school readiness
A young woman with black hair in front of a yellow background.

Promoting school readiness

Children generally face significant changes when they start school. The start of school does not always go smoothly. For some children, this transition can be challenging and may affect the following school years. Everyday school life in particular brings new demands for children. In kindergarten, children had many opportunities to move around in the group room, on the playground or during walks. In school, however, much of the day is spent sitting. This poses a considerable challenge, especially for children who enjoy movement. In addition, daily school life requires children to develop numerous other skills, such as independence, concentration, creativity, perseverance, communication and cooperation in class. Parents are their child's first learning companions from the very beginning and have a significant influence on their development and education. With your loving support, you help your child begin school in a positive way, which benefits their entire school journey. In the ›Support activities‹ section, you will find many ideas to support your child's language, motor and cognitive development.
A parent and a preschool child play catch with a ball in a children's room.

Every day offers a few minutes of valuable family time to accompany a child on their path of development.

A smiling boy in a striped shirt against a blue background.

School readiness is more than just knowledge

School readiness begins to develop in early childhood and encompasses crucial areas of a child's development, including motor, cognitive, emotional and social skills. Children get off to a positive start at school if they acquire basic skills in these areas at an early age that make learning at school easier. Children gain such daily experiences mainly in the family and their immediate environment through shared activities and personal encounters with people, animals, nature and different materials. In this sense, a child's readiness for school is largely determined by the present experiences, which at the same time always offers room for further development and positive changes.
An Asian girl carefully cuts out a shape from a piece of paper with scissors.
A boy closely observes a snail through a magnifying glass.

Being ready for school

Children grow up under very different conditions and develop their individual personalities in the process. The family and the environment in particular have a major influence on the child's development and education. However, education does not only mean expanding knowledge, but also enabling children to shape their own lives independently and responsibly. Education enables children to better understand their environment, recognize connections and discover what gives them particular pleasure. Crafting or painting, for example, supports fine motor skills and promotes the joy of creative design. Spending time together exploring nature deepens your child's connection with the environment and encourages their curiosity. This developmental process begins at birth for every child, not just in the year before starting school. School readiness develops from the learning experiences that a child gathers and processes in the world around them. Through these experiences, the child expands their linguistic, motor, and cognitive skills. A child's early years therefore undoubtedly play a decisive role in their later educational path. School readiness at the start of school depends less on innate talents or chance and more on the experiences and impressions that the child gathers in the first six years of its life. However, school readiness is not exclusively linked to a child's abilities at the time they start school. The school also has a responsibility to offer lessons in which the children's abilities continue to develop and improve.
A toddler picks apples on a farm in autumn.

School readiness develops from daily experiences right from the start.

A smiling boy with curly hair against a yellow background.

Food for thought

Starting school is a major turning point in your child's life. As a parent, you play a key role in making this transition as positive as possible. Through your support and guidance, you play a crucial role in strengthening important social, emotional and cognitive skills in your child. The following suggestions offer you practical food for thought to prepare your child as well as possible for everyday school life and life's challenges. Help your child to start this new phase of life with the necessary skills.
A young woman with brown hair looks to the side against a pink background.
Safety and trust
Give your child security and trust by remaining firm, even if your child challenges you.
Respectful interaction
Avoid making derogatory comments to your child in the presence of other people.
Appreciation
Appreciate your child's efforts, regardless of the outcome.
Show patience
Be patient. Children develop at their own pace and in their own way.
Positive communication
Constant scolding and criticizing leads to children no longer listening. Respectful interaction is the basis for positive communication.
Listen attentively
Listen attentively to your child and answer their questions. This teaches your child to be curious and to question things.
Admit mistakes
Admit mistakes and ask your child to forgive you. This shows that nobody is perfect and mistakes are part of life.
Joint activities
Take time regularly to do joint activities together, such as going for a walk, playing a game or reading a story aloud.
Routine and structure
Children feel more comfortable with a daily routine and structure. It gives them security and they know what's coming next.
Sincerity and honesty
Always be honest with your child, even if it's not always easy. This will show them how important honesty and trust are.
Empathy and understanding
Try to put yourself in your child's shoes and understand how they feel. Show compassion and understanding.
Dealing with emotions
Teach your child how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way. Through your role model, they will learn to recognize feelings and deal with them appropriately.
Be a role model
Children learn by imitation. Therefore, be a good role model and pay attention to how you act and react.
Strengthen self-confidence
Give your child the space to make their own decisions. This strengthens self-confidence and promotes independence.
Friendly interaction
Spend quality time together. Shared activities promote a strong bond with your child.
Explaining rules and boundaries
Rules and boundaries offer children security, structure and orientation and help them to find their way in everyday life. Explain to your child why these rules and boundaries are important.
An Indian preschool child hugs his mother with love and affection.
A sad girl rubs her eyes with both hands.

Emotional skills

Emotional skills play a crucial role in school because they help children cope with their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. They enable children to manage stress and frustration and to deal more easily with challenges. Children are better prepared to resolve conflicts among themselves and to build friendships when they understand their own emotions and are able to communicate them to others in a positive way. From infancy, children start developing these skills, primarily through interaction with their parents. For example, babies learn how to maintain eye contact and smile through their parents' affectionate communication and response, which contributes significantly to building an emotional bond. Children learn a lot from their parents. By talking openly about feelings at home and showing how you deal with both positive and negative feelings, you help your child to develop and express these important emotional skills themselves. If rules are observed in the family and consideration is shown for one another, the child will learn to do the same. Talk to your child about feelings. Use stories and picture books to talk about feelings. For example, if a little bear is sad in a story, talk to your child about why the bear is sad. Ask your child when they feel sad themselves. Think together about what the little bear can do to feel better. This will help your child to develop empathy and compassion as well as to better understand and express their own feelings.
Arrow icon upDollar icon