reside with the young child, including biological and non-biological caregivers,
siblings and extended family members. The home is the first environment and the
parents are the first teachers of children having influence on their development.
Studies showed that household income and parents, especially the mother’s
educational level, were associated with children’s school readiness. Children
from low-income families having low levels of education show poorer school
readiness than middle and low class families. Parent’s educational levels are also
associated with low-income levels. Low-income families tend to provide limited
prenatal maternal nutrition and after delivery nutrition for children. Poor maternal
nutrition and stress have a negative impact on the development of a child’s brain.
In the disadvantaged families, the inequalities for children begin in the prenatal
period and from then on, they are cumulatively deprived of adequate nutrition,
health, learning-education sources resulting in poor school readiness levels.
Families must be “ready” to prepare their children for the demands of schooling.
Children thrive when they are valued and respected and get the opportunities to
have rich interactions with adults who regardless of the setting provide warmth,
emotional support and nurturing relationships and address physical and mental
health care needs of children. Families and communities need to provide safe,
healthy, warm and stimulating environments and opportunities where children
can explore, ask questions, and solve problems.
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ᨻ Orient parents - Inform parents about the curriculum, learning goals,
pedagogies and strategies for helping every child succeed. Inform parents
about the expectations of their involvement in the programme.
ᨻ Invite parents to the classroom - Extend frequent invitations for parents
to visit the school/ anganwadi and spend time in the classroom. Whether
parents are invited to help with activities or be silent observers, these visits
can be most helpful and enjoyable.
ᨻ Organise special events - Plan picnics, field trips, class trips, involving
parents as volunteers. Bal Melas featuring educational books and toys can
be organised. Parents can be asked to provide ideas for such events. Plan
the activities as per the convenience of the parents- during the day or in the
evening.
ᨻ Maintain portfolios and work samples - Create portfolios, scrap books, and/
or other collections of children’s experiences in the classroom for parents to
look at whenever they visit the classroom.
ᨻ Create peer networking among parents - Create a parent contact list or an
instant messenger group like WhatsApp group, Telegram groups etc in which
parents can be informed about upcoming events, invited for volunteering,
parents can give suggestions about bringing improvements in the anganwadi,
mid-day meals etc.
ᨻ Identify and make useful resources available to parents - Parents often need
guidance and reassurance about behaviour management, developmental
milestones, signs of risk for learning disabilities or developing special talents
in their children. The anganwadi workers/ teachers can invite specialists on
ECCE day to help parents or provide resources from the local library.
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ᨻ The social and emotional development required by children for success
in school is provided through supportive and responsive relationships
within the family,
ᨻ Making lot of age appropriate books available to children and providing
opportunities for bonding with books by drawing their attention to the
pictures/ illustrations and helping them in picture reading,
ᨻ Providing lot of opportunities for exploration, asking questions and
seeking information,
ᨻ Reading to and with children,
ᨻ Teaching them songs and nursery rhymes,
ᨻ Playing with letters and numbers,
ᨻ Taking children on visits to outdoor areas, parks, gardens, holidays, fairs,
ᨻ Creating regular opportunities for them to play with their friends at home,
ᨻ Playing counting games, language games, solving mazes, memory games
etc.
Or
Transcript
Namaskar, we often hear that parents express concern that their children are
not learning to read and write the way they want them to learn and they often
complain and have concerns over this issue. Today we are here to discuss this very
important issue as to how parents can help children learn in an age appropriate
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manner. To discuss this issue we have a pre-school teacher Ms. Mariyam, a child
Rohan who is going to a pre-school his mother Ms. Shweta and his aunt Minakshi.
Teacher: So, Rohan’s mother and his aunt are here to discuss some issues that
they face with Rohan while teaching them at home . They would like to discuss
these concerns, and expect some suggestions that you can give them so that they
better teach Rohan at home.
Rohan’s Aunty: Ma’am, when I teach Rohan I have realized that he couldn’t focus
for longer period of time at the max he can focus 30-40 minutes but after that he
is not able to sit and moreover I have seen that when I teach him alphabets till
10-12 alphabets he is fine but after that he is not able to cope up with another
things so I am really worried and concerned how to cope up with this situation.
Expert: I want to know from both of you, do you spend time talking to Rohan,
playing with him, telling him stories?
Rohan’s Mother: I don’t have time and am not able to teach him.
Rohan’s Aunty: I am basically working because of that I have very less time which
I can spend with Rohan but the time that I get with Rohan, I spend that time while
teaching him alphabets and basic writing skills but I realize now what you are
asking I am not able to do that.
