 We are now well into Term 4 and many of you with Kindy kids will be watching and hoping they are ready to enter the enormous world of primary school in 2020. As decisions go, for many people it's actually a really stressful one make. Over the coming weeks we'll pop up little ideas to think about, as we believe knowledge empowers.
This first one will be a few links to research articles about beginning prep, whether to send or whether to delay entry. They're a couple of years old and from Stanford and Cambridge but the information is still relevant. Depart of Ed Q has this information about the topic. "Delayed entry to Prep for children who have not previously been enrolled in Prep Parents may delay their child's entry to Prep (and subsequently Year 1) if they feel that the child is not ready to start school. For example, the child is still developing their social and emotional skills. The child can then commence Prep when they are of compulsory school age (6 years and 6 months). No formal documentation, assessment or approval is required for delayed entry to Prep. Principals do not make decisions on delaying a child's entry to Prep. While some parents may choose to discuss their decision to delay entry with the principal, it is not necessary for them to do so." This is important to remember as many children may enter Prep still between the ages of 4.5 - 5 years of age. Happy reading! https://ed.stanford.edu/…/stanford-gse-research-finds-stron… Dee, T., & Sievertsen, H.H. (2015). The Gift of Time? School Starting Age and Mental Health (CEPA Working Paper No.15-08). Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp15-08 https://www.cam.ac.uk/…/di…/school-starting-age-the-evidence Here are some points from some of the studies which are available about delayed entry and links to the studies :
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 At What Works With Kids OT, we've had so much fun in our Mellow Moppets group this year. With a focus upon self regulation concepts and learning about breath control and controlled movements, we've seen such growth in the children who have enjoyed these weekly sessions.
We even wrote a group book, "The Yet Book", about all of the things we are working towards, but perhaps just can't do as yet. The children filled this book with positive thoughts, flexible ideas and imaginative strategies. It was a wonderful group experience. One of our "Moppets" has taken the brave step of writing his own book and is now a published author at the age of 9. We think that is amazing! You can find Joe's book called "Autism and Me" on Amazon UK https://www.amazon.com/Autism-Me-Joe-Samuel-Simons/dp/1731166273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543183352&sr=8-1&keywords=autism+and+me+joe+simon Joe has written about his own awareness of what having a diagnosis of autism means to him in order to share his experiences with other children. For Joe, having an awareness that his brain works a little different to other people's has helped him to make sense of his emotions and reactions to some situations. We'll done Joe - we've had an amazing year with you and the others in the Mellow Moppets group!  Welcome to www.kids-ot.com.au
New beginning are always exciting times. For us, (Mary and Robyn) 2018 marks a new beginning in our occupational therapy practices as we join together to provide services and information for parents, educators, carers and of course the children we work with. Well, to be perfectly honest, working together is not totally new for us. We first met many years ago as reasonably new therapists at the Spina Bifida Association in Brisbane. Many happy working years later, we both branched out into private practice and have worked around our growing families as independent practitioners, while always keeping in contact as friends and colleagues. For the last few years we've been drawn back together as we've organised presentations for schools and parents as well as running Prep readiness groups for little ones beginning school. So here is to our new venture together. Please feel free to contact us for further information about What Work with Kids OT. |
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November 2019
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