UNS — From the psychological standpoint, the standard to measure children’s readiness to enter formal education (in this discussion is elementary school) should not be based on their age, but their readiness to face learning activities such as physical, mental, social, and emotional development. All these aspects were discussed by Afia Fitriana, S.Psi., M.Psi., Psikolog., in the Webinar “The Early Childhood Education Program (PAUD) Teachers’ Well-being as the Foundation for Alpha Generation Education” organized by the Behavioral Science and Public Policy Research Group in Psychology Study Program, Faculty of Medical Science (FK) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta on Friday (2/7/2021).
Alfia explains the aspects of general development that need to be considered, including the development of learning, development of movement, development of speech, development of self, and development of hand control. Development of learning refers to children’s development in terms of learning or study activities that focused on children’s learning skills. These skills include self-regulation during learning activities. This skill can only be observed during their kindergarten period. “For instance, when a kid is having fun during the break and they have to stop playing and continue the study if the kid can control their wish to keep playing, while quickly adapt to a classroom setting. The kid is ready,” Afia said.
Meanwhile, the development of movement is related to physical condition. Children are ready when they have balanced arms movement, jumps, and can control their physical movement while running. Development of speech defines receptive and expressive language proficiency. Afia explains that receptive language involves children’s comprehension of certain commands. While expressive language shows children’s response when given certain commands. Development of self deals with children’s self-confidence, management, and many other. Lastly, the development of hand control is related to hands-on activities.
Three Main Qualities Needed by School-Ready Children and Its Stimulus
Based on general developments, there are three main qualities needed by children to prepare them for school. These qualities are intellectual, motivational, and socio-emotional quality. Afia further explains the stimulus that can be provided by parents during the kindergarten and Early Childhood Education programs to prepare the kids for formal education. The first stimulus is intellectual stimulus, which is related to children’s readiness to learn how to read, writing, and counting. This, however, does not mean that children must be able to do all the skills, but at least they have the skill to learn the topic. For writing, for instance, children at least can create guided scribbles, drawing a circle, and color pictures within the border.
“We can also stimulate the children while teaching them life skills, such as wearing shoes from right foot first or preparing them to learn how to read from the left side. We can also teach them how to count, understanding much and less or bigger and smaller,” Afia explains.
One thing to consider is, learning activities for pre-school must be concrete or must involve materials that can be touched and manipulated. This is because pre-school children are multisensory learners. Especially during this virtual learning process, comprehensive “hands-on” material is important. The material can be used by the students at home to help their parents, while at the same time prepare them to learn virtually.
Secondly, the motivational aspect is related to the spirit to learn independently and curiosity about everything. Stimulus to learn something new will cultivate children’s curiosity. An Early Childhood Education, according to Afia, can be an alternative for stimulus. Early Childhood Education can give a new learning experience alongside their peers, which can increase their interest to study at school. Moreover, children’s interests can be enhanced through a physical introduction to school, such as through a physical introduction to school.
Thirdly Socio-emotional involves children’s social skills including emotional readiness and related to the child’s self-control in dealing with the situation at hand. Socio-emotionally ready children are willing to join and play with their peers. “Moreover, when they express their emotions (angry or sad for instance), it will subside when they were comforted by their peers or teachers. This shows that the children can control their emotions,” Afia says.
A socio-emotional stimulus can be established through a warm connection between children and parents. This can be extended to teacher-children relationships. Finally, playing sessions for children can be a medium for social and emotional development. Research shows that socio-drama play is the most suitable gameplay to develop school preparation.
“From the three aspects, the most challenging one is the motivational and socio-emotional stimulus. Intellectual preparation tends to be easier because it can be conducted through training and remedies. When children are not motivated to learn to work together, their mood will fluctuate and it will be hard to get developed cognitively,” Afia explains. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti