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School Readiness

The Science

Brain development in the first three years of life lays the foundation of all future learning and success.

Research has shown that over one million neural connections are formed every second in a baby’s brain.1Infants and toddlers have remarkable brain plasticity – meaning that while babies are born with almost all the neurons they’ll ever need, neural connections are forming at a faster, more efficient rate than in any other time in life, allowing for the brain to shape itself by taking in experiences of the world around them.

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The environment in which infants and toddlers interact with others has a major influence on which neural connections are strengthened and which will shut off. Supporting school readiness early in life means engaging children through healthy relationships and helping them explore the world around them in safe and nurturing ways. The beginning stages of acquiring school readiness skills such as language, reasoning, and self-regulation are developed in the context of safe, consistent, and caring relationships with adults. Widely regarded as the core developmental areas for school readiness, infants and toddlers need the help of caring adults to help them develop the following key areas: physical development, social and emotional development, language/communication, cognition, and approaches to learning.2

Infants and toddlers need the help of caring adults to help them develop the following key areas: physical development, social and emotional development, language/communication, cognition, and approaches to learning.3 Physical development includes reaching milestones such as typical height, weight, and gross motor skills, as well as supporting physical health, such as vision and hearing. Social and emotional development (also described as promoting infant mental health) involves obtaining all the skills necessary to relegate one’s emotions and form relationships with others. Language development begins through early back and forth communication or cues between babies and caring adults, which in turn leads to expressive and receptive language abilities. Cognitive development involves mastery of skills that are more readily associated with school success, such as memory, problem-solving, and attention. The approaches to the learning domain combine cognitive and social-emotional development as they relate to learning environments; these skills include the ability to initiate and maintain interest in a topic or task and to also delay gratification (also known as executive function skills).

It’s important to remember that all domains (i.e. areas of development) are interconnected so hindering or promoting one will directly influence the trajectory of other developmental areas.4 Supporting school readiness means supporting all developmental domains, not just the domains associated with school achievement (e.g. language and approaches to learning).5 Moreover, research findings on later school achievement have elevated the importance of supporting children’s social and emotional development starting at birth. ZERO TO THREE has identified the following social-emotional characteristics as essential for children’s school readiness and future success in formal education: confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self-control, relatedness (being able to engage with others based on a sense of understanding), capacity to communicate and cooperativeness.6

In addition to supporting children in all developmental domains, caregivers are also responsible for protecting children from stress and other events that may delay or arrest healthy development. Toxic stress has a detrimental impact on children’s overall development and is usually caused by situations or events related to poverty, violence, abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment. Caregivers can help make stress more tolerable for children and help build children’s resiliency by establishing strong and secure relationships starting at birth, and by nurturing and reassuring children in times when stress cannot be avoided.

  1. https://www.zerotothree.org/espanol/brain-development
  2. Horm, D., Norris, D., Perry, D., Chazan-Cohen, R., and Halle, T. (2016). Developmental Foundations of School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers, A Research to Practice Report, OPRE Report # 2016-07, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  3. Horm, D., Norris, D., Perry, D., Chazan-Cohen, R., and Halle, T. (2016). Developmental Foundations of School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers, A Research to Practice Report, OPRE Report # 2016-07, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  4. Horm, D., Norris, D., Perry, D., Chazan-Cohen, R., and Halle, T. (2016). Developmental Foundations of School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers, A Research to Practice Report, OPRE Report # 2016-07, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  5. Horm, D., Norris, D., Perry, D., Chazan-Cohen, R., and Halle, T. (2016). Developmental Foundations of School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers, A Research to Practice Report, OPRE Report # 2016-07, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  6. ZERO TO THREE Policy Resource “To Find the Roots of School Readiness, Look Back to the Beginning,” Sep 17, 2015, By Claire Lerner https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/162-to-find-the-roots-of-school-readiness-look-back-to-the-beginning

Videos

Watch some of our favorite educational videos on school readiness.

Brain Wonders

This video provides an overview of brain development and provides practical tips and examples for helping build a baby’s brain.

School Readiness

This video reviews the school readiness areas of language, literacy, thinking, and social-emotional skills, and provides examples for how caregivers can use every day experiences to help prepare children for school.

Early Childhood Mental Health

This video describes what infant mental health is, why it’s important children’s overall development, and how caregivers can identify mental health concerns and also promote good mental health.

