Notes for Parents | Little Green Hearts
Notes for Parents

Practical writing for busy families.

Short, useful notes from our educators on early learning, routines at home, and getting ready for primary school. No jargon — just what we see working with children aged 3 to 6.

Children reading together at Little Green Hearts
Featured · School Readiness

What “ready for Year 1” actually looks like at age six

Parents often ask whether their child can read yet. It is a fair question, but it is not the one that predicts a smooth first year. Here is what our educators watch for instead.

12 August 2026·6 min read
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S Teacher Suriani Lead Educator · {{ post.date }} · {{ post.read }}

Parents often ask whether their child can read yet. It is a fair question, but on its own it does not predict a smooth first year of primary school.

In our classrooms we watch four things far more closely than reading level: whether a child can settle into a task without being asked twice, whether they can carry out a two-step instruction, whether they can ask an adult for help in words, and whether they can pack up after themselves. A child who can do those four things will catch up on letters quickly. A child who reads early but cannot sit with a task will struggle, no matter how strong the phonics.

Focus is a skill, not a personality trait

Montessori practical life activities look simple from the outside — pouring water, sorting buttons, buttoning a coat. What they build is the ability to hold attention on something that is slightly difficult. A four-year-old who spends fifteen uninterrupted minutes transferring beads with a spoon is practising exactly the muscle they will need for handwriting drills next year.

The children who settle fastest in Year 1 are not the ones who read first. They are the ones who know how to begin.

What you can do at home

None of this needs worksheets or extra classes. It needs ordinary tasks, done slowly, with your child doing the work rather than watching you do it.

  • Give two-step instructions and wait. "Put your shoes on the rack, then bring me your bag." Resist repeating it a third time.
  • Let them finish slow things. Zipping a bag takes a four-year-old two minutes. Doing it for them saves ninety seconds and costs the practice.
  • Ask questions with no right answer. "What do you think happens next?" builds the language a teacher needs to hear in class.
  • Keep one predictable evening routine. Children who know what comes next spend less energy managing worry.

Reading will come. Phonics is taught, and taught well, and most children who are given sounds patiently will blend them within the year. Independence is harder to teach in a hurry, which is why we start it at three.

School readiness Montessori Ages 5–6
S
Teacher Suriani
Lead Educator, Little Green Hearts

Suriani has taught children aged 3 to 6 for eleven years and leads our Montessori practical life and phonics programmes in Skudai.

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