Characteristics Of Cognitive And Motoric Development Of Children Who Are Ready To Enter School

JAKARTA - Apart from age, there are other things that are a sign that children are ready to go to school. Such as cognitive and motor development.

Child and adolescent clinical psychologist who graduated from Padjajaran University Michelle Brigitta Shanny M.Psi, Psychologist said that cognitive development aspects as well as gross and fine motor development are assessments that can be considered for children who are ready to go to school.

"If the cognitive development to enter school includes the ability of children to think critically, focus or concentrate, remember, and solve simple problems. This is one of the most important aspects of learning readiness so that children can participate in learning activities and activities in class properly," Michelle said as quoted by ANTARA.

Michelle said cognitive readiness helps children to remember and understand important instructions or information, as well as connect new information with previous experiences.

Readiness to focus can also be seen whether children can remain in their position in the span of eight to 15 minutes for children aged four to seven years. Michelle also said that children must also be able to receive simple instructions and focus on the orders given by the teacher.

"You can also see from whether he can complete his activities until they are finished, for example, in the midst of this child's activities, he will start to focus more, but when directed back to work again, he can," said the psychologist at Vajra Gandaria.

Preparing children's focus can also be trained by diligently telling stories with children so that they can listen to stories from those closest to them and can sort out which ones to focus on and which ones to ignore.

Meanwhile, gross motor is also important to build so that children can learn, play and be independent in the school environment. This readiness will also be related to his social skills when interacting while playing, jumping, throwing and others.

"If he hasn't started to mature his gross motor skills, conflicts can arise, for example, there is a possibility that his friends don't want to play football with him, a mature motor can help children take part in physical school activities and maintain body resistance during the day of learning," he said.

In addition to gross motors, fine motors are also the basis for children who are ready to go to school which will be related to holding stationery, cutting, and supporting children's independence by being able to open bottles, buttoning their own clothes or unblocking or dining box.

Meanwhile, Michelle reminded parents to establish communication with teachers to monitor their children's overall development, both from academic, social, and emotional aspects.

Take time also to hear children's stories related to activities at school so that parents can catch the dynamics felt by their children such as mood swings, enthusiasm for learning or playing patterns.

If necessary, parents can also work with school psychologists to conduct periodic development assessments.