Your child’s achievements in life will depend on their holistic development in their Earliest Years (0-5). These are the most critical years for brain development and when the foundations for future-leaning are laid. 75% of their brain will be developed by the age of 5!
Please be reassured your child WILL learn to write their name - when they are developmentally ready - physically, mentally and emotionally. From a formal development stage, this is 7. Yes, seven!
They have a million stages to progress through first.
It’s imperative we allow them time and space to develop both gross and fine motor skills at their own biological pace.
Our children need to develop holistically, in all areas; their happiness, well being, their ability to be a good friend, to take turns, to share, to be able to listen, talk, understand instructions, to be confident, to seek out challenges, to be resilient and resourceful, to develop the ability to think, solve problems. The list is endless.
We remind you of the REAL skills they need for ‘big’ school – getting dressed and undressed for PE, opening their packed lunch box, pouring a drink, washing their hands, using the toilet independently, making new friends, holding conversation, being confident to explore new environments, putting gloves on, doing zips up, feeling safe to ask for help – you can probably think of lots more now you have the idea!
Writing their name is NOT an achievement to strive for at an early stage.
If we push our children too soon, we risk damaging their natural love of learning forever. They will see it as a negative process – because we have tested their abilities unfairly when they are not developmentally ready. They will remember how they struggled, how they found it very stressful. They will believe their results weren’t the best compared to another. What message is this sending to children?
Sadly our education systems today feel it’s necessary to judge, test and compare children repeatedly, rather than valuing every child as an individual. Some children may sadly spend their school life continuously set up for failure.
Your child is UNIQUE. Your child is an INDIVIDUAL. Your child is INCREDIBLE.
Your child is LEARNING every single hour of every single day.
They don’t need a piece of formal writing or painting as evidence.
Our children grow up so very fast. It’s imperative we cherish this time, and focus on the things that truly matter. Please support us in allowing our children to be children.
