Friday (16/7) the Unit Konsultasi Psikologi (UKP) of the Faculty of Psychology, Gadjah Mada University held a webinar with the title “Ready for School: Is ‘Can Read and Write’ Enough?”. This event is part of the “UKP Bersinergi UKP Berbagi” program which is open to all people.
This event takes place from 13.00 WIB to 14.20 WIB. The event was attended by 50 participants who came from academia and the general public.
The resource person for this event was Raninta Wulanwidanti, M.Psi., Psikolog, founder of the Kelas Bermain Pacu-pacu who is also active as a partner psychologist at UKP UGM and Jogja Medical Center Clinic. In this event, the alumnus of the Bachelor of Psychology from the Gadjah Mada University and the Master of Professional Psychology at the University of Indonesia brought material on the issue of children’s readiness to enter school.
Reading and writing skills are often a concern for parents when their children enter school. When children can’t read and write like their friends, parents tend to worry about the situation. Even though the inability of children to read and write at the early age of entering school is a natural thing that does not need to be worried.
Raninta explained that when there is an assumption that children aged 3-4 years should be able to write is a myth. Physiologically, Raninta explained that at that age the bone structure in the fingers and palms of a child is very different from the bone structure of a 7-year-old child. Therefore, when children at that age cannot write, it is only natural.
“If he’s not ready to write, that’s okay. We don’t have to force it. So we have to replace other activities,” explained Raninta while showing other activities that can be given to children to stimulate their fine motor skills.
The ability of children to read and write at an early age also cannot be a predictor of children’s achievement in school in later years. Raninta explained that there is a diversity of abilities in children that cannot be equalized. indeed there are children who have an IQ above the average who can get reading and writing skills faster, but that’s only a small part. Instead of forcing children’s reading skills, Raninta places more emphasis on children’s understanding of the words around them.
“What we need to pay attention to and as parents or teachers what we need to pursue is the child’s understanding, (so) not only that he can read, he must be smart. Later, we’ll check if he understands or not. That is what parents and teachers need to observe,” said Raninta.
Apart from the ability to read and write children, Raninta emphasizes the importance of examples of attitudes and behavior from parents to be able to provide readiness for children to enter school. Parents will be role models for children in socializing with the surrounding community and behaving disciplined in everyday life.
“Well, these examples will also be imitated by children when they socialize at school,” explained Raninta.
Furthermore, Raninta explained that school readiness is assessed as a child’s readiness to take part in learning specific materials according to the child’s development level. This can be measured through the maturation of aspects of child development which will directly help children in the learning process and adjustment to school. Furthermore, Raninta used various approaches to introduce participants to aspects of child development and aspects of children’s readiness for school.
In the last session, Raninta gave examples of sensory activities that can provide stimuli for the activation of motor skills and child development. These activities are very simple, such as recognizing textures, aromas, colors and activities that can sharpen children’s focus such as moving rubber bands and throwing balls. Furthermore, activities that train finger muscles include exercises using clothespins, using a pipette, and free writing by following a pattern of dots using a writing utensil. This can train the child’s finger muscles to prepare for learning to write.