Expert: See, children learn best when they enjoy learning when we make the
learning playful and engaging for the children. So when you involve children in
your day to day activities, for example the food packets that you get you see lot
of things are written there, there is a logo when you draw the attention of child
to these food labels while you are traveling you see the road signage, there is a
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zebra crossing so you can show those signage to children. When you are going to
the grocery store, buying vegetables or groceries you can involve the child in the
number of things that you want. in paying the cash taking the money back. So,
when in day to day life when you start engaging children then they learn the best.
Teacher: So one more thing I would like to add is when you talk to the child,
the child feels part of the conversation. So, it’s really important that you have
meaningful conversations with the child and involve them into day to day things
that you do and tell them about it. For example if you are cooking something you
can involve the child and tell him what you are doing you are putting salt in, water
in or whatever.
Rohan’s Aunty: That sounds interesting. I think that’s doable and that should be
done. I think that’s right.
Expert: So exactly when you engage a child then he is learning many more things.
Another way that you can engage the child is by reading stories to the child
.When you read stories to the child he gets the vocabulary, learns new words, he
develops an imagination power, he learns that how a book needs to be handled,
we read from top to bottom from left to right. The pictures that the book has also
have some meaning so the child gets engaged when you read stories to them so
it is very important that you take time out to read stories to the child and also to
narrate stories whenever it is possible for you.
Teacher: So I would like to tell you that Rohan is really interested in doing
coloring and drawing and also singing songs and rhymes. So you can take up
these activities at home which he is really interested in and do those so that he
enjoys this time of learning while playing and while singing rhymes and dancing.
Rohan’s Aunty: Ya that’s right I have noticed him he loves doing that he loves
dancing and he keeps on humming some songs so I will definitely keep in mind.
Next time when I am sitting with him I am going to have some rhymes and these
activities which you are suggesting.
Expert: Exactly and see very often we start focusing on learning of the numbers
but drawing is the first step in learning to write so you have to provide a lot of
opportunities for drawing, painting and coloring to the children. It helps them in
learning to write.
Rohan’s Aunty: That was quite helpful. Now I can understand why he was not
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able to focus and I was not able to engage him. Now I have something from you.
Thank you so much Ma’am.
Expert: So you need not worry if you start engaging your child in your day to day
activities. I think he is going to good places so don’t worry .
Everyone: Thankyou
Expert: So you saw in this discussion that a many a times parent expect their
children to quickly learn to read and write but children learn best when they
are engaged in playful activities through drawing, painting, coloring, dance,
music, talking to them, giving them opportunities to ask questions and reading
them stories so children learn best when the activities are playful engaging and
entertaining for them.
The defining characteristic of ready schools is that the schools have the capacity
to provide supportive, enriched and developmentally appropriate learning
environments and to ensure that the transitions are smooth and there is
continuity in the learning experiences and pedagogy between ECCE programmes
and primary school environments (Lombardi, 1992). The greater the gap between
the early childhood care and education system and the primary school system,
the greater the challenge for young children to transition from an early learning
to a primary school environment.
Studies conducted in India show that the preschool curriculum ranges from
heavily diluted mere ‘song and rhyme’ ICDS preschool education curriculum to
private preschool curriculum which in most cases is a downward extension of
the primary curriculum, implemented in a rigid and regimented way at a stage
when children are developmentally not ready thus posing academic pressure
on children. These pressures become the starting points of the phenomenon of
“curriculum load” which is counterproductive to learning and leads to the load
of ‘non-comprehension’. Admission tests for children and parents, homework,
demand for English as a medium of instruction, and a large number of books
from private publishers prescribed by schools for young kids are the other areas
of concern. (Kaul & Sankar, 2009)
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The schools also have to be “ready” for the child, which means that schools should
be ready to address the learning needs of children from diverse backgrounds,
employ appropriate instructional approaches, and have developmentally
appropriate academic demands. The schools should appoint trained workforce
which works closely with families in reciprocal and respectful relationships in
such a way that each child’s success is supported by the school.
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Points to be kept in mind while giving activities to children
Lot of opportunities can be provided to children by parents at home and
teachers in the classroom. The following points are important to be considered
while giving activities to children:
ᨻ The activities should be based on the situation and interests of children
at a particular time.
ᨻ Ensure that the child wants to do the activity.
ᨻ Make the activity interesting and fun for children.
ᨻ Praise, appreciate and encourage children for their participation.
ᨻ Provide clear instructions and ensure that the child has understood it.
ᨻ Ensure that the activities are easy to begin with and further steps can be
added to it if the child has mastered the previous level. Provide prompts
wherever necessary.
ᨻ Stop if the child shows signs of tiredness or lack of interest.
ᨻ Repeat the activity occasionally.
