WHAT ARE LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR CHILDREN STARTING SCHOOL?
Does your child have all the language skills required for starting school? Identifying this will help you know what they need asssitance with. Here is a brief summary to help you identify areas which might require more work.
Directions: Print the list below. Grab a pen, place it close to you and your child, and then talk and play with your child. Tick off the bullet points you feel they can achieve.
- Answers questions starting with “who, what, where, why”
- Looks at stories in a picture book and can recall simple details
- Remembers songs and rhymes
- Knows colours
- Interacts verbally with other children
- Remembers other childrens' names
- Understands the time-related concepts of “yesterday/ today/ tomorrow” and “first/last”
- Follows simple spoken instructions with 2 parts, such as "Clap your hands and turn around."
- Retells the story of a memorable event
SOCIAL LANGUAGE PRIORITIES FOR A 5 YEAR OLD IN A CLASSROOM
- Responds to their name being called
- Able to call the teacher’s name or appropriately get her attention
- Requests permission – “Can I…?”
- Checks to confirm – “What do you mean…?”
- Initiates talking with other children
- Able to say to another child “Don’t” or “Don’t do that”
- Queries what another wants to do – “What do you want to do?”
- Suggests – “Let’s…”
- Makes and maintains eye-contact
- Able to take turns while talking, to have a conversation
GRAMMAR CHILDREN SHOULD KNOW WHEN STARTING SCHOOL
- Plurals (dogs, horses)
- Verb tenses: present tense “-ing” (running) and “-s” (jumps); “am/is/are”; Past tense “-ed” (climbed) and irregular (went, came, found); “was/were”
- Pronouns: “he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, their”
- Negatives “not, don’t, didn’t”
