In our Mędrki group (six- and seven-year-olds) questions about school come up more and more often. “Miss, when will I go to school?”. “What will be there?”. “Will there be a different teacher?”. “Will my friends also go?”. “Will I be able to do it?”. The last question is key. Because a Mędrek who starts thinking about first grade really also starts to feel slightly anxious. “Will I be able to do it?” — that is the question every one of our Mędrki needs to be able to answer with: “yes, I will”.
In this article we want to tell you how we prepare the Mędrki for first grade. Because in our preschool we do not believe in “school readiness courses” in the form of formal teaching. We believe that school readiness is built exactly the same way it has been built throughout the past four years of preschool — through play, through movement, through experience.
What “school readiness” is
The concept of “school readiness” in Polish pedagogy is fairly broad. It encompasses several key areas:
Cognitive readiness — can the child concentrate for 30-45 minutes? Can they understand complex instructions? Do they have basic mathematical and linguistic concepts?
Motor readiness — has the child developed gross and fine motor skills? Do they have a stable trunk (for sitting)? Do they have a capable hand (for writing)? Have they developed eye-hand coordination?
Emotional readiness — can the child regulate emotions? Are they not afraid of new situations? Can they work in silence next to others? Do they not panic at difficulty?
Social readiness — can the child cooperate with peers? Can they ask for help? Can they wait their turn? Do they respect others?
The classical approach to school readiness focuses mainly on the first area — cognitive readiness. “The child must be able to count to 20”. “The child must recognize letters”. “The child must write their name”. And so on.
Our approach is different. We believe that all four areas are equally important — and that focusing only on the cognitive one is a mistake. A child who can count to 100 but cannot sit for 30 minutes without standing up will not cope in first grade.
How exactly we prepare the Mędrki
Concentration. The Mędrki in the second half of the year regularly have longer work sessions. Twenty minutes on an art project. Twenty-five minutes on a puzzle. Thirty minutes on math activities with a specific goal. These are not hours, but a gradual lengthening of “concentration windows”. A Mędrek who at the end of preschool can focus for half an hour is prepared for the first 45-minute lessons.
Coordination. Brain gym is a constant element of our activities. Crossing the body’s midline. Working both hands at the same time. Alternating movements. Each week the Mędrki practise these elements. Some Mędrki, who at the start had problems synchronizing both hands, after a year of such exercises move harmoniously.
Hand skill. All our pedagogy of fine motor skills — from ciaptanie sensory dough to baking gingerbread — builds the Mędrek’s hand skill. After four years of such work, the hand is ready to hold a pen for 45 minutes without pain.
Spatial orientation. Numerous exercises with maps, plans, puzzles, directions. “Take three steps to the left, then two to the right”. “Draw a circle on the left side of the page, a square on the right”. “Show me where up is. And down. And to the side”. All these skills are the foundation for learning to write between lines (where the writing direction is key) and for learning maths (where geometry begins with orientation).
Letters and reading. We get to know each letter through play, in sensory masses, in detective adventures. By the end of the year the Mędrki know all the Polish letters, most can already read simple words, some read fluently. But even those who do not yet read have well-developed phonological awareness and no fear of letters.
Numbers and mathematics. Also through play — through counting chestnuts, measuring ingredients in the kitchen, doing puzzles, board games, “shop” play with children’s coins. A Mędrek who at the end of the year can count to 20, add and subtract within 10, understand the concepts of bigger/smaller — is excellently prepared for the first maths lessons in first grade.
What is built in a Mędrek’s head when they start thinking about school
A very interesting observation is that in the second half of the year of our Mędrki group, the children themselves more often start asking questions about school. This is healthy. Because it means their inner development is reaching a point where they feel ready for a new adventure.
But at the same time, anxiety appears. “Will I cope?”. “Will I have friends?”. “Will the teacher like me?”. These questions are fundamental — and our task as educators is to help the children answer them for themselves.
We do this through several specific actions:
Conversations about school. Every week, on Friday, we have “conversations about first grade” in the Mędrki group. We talk about what first grade looks like, what is taught there, what the day looks like, what the rules are. We answer questions. The Mędrki feel that school is not an unknown — it is a place they know what to expect from.
A trip to the school. At the end of the year we take the Mędrki to the local primary school. We show them the first-grade classroom. We meet the teacher. Some Mędrki meet their older friends there (siblings or from previous preschool groups). This is a concrete realization for them: “ah, so school looks like this”.
Simulations. In the last month before the holidays we do “simulation lessons” — the Mędrki sit at desks, have a notebook and pencil, work for 30 minutes on the same task. These simulations are a reference to the upcoming reality. But they are also an opportunity to show them that they can do it — that thirty minutes at the desk is not scary for them.
Farewell. At the end of the year we organize a solemn farewell of the Mędrki. Each Mędrek receives a diploma “Graduate of 7 Krasnoludki Preschool”. Each Mędrek says goodbye to the younger groups. Each Mędrek gets a memorial toy. This is a ritual that closes one stage of life — and opens a new one.
What a parent can do at home in the last year before school
— Don’t push for reading. If your Mędrek is not yet reading — that’s all right. Reading will come in first grade. More important is phonological awareness, curiosity about letters, lack of fear.
— Read aloud together. This is the best thing you can do. Daily, even for fifteen minutes. Let the child see that you read. Let them hear the melody of language. Let them touch books, look at illustrations.
— Play with words. “Tell me a word ending in ‘a’”. “What rhymes with ‘cat’ do you know?”. These games are phenomenal training in phonological awareness.
— Train independence. Let the Mędrek dress themselves, tie their own shoes, pack their own swimming bag, decide what they want for breakfast. Every such independent decision builds the self-confidence needed in first grade.
— Give responsible tasks. Setting the table. Taking out the rubbish. Feeding the dog. Every such job teaches the Mędrek that they are “grown-up” — and that their work matters.
— Talk calmly about school. Without stress. Without “at school you’ll have to” — rather “at school you’ll be able to”. Show school as an adventure, not an obligation.
What stays in a Mędrek when they go to first grade
Our client wrote in our reel: “the Mędrki are more and more ready for this adventure”. This is our philosophy. A Mędrek who finishes our preschool goes to first grade not with fear — but with curiosity. They know what to expect. They know that they are ready. They know that they can.
Some of our former Mędrki come back to us after first grade to greet us. “Miss, do you remember how we were afraid of school? And now it’s super!”. This is the most beautiful reward for us. Because it means that our work, which began two years ago when the Mędrki were still Elfy, made sense.
And that is why every year, in March and April, we begin our countdown to first grade. Not with tension. Not with pressure. But with joy — because the Mędrki are entering a new stage of life, for which they are prepared as well as possible. And which will be for them another adventure — one they themselves will be able to tell their children about in twenty years.
And it all begins with one simple question from a five-year-old: “Miss, when will I go to school?”. The answer is always the same: “soon. But before you go, let’s still play a little together”.