"School ready" often sounds like a yes-or-no question. Hungary's National Core Programme of Kindergarten Education is more nuanced: it describes three areas that together make up the development a child needs to start school. This article walks through them, with a few play ideas for each.
1. Physical maturity
By the end of kindergarten, the programme says, a child's movement is more coordinated and they are capable of smooth fine motor movements. In everyday life that looks like managing stairs, catching a ball, holding a pencil, doing up buttons, cutting with scissors.
Play ideas: hopscotch, ball games, play dough, threading beads, cutting and gluing, drawing on a big sheet of paper.
2. Psychological maturity
This covers perception, memory, attention, thinking and speech. The programme says deliberate memorising and recall appear, and so does deliberate attention, which learning is built on. The child communicates clearly and fluently and has basic knowledge of the world around them.
Play ideas:
- What's missing? Put out five objects; your child closes their eyes while you take one away.
- Story chain: you start a sentence, they continue it, then it's your turn again.
- Find something that… is red, is round, or starts with "s".
- Matching: sock to sock, card to card.
3. Social maturity
According to the programme, the child's sense of task is emerging, they adapt more and more to rules, and they are ready to work with adults and other children. This is when a child finishes a short task, waits for their turn, and asks for help when stuck.
Play ideas: board games where you wait for your turn; a small household job your child sees through (handing out the napkins, say); building together, taking turns to add a block.
What does research say?
An analysis of six long-term datasets (Duncan and colleagues, 2007) found that of the skills children had at school entry, early maths skills predicted later school achievement most strongly, followed by reading-related skills and then attention. That does not mean kindergarten children should be taught lessons: counting, playing with sounds and practising attention all fit into everyday games. Ideas: Early maths through play and Reading readiness.
If you are unsure
Talk to the kindergarten teacher and, if needed, the pedagogical support service. If you decide one more kindergarten year would help, here is how postponing school works.
Teki has short games in seven areas – movement, hands and drawing, talking and stories, attention and memory, numbers, independence and feelings – and instead of scores, it shows what you practised. How Teki works
