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Starting school is considered an important milestone in a child’s journey to maturity. We may think a child is ready for school when he or she has reached a certain age or height, can read fluently, multiply three by four or is just very obedient. These beliefs seem to form a recipe for raising a child to fit into a certain sort of school.

Nevertheless, there has been no research to confirm a certain recipe to ensure a flawless success for the future pupil. Today’s development agenda focuses more on the wholesome process of a child’s development in their surrounding environment. Therefore, we talk about development as a novel way of creating patterns for communicating with our environment and therefore development is something that is only possible with communication between an individual and the environment. The school as an environment in itself should also encourage development, which mean we can talk about a child’s readiness for school only when we know what sort of school the child is enrolled to and whether that school can shape the learning environment in a way that will best conform with the child’s own qualities.

Craig Ramey, a professor from Georgetown University has characterized formal education by saying that starting to describe the teaching process with a child starting school is the same as starting to read a novel from the centre, not the beginning. Thus, we must speak about studying from a very early phase of childhood, which means children bring their own grasp of the world to the classroom.

In school, we use progressively complicated abstract meanings and correlations, which the students are supposed to plant into their existing knowledge system, but this might not always go to plan. Research has shown that hurried teaching or the use of complicated abstract meanings at the start of a new subject can lead to verbalism, which means the subject is not actually comprehended, making it easier to forget and the children unable to use it in context.

Therefore, the transition from kindergarten to school will be easier for those children who have previously developed their skills of active participation and thought expression, and have an actual interest toward the subject. The school environment is vastly different from their familiar surroundings from before. This can mean many things from large groups of people and new mates up to class rules. Pupils who are more open to new acquaintances and who have experienced group studying before, adapt faster to changes in their social environment.

As emphasised earlier, the concurrence of all kinds of qualities and abilities can change a child’s adaption. In addition, the manifestation of these qualities and abilities has much to do with the surrounding environment. Thus, we cannot directly conclude that a child who does not actively socialise with others at the school trials would have insufficient social skills. A child’s abilities should be monitored and characterized during a longer period of time and in different environments.

Emphasising every child’s strengths as well as the abilities that need support and development can help us choose the best environment for their own development – a fitting school. Children are always willing to learn, if the subject is interesting and suitable for their skillset. Let us be diligent in creating new challenges and learning opportunities for them.