I know it’s human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and we want to make sure we are doing all we can for them.

So here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool.

Print out the lists and check to see if there’s anything glaringly absent in what my kids know

Reading is single biggest contributor to academic success. Some experts say that child should read about 100 books before they enter preschool. So how is this possible? Mum or Dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.

Reading aloud stimulates the imagination, enriches the vocabulary and exposes the child to different experiences.

Our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them.

They need to have the freedom to explore with these things,

to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course),

to knead bread and make a mess,

to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make dinner even though it gets everywhere,

to have a spot in the garden where it’s absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.

CHILDREN NEED MORE OF US

It’s human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and to want to make sure we’re doing all we can for them. Here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool.

Kids will learn whatever they’re exposed to

What a four-year-old should know

So here, I offer a list of what a four-year-old should know.

• They should know that they are loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
• They should know that they are safe and they should know how to keep themselves safe in public, with others, and in varied situations.
• They should know that they can trust their instincts about people and that they never have to do something that doesn’t feel right, no matter who is asking.
• They should know their personal rights and that their family will back them up.
• They should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use their imagination.
• They should know that it is always OK to paint the sky orange and give cats six legs.
• They should know their own interests and be encouraged to follow them.

If they couldn’t care less about learning numbers, their parents should realise they’ll learn them accidentally soon enough and let them immerse themself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.

• They should know that the world is magical and that so are they.

They should know that they’re wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvellous.

• They should know that it’s just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practise phonics. Scratch that– way more worthy.

They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them.