Red Flags Bermuda
EARLY INTERVENTION
BIRTH TO AGE SIX
Getting Ready for Kindergarten
Is the child ready for Kindergarten?
Typically developing kindergarten aged children should be able to:
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Get dressed
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Go to the bathroom
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Engage in healthy practices, i.e. blow nose, wash hands
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Open lunch items
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Be away from parent/guardian
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Ask for help
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Share and take turns with other children
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Follow routines
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Communicate so a teacher and other students can understand
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Be able to follow one, two, and three step instructions
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Understand basic safety rules
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Feel good about trying new things
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Take part in group activities
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Do simple chores
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Know what their printed name looks like
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Respect authority
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Communicate feelings
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Make choices
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Listen to a story
By Kindergarten entry, children should have:
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Vision checkup between 6-9 months of age
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Dental checkup by age 1
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Up to date immunizations
Scroll Down for services and information more closely related to Day Care, Kindergarten, School Readiness
To learn more about why early identification impacts the successful transition to school CLICK HERE
Problem
Signs
If the child presents with any of the following behaviours consider this a red flag:
► Significant attention difficulties
► Behaviour affecting ability to learn new things
► Sudden change in behaviour uncharacteristic for the individual
► Difficulties with pre-academic skills/ concepts (e.g. colours, shapes)
► History of learning disabilities in the family
► Delay in self-help skills
► Inconsistent performances (can’t do what he could do last week)
► Poorly focused and unorganized
Services and Information related to School Readiness:
Services and Information related to Day Care in Bermuda:
WHY EARLY IDENTIFICATION
IMPACTS THE SUCCESSFUL
TRANSITION TO SCHOOL
“Children are competent, capable of complex thinking, curious and rich in potential. They grow up in families with diverse social, cultural and linguistic perspectives. Every child should feel that he or she belongs, is a valuable contributor to his or her surroundings, and deserves the opportunity to succeed.”
Starting school is a significant milestone in the life of a family. There are many factors that contribute to a child’s transition to school and ongoing success. The child’s capacity to learn when they enter school is strongly influenced by the neural wiring that takes place in the early years of life. By doing everything possible to enhance early development, a child can be provided with an equal opportunity to maximize their potential.
Current brain research shows that children’s capacity for deep learning begins prior to birth with 700 neural connections being made every second in the first three years of life. The first years of a child’s life are a period of heightened opportunity and also a time of increased risk that can compromise optimal development for life.
To maximize early potential, How Does Learning Happen? establishes four foundational conditions or “ways of being” for children that optimize their learning and healthy development:
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Belonging: a sense of connectedness and relationship to others
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Well-Being: a state of mental wellness and physical health
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Engagement: a sense of involvement, curiosity and wonder
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Expression: the ability to communicate for different purposes and in different ways
When these four foundations are the focus of children’s early experiences both at home and in the community, children are supported in the development of:
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Playing and getting along with others
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Talking, listening, questioning and problem solving
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Making decisions
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Creating, building, exploring, wondering, investigating and sharing
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Showing interest in symbols and text
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Feeling comfortable in new places
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Demonstrating self-help and self-regulation skills
These above skills and abilities contribute to a child’s successful transition to school.