ᨻ Use variations in the activity to make it more interesting.
ᨻ Prepare children beforehand if there is a transition or the activity is
coming to an end.
What are the challenges being faced in getting children, parents and teachers
ready for school? Share your thoughts.
Steps to be followed:
https://tinyurl.com/ecceEc5a6
Option 2: Download this pdf from DIKSHA and copy this URL.
https://nishtha-ecce.blogspot.com/2023/01/course-5-activity-6-share-your-thoughts.
html
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Paste the link in the browser’ address bar to access the blog post
Option 3: Install mobile app ‘ePathshala Scanner’ from play store. Using the
app, scan the QR code given below.
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Step 2: Following any of the above option will take to an external site as
shown below
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ᨻ Click PUBLISH
ᨻ If you are already logged in with your Gmail account then the comment will
be published. If you are not logged in, then you will be directed to the Gmail
login page.
ᨻ After logging in, enter Display Name and then click on Continue to Blogger.
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ᨻ Click on PUBLISH. The comment will be posted.
Improvement of learning
The teacher must know the strengths and needs of every child so that they can
adapt their teaching practices. Well-prepared teachers assess children’s skills
throughout the day, for example, by taking a picture of a child’s block structure
or writing a note at the end of the day about two children’s social interaction
etc. Focusing on school readiness assessment for the purpose of bringing
improvement in learning can support good teaching practices. These assessments
also help families to better understand the developmental status of their children.
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Identify children with special needs
Children having disabilities like speech and language delays, developmental
delays and autism spectrum disorders are at risk for deficits in school readiness.
Such children require early identification and interventions so that their needs
are addressed timely. Moreover, appropriate educational services with adequate
support and parental guidance and resources must be provided to improve the
potential outcomes. Screening children for any developmental delays/ difficulties
becomes crucial for referring those children for in depth testing to determine
their individual learning needs and adaptations required in the classrooms.
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Summary
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Portfolio Activity
Assignment
Design a ‘School Readiness’ programme. Highlight what needs to change in the
school environment, how to involve the parents in the programme and what
kind of experiences need to be provided to children to ensure that they are
school ready. How will you assess the progress of children and success of the
programme? Write the details for:
ᨻ Objectives:
ᨻ Steps needed to make the schools ready:
ᨻ Steps needed to make the parents ready:
ᨻ Experiences to be provided to children for their holistic development and
school readiness:
ᨻ Learning material and preparations:
ᨻ Assessment techniques used:
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Additional Resources
References
ᨻ Doherty, G. (1997), Zero to Six: The basis for School Readiness, Human
Resources Development Canada. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/242683154
ᨻ Government of India (2020). New Education Policy. Ministry Human Resource
Development. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/
mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf
ᨻ Haartsen, R., Jones, E., & Johnson M. H.( 2016). Human brain development
over the early years, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 149-154.
Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.05.015
ᨻ Janus, M., and Duku, E. (2007). The school entry gap: Socio-economic, family,
and health factors associated with children’s school readiness to learn.Early
education and development, 18 (3)
ᨻ Kaul, V. & Sankar, D. (2009). Early Childhood Care and Education in India,
Education for all, Mid-Decade Assessment, NUEPA.
ᨻ Shonkoff, Jack P., and Linda Richter, ‘The Powerful Reach of Early Childhood
Development: a science-based foundation for sound investment’, in Pia
Rebello Britto, Patrice L. Engle, and Charles M. Super (eds), Handbook of Early
Childhood Development Research and Its Impact on Global Policy (New York,
2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Jan. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/
acprof:oso/9780199922994.003.0002
ᨻ School Readiness: a conceptual framework © United Nations Children’s Fund,
New York; Updated in April 2012. United Nations Children’s Fund, Education
Section, Programme Division, Three United Nations Plaza, New York, New
York 10017.
ᨻ Villegas, A., & Lucas, T. (2002). Educating culturally responsive teachers: A
coherent approach. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Weblinks
ᨻ Oral Language Development during Preschool Years -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1tSAafINFg&t=497s
ᨻ Problem Solving Skill for Foundational Numeracy: Early Years -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZJ4kiVhO3U
ᨻ Pattern making for Foundational Numeracy -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4TMfJqi7Dk
ᨻ Size and Seriation for Foundational Numeracy -
https://youtu.be/mORwL-ZPJ6g
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ᨻ Picture Reading and Methods of Storytelling -
https://youtu.be/3gav6BXih4M
ᨻ Discussion on: How to engage preschool children at home -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN12s4_8Tjw
ᨻ Home Based Physical Activities for Children (Hindi Video) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o17QaVrO8&t=264s
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