0 to 5 Articles - Starting School - Will it meet expectations? 

The transition from family life to school can be exciting, it can be frightening, and it can be simply disappointing. Which one, will depend on the child and on the school, and how closely their expectations are met.

Children with a "good" family background, a family whose values and attitudes match those of the school staff, whose parents speak to them in much the same way as their teachers will, whose interests and abilities roughly match their age-peers can usually be expected to do well. They will navigate their way through familiar territory and grow more confident and able as they progress through the schooling system.

But what about other children? Consider these children and how their transition into schooling might be less predictable. Let us consider each of the elements above and avoiding the lazy "bad family, disadvantaged background" assumptions, look at the situations and their likely effects.

Children whose family values and attitudes don't match the schools. Consider children who come from different backgrounds - the fundamentally religious or devoutly atheist, the artistic families, the intellectual families, the families with different or mixed ethnic origins.

Children whose parents don't speak to them in much the same way as their teachers will. There has been a lot of research into the way that teachers communicate with children. If children are used to being spoken to in a certain way, they will know what to do and how to answer. Children who come from backgrounds with different communication patterns are more likely to find it difficult to know what is being asked of them and how to talk to the teachers and other children.

Children whose interests and abilities don't roughly match their age-peers. School is the one place in life where we are defined and grouped in narrow age-groups. This doesn't just cause problems for children who are behind. Children who are well ahead intellectually, who go to school expecting intellectual stimulation can find school disappointing and bewildering. Children who don't share the same interests as their classmates can also find it a lonely place.

These are big topics - far too big for one article, and probably too big for one book. I will expand on them in further articles and invite you to discuss them in the forums - see Schooling Issues - Problems and Solution.