Common Questions

When do I start getting my child ready for Kindergarten?
Children begin learning at birth. All of a child’s early experiences – at home, in childcare, at preschool – help prepare him or her for kindergarten. It is never too late to start preparing your child for kindergarten. Source
How can I get my child ready for Kindergarten?
Parents and families are their children’s first and most important teachers! There are many things you can do, starting at birth, to help a child be ready to succeed in school. Everything a child does can be a learning experience! Consider these suggestions:
  • Ensure your child has loving, stable, caring relationships,
  • Try to read with your child every day,
  • Talk with your child throughout the day,
  • Take your son or daughter for well-child check-ups at the doctor,
  • Provide nutritious meals and make sure your child gets physical activity,
  • Take your child to fun events, the library, museums and other places where he or she can keep learning,
  • Play with your child - Source
What are Early Learning Standards (or Guidelines) and how do they relate to the five domains?
States have developed Early Learning Standards to describe, at stages of development from birth to kindergarten entry, what children are expected to learn and master. They are designed as guides to early educators and others involved with young children to better understand child development, support individual children in their development, develop classroom and group activities appropriate to the age and developmental status of children in the classroom or group. - Source. For more information on Texas’ Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers, click here.
What if I have a concern about one or more of my infant or toddler’s developmental domains?
First, have an open and honest conversation with your child’s pediatrician about your concern. He or she may perform a developmental screen (usually a short parent survey) and/or refer your child for a developmental evaluation with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), a state education program that supports families with children ages 0-3 who may be at risk for a delay or disability. If you don’t feel like the pediatrician has fully addressed your concerns, you can contact ECI directly and make a request for your child to be evaluated. ECI services are free of charge. To find an ECI program near you, use this online search tool.
How does stress impact school readiness?
Studies have shown that extremely stressful events or prolonged stressful experiences in the earliest years of a child’s life can negatively affect children’s brain development. Stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, can alter brain architecture if constantly activated and can also disrupt children’s ability to master new skills. To learn more about toxic stress and brain development, click here<,/a>. To learn more about the lifelong impact of early adversity, click here.
Is it too early to work on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills with my toddler?
Children start learning STEM skills as early as birth. They are natural explorers of their environment which lends itself to experimenting, questioning and problem-solving. Infants and toddlers are curious about how the world around them works and parents can foster that curiosity by providing STEM activities (e.g. building blocks, number games, water tables, etc.) and helping them learn from natural consequences (e.g. why does a spoon fall when I push it off the table, what happens when it drops to the floor, etc.). To learn more, click here.
What if my toddler doesn’t learn his letters or numbers before starting preschool?
While children can start learning some letters or numbers before entering preschool, many toddlers do not and that is not a reason to be concerned. Early literacy and math development is a gradual process that continues into elementary school and is grounded in early, meaningful interactions with caregivers. To learn more, click here..
I’m nervous about my toddler starting school/early learning center. What can I do to ensure a smooth transition?
Changes and disruption in routine can be hard for children at any age, but especially for children under 3. Start talking to your child about their new school, including the things they will be seeing, and if possible, visit the teacher together before the first day. As your child gets accustomed to their new routine of going to school, it is expected that they will have some easier and some harder days over the first few weeks. That’s OK – continue to support them emotionally and rest assured that these big life transitions take a longer time to smooth over. To learn more, click here.
Why do some children seem to be more willing to engage in learning than others?
Children’s approach to how they engage with the world is related to temperament (e.g. shy, active, easy-going, etc.). Temperament is mostly set at birth and influences children’s behavior. Caregivers can help support their child’s development and promote positive behaviors by considering the strengths and challenges that come with their child’s unique temperament. Caregivers can then better tailor their interaction style and types of activities they provide based on what their child will be most responsive to. To learn more, click here.

Resources

General
ZerotoThree
Unicef
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
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Activities

Create an Early Learning Passport
  • Description: The early learning passport is a folder that contains checklists, documents, and work samples that can be passed on to the child’s kindergarten teacher. The child’s skills and development are passed on to the teacher in a useful and organized way.
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Social Interaction
  • Description: Playdates, Board games (parents), Small groups, visuals, greetings (teachers). Encourage and create healthy social skills.
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Play
  • Description: Roleplay (parents), Play stations (teachers). Model language and actions that are useable in real-life situations.
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Language
  • Description: Books, Walks, Weather, Counting, Dinner talk, Model, Colors and Shapes, (Parents) Storytime, Nursery rhymes, scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, visual schedules, counting, diaries, following instructions (teachers). Develop language and communication skills.
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Emotional Development
  • Description: Feelings, identify emotions, facial expressions, explain emotions, sing songs (parents) role play, emotion pictures, explain emotions (teachers). Understand and recognize emotions in oneself and others.
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Literacy
  • Description: Read, point to words, point to picture, page turning, alphabet, rhyming books (parents) story time, page turner, question time, alphabet, letter of the week (teachers). Cultivate comprehension skills that will be used throughout life.
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Fine Motor
  • Description: Cutting and pasting, drawing, coloring, mazes (parents) craft, storage, play doh (teachers). Develop spatial skills, develop pencil control and endurance for pencil skills.
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Physical skills
  • Description: Wheelbarrow walking, swimming, animal walks, throw bean bags (parents) Hopscotch, obstacle course, ball skills (teachers). Encourage active, healthy living and build strength.
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