I’m also planning my school readiness program at the moment and I’ve been reading up on it
If your coming at it from a primary school perspective you'll have a pretty sound knowledge of what they need at school, so I guess just work backwards.
You probably already know all of this and more but simply put there should be basic tasks the children can do for example; follow instructions, go to the toilet and wash hands themselves, ask for help when they need it and so on.
Reading and writing their name, alphabet, numbers, counting, recognizing shapes etc are also important. Definitely give the parents a checklist so they are aware of what their child can and cannot do. A general checklist or something specific is good for parents to have and an information pack is always helpful. A small slip of paper as mini term report summarzing what a child has been up to or photo etc is also nice.
Some children will learn at different rates and that’s ok, but it’s important to document these things as those skills form a major part of childs development. It can be hard sometimes with parents thinking the child can do everything, so make sure you monitor their progress and keep them informed. If there are kids struggling with basics, then they may require additional help and depending on their needs selected to be in early intervention programs. That's one of the main benefits of documentation because children especially in large groups are extremely effective at hiding these things.
Program/ activity ideas:
Introduce things that would occur in a school environment in a more relaxed way that still provides structure
For example:
Roll call or set eating times
Encourage independence- make sure the children can:
open/close lunch boxes
use pencils, crayons, glue etc
dress/undress
put their belongings away
Name + Letters and numbers:
Create activities to help children learn how to spell, read and write their name and numbers
A read it, trace it, write it, make it sheet for each child is a good one for learning names
Don’t forget to teach the kids last names when they are ready.
An abacus, number chart or number match for 0-20 is a good starting point for numbers and counting
Promote responsibility:
By showing children that you trust them you boost their self-confidence and give them a chance to show you what they can do!
Allocate small tasks to a child or pair the children up. Let them do simple jobs such as help clean/pack up, assist with activity set up or hand things out to others etc
If you’re allowed to, use fragile objects such as glass cups, melamine or porcelain play tea sets or have the children do some food prep or gardening
Planting a seed and taking care of is an easy one – have the children measure the plants, water it, verbally explain their observations, creatively draw their plant, name it etc
Support their social skills:
Always encourage the children to talk, ask for help, be nice to others, share, make friends and so on.
Some practical ways to do this include:
Do projects together to decorate the space for example you could have a poster with a bunch of different pictures with food, weather, outdoor activities etc go through the images one by one asking the group what should go on your summer themed poster and why.
Make a visual ‘about me’ with pictures of each child and their favorite colour, fruit etc, birthday charts etc and stick them on a wall
Pair or group the children yourself and give them an activity they need to do complete together, such as a craft activity or trust exercise. Games are excellent for something like that. You could make the pairs random by telling the kids to stand next to someone wearing the same colour as them etc
Ask the children different questions and get them to stand in a different spot depending on their answers for example have you been on a plane and the left side of the room is yes, the right no and the middle maybe (for a different question).
A class plant or pet (could even be a rock or play dough creature) is a great way to support camaraderie amongst the group and provides them with a common interest.
When there are established friends and cliques, break the kids off into small groups without their friends and have them do an activity together show they learn they cannot always be with people they like and give them an opportunity to make new friends or just talk.
Have interactive story times and use books with questions so the children can answer – get them to put their hands up to talk so they learn how to listen etc
Have a show and tell, what I did on my holiday, themed days (super hero, dress ups) etc to help create talking points and form connections.
Circle time with a hold the ball to talk rule, slow science experiments etc are good for forming patience and listening skills
Follow instructions and express emotions
Play games such as Simon says or dead fish
Have emotion blocks (easy to make) so children can turn the blocks to what they are feeling and learn to communicate how they feel even if its not 'great'.
Challenge them:
Give them experiences which are deliberately easy then slowly progress to something tricky then too hard to strengthen their resilience.
Create outdoor or indoor obstacle courses, creative races etc
These are some resources I’ve found:
https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-sch ... and-carers
https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-sch ... -checklist
https://www.kidsclubchildcare.com.au/ou ... s-program/ educational resource links from NSW gov
https://www.little-learners.com.au/wp-c ... rogram.pdf sample program
http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/reso ... WDoE_ABCEd
Hope this is helpful!
,