Is Your Child's Talking Ready for School? A Communication Checklist
Starting school is a huge milestone, and most parents focus on the obvious things; uniforms, lunchboxes, can they tie their shoes. But one of the biggest predictors of how smoothly a child settles into school is something quieter: their communication skills. Talking, listening and understanding are the foundation of nearly everything that happens in a classroom.
Here's a friendly checklist of the language skills that help children thrive at school, and how to support them in the months before they start.
Why communication matters so much at school
From day one, school runs on language. Children need to understand the teacher's instructions, ask for help, make friends, follow stories, and start connecting sounds to letters for reading. Strong early communication and oral language skills lay the groundwork for early literacy (Raising Children Network).
When communication is tricky, everything else can feel harder.
A communication checklist for school readiness
By around age 5, most children can do the following (Speech Pathology Australia). Use this as a gentle guide, not a strict test:
Understanding
Follow three-part instructions ("put on your shoes, get your bag, and line up")
Understand time words like "before", "after", "now" and "later"
Listen and understand without needing everything repeated
Start to recognise some letters, sounds and numbers
Talking
Use well-formed sentences that most people can understand
Take turns in longer conversations
Tell a simple story with a beginning, middle and end
Use past and future tense correctly ("went", "will go")
Use most speech sounds though "s", "r", "l" and "th" may still be tricky, and that's okay
Social communication
Play and share with other children
Ask for help when they need it
Express how they're feeling with words
What helps in the months before school
You can build these skills naturally through everyday play and routines:
Read together daily and talk about the story "What do you think happens next? Why was he sad?"
Play turn-taking games; board games and card games build conversation skills too.
Give two- and three-step instructions at home ("Put your cup in the sink and get your shoes").
Play with sounds and rhymes; "Which words rhyme with cat?" "What sound does 'mum' start with?" This early sound awareness is a key first step for reading (Raising Children Network).
Encourage storytelling; ask your child to tell you about their day from start to finish.
Set up playdates to practise sharing, turn-taking and making friends.
Signs it's worth a check before school starts
Consider talking to a speech pathologist if, close to school age, your child:
Is hard for unfamiliar people to understand
Struggles to follow instructions with more than one or two steps
Isn't using full sentences or has trouble holding a conversation
Finds it hard to join in or play with other children
Shows little interest in rhymes, sounds or letters
Acting before school starts gives your child a head start and takes the pressure off those important first months.
Give your child the best possible start
A quick assessment now means you can walk into the first day of school feeling confident, not worried. If support would help, there's still plenty of time to make a real difference.
At Speak Wonders, we help Western Sydney families prepare their children for school with warm, play-based, neuro-affirming support and we collaborate with preschools and schools to make the transition smooth.
Book a free chat with our Westmead team, or call us on 0451 742 540. Let's set your child up to thrive from day one.
This article is general information only and isn't a substitute for an individual assessment. Children develop at different rates.
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