Gotowość szkolna w perspektywie wczesnodziecięcych doświadczeń

Abstract

School readiness includes the readiness of each individual child, the school’s readiness for children, and the ability of families and communities to support optimal early childhood development. Current knowledge about early childhood development, particularly in the field of neuropsychology, provides empirically verified evidence that the factors determining early childhood experiences can be modified, which may affect the trajectory of children’s development and learning, and thus their school readiness. Early identification of the needs and resources of the children and their families, as the primary development environment, can significantly reduce or eliminate the deficits in development and functioning with which many children enter formal education. Optimal support includes health, educational and preventive practices that promote the child’s school readiness in all of its areas, i.e. physical, socio-emotional, cognitive. The child and their family should be given special care in order to recognise irregularities as soon as possible and to intervene at an early stage, and to prevent problems and difficulties from developing and accumulating. The main aim of the article is to demonstrate the necessity of considering school readiness as a result of the support received by the child from their environment from the moment of their birth. It is assumed that their functioning has a decisive impact on the child’s cognitive, socioemotional and motor functioning, making them ready to undertake educational challenges to varying degrees. To focus solely on the child’s readiness to start formal education is to ignore the importance of their early development and to diminish the role of their experiences. This belief has been supported by a wealth of empirical evidence cited in this article.