Factors Affecting the School Readiness of Public...

Chapter I The Problem and Its Setting Rationale Kindergarten marks the beginning of formal education. The child’s initial school experience can influence the way he feels and acts to future school activities. I will also affect the way he relates to other people and his environment for the rest of his life. Success or failure at this stage can affect his well-being, self-esteem, motivation and perspectives. Lack of kindergarten readiness may also lead to his being held back in the next grade level. School readiness is defined as the â€Å"ability to cope, learn, and achieve without undue stress†. In the Philippines public and private schooling begins with kindergarten, when a child is about 5 years old. Kindergarten is 3 to 4 hours a day or†¦show more content†¦Children need many types of language experiences which include being read with and also participation in family conversation. Storytelling, nursery rhyme and reading enrich the language experience. Parents must spend time with oral language activitie s for a strong foundation in reading and spelling (Graue.1992). There are several factors affecting the school readiness of public kindergarten pupils namely: maturation, relevance of materials and methods of instruction, emotional attitude, personal adjustment, social status and tribe. Other contributors to the readiness gap are environmental stress, family income, parents’ literacy, nutrition premature birth, health, early childcare, experiences, low birth weight and genetic endowment. Maturation affects the readiness of the kindergarteners because the child has not reach yet a sufficient stage of mental and physical development needed to perform school tasks characteristics of that particular grade level which entails a higher level of performance than that of which he has at the moment. Experiences determine the kindergarten readiness for learning. Exposure to environment and varied activities will help the child learn. Children learn from seeing, hearing, touching and th ese experiences will help the child get to know his environment better. To interpret reality, children must experience their surroundings through imagination and discovery. Rooted in the experience