ABSTRACT
At three years, children are inquisitive about the word around them, asking questions and trying to work things out. They are beginning to share and take turns, playing together and become independent in their learning. School readiness involves talking in longer, complex sentences and practitioners need to prepare children for this way of speaking and understanding. School readiness is about learning to read and write, but, as seen in the case study of Thomas, activities provided in earlier years lay the foundations for reading and writing well before school readiness. School readiness is about preparing children to follow a set of rules, to work with each other and to learn how to become independent in their learning. It is also about school talk. School readiness should prepare children to understand the difference between formal talk and casual talk. The C. Tickell Review summarised school readiness as supporting children to develop skills that they need for life.
