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Your child's visual readiness for school starts
developing on the day of birth. Every moment of visual
experience is a part of the practice and organization,
which will prepare your child for the visual load of the
classroom.
More than 98% of all infants are born with normal
healthy seeing eyes. However, the normal health and
structure of the eyes do not guarantee that your child
will be able to use those eyes efficiently in the world
he must see and interpret.
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The classroom, into which your child enters
around the age of six, demands much of vision.
This classroom, and its particular tasks, demand
visual abilities and skills every child must
learn before he enters school if he is to be
successful there.
These abilities and skills
are learned much better by your preschool-age
child when you know how to evaluate your child's
progress, and how to guide and assist this
vision development for future academic success.
Many studies have shown that freedom of eye movements,
and the skills of getting visual attention on targets
for inspection, are directly related to reading
readiness. These visual abilities will not teach a child
to read, but when theses skills are present, the teacher
will have a child who is much more ready for reading
instructions. Some children will not learn to read
because they have no interest in reading. The majority
of children who fail to achieve reading skills often
demonstrate problems in the freedom and control of eye
movements. Your child need not experience these
difficulties. Instead, freedom and control of eye
movements enhance the development of intellectual
potentials.
This guide is designed to give you enough information
about vision development so you can make intelligent
observations, and know when, where and how to help your
child. The Preschool Vision Development Checklist can be
your way of knowing where your child is on the scale of
developing the necessary visual abilities. The sequence
of development is more important than the age at which
it's developed; therefore all ages given on the
checklist are approximate. This checklist has been
prepared by optometrists and informed
educators to help you assure your child of the success
and pleasure available in all the academic years that
lie ahead.
Before starting the check list, please read the general
notes about the checklist for a better understanding of
what to look for. Please also read important
observations that parents can make. These observations
should start when the child is age two and a half that
can provide reliable clues to the progress your child
should be making in gaining all the visual abilities
essential to his school success.
Any difficulty your child shows in these evaluations
should be clinically evaluated. Your child should have a
comprehensive examination several times before entering
school. The first exam should be at age 6 months as
recommended by the American Optometric Association. The
vision screening that most children receive in school
does not replace this comprehensive examination. Most
states are now requiring a comprehensive examination
with a licensed optometrist before entering school for
the first time. |
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General Notes about the Checklist |
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Appearance of the Eyes
Most of the conditions noted will immediately catch your
attention. However, none of these conditions should ever
be allowed to continue. The basic physical condition of
the eyes must be normal, and the eyes healthy, if your
child is to develop the visual skills necessary for
achievement in the classroom. One particular note: Parents
frequently become alarmed when they see one of the
child's eyes appearing to turn in toward the child's
nose.
This most often happens when the child is very
young, and the bridge of the nose is still very flat and
broad. Look carefully at pictures of your child, and if
the reflections of the camera flash are centered in the puil
(the black, round center of each eye), there is probably
little cause for concern. If the reflection is not in
the center of each eye, professional attention should be
sought immediately because children seldom outgrow
vision problems without professional assistance.
Evidence of Discomfort
This is not always easy to observe in very young babies,
but the items listed will assist you if a child is
experiencing discomforts he cannot tell you about. The
most obvious of these will be the baby's reluctance to
keep eyes open in wakeful moments. Your baby may not be
able to talk and tell you about his discomfort, but he
learns very early how to keep his eyes closed to soothe
any discomfort he might be having.
Expected Vision Performances
All of the items listed in the checklist are
observations of visual behavior which have been
carefully and extensively determined by a large number
of authorities. The ages listed for each of these have
to be approximate because every child is an individual,
and will always develop at his own rate of experience
and development. If any one of these developmental
activities is omitted, or practiced too briefly, it is
important to watch all other developmental signs to be
certain your baby is gaining al the skills he needs.
Delay in vision development can interfere with total
development because of the close interrelationships
between all sensory systems. |
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Important Observations Parents can Make
Eye Movement
Abilities
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Hold a small, bright, interesting toy 8 to 10 inches
directly in front of your child's face. Say "Watch the
(toy); watch it just with your eyes." Move the target
across, back and forth in front of the child's face at a
moderate speed. Move it across a distance of about 12
inches, and continue moving it six to eight times in
each direction. Watch his eyes to see if they are
maintaining alignment with the target where you know it
to be as you move it. If so, encourage your child by
saying "Good for you; keep watching the (toy); watch
just with your eyes." If not, Do not say "Do not move
your head," or "Hold your head still." This procedure is
to determine if your child has gained full, free eye
movements without excessive head movements.
Using the same toy as a target, move it up and down
directly in front of your child's face, in line with his
nose. Give the same instructions and observe for eye
movements without excessive head movements.
Using the same toy for a near target, choose a
familiar object across the room (in front of your child)
for a distance target. Now say "Look at the toy; now
look quickly at the (distance object); now at the toy;
now look at the (distance object)." Repeat this
near-far-far-near visual locating activity enough times
to note the speed and accuracy of the eye movements and
"target landings." Eyes should move in a free and quick
manner from target tot target, and without head
movements. |
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Blending of
"Fields of View"
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Hold a playing or postal card so it covers one of
your child's eyes. Now hold a small toy about 6 inches
directly in front of your child's nose. Say "Keep
looking at the toy all the time." When you are sure the
child is looking intently at the target with his
uncovered eye quickly remove the card. Carefully watch
for movement of the just uncovered eye as your child
strives to continue looking at the target. You may wish
to do this a couple of times to make careful
observations. Repeat this procedure by covering the
other eye, and with the same instructions, make the same
observations when the cover is removed. |
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Slight quick adjustments of the eye you have just
uncovered as your child synchronizes his fields of view,
are not unusual, up to the age of three. By
ages four and four-and-a-half, there should be no or only
slight adjustment to achieve this synchrony at the
instant the cover is removed. If there is any observable
difficulty reaching this synchrony, there is a definite
need for the proper clinical help to assist your child
in achieving the visual skills essential to all
classroom tasks. A failure to learn this synchrony can
result in severe blurring, or even doubling, of the
words on a textbook page. Such confusion can cause the
academic failure of a "smart" child. |
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Speed and Accuracy of Visual Discriminations
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Using the same card, cover your child's right eye and
have him name and describe objects that are in the
distance. Then cover his left eye and repeat your
request. If there is any real difference in what he can
tell you in each situation, clinical attention should be
sought. Do not delay this attention because such
problems of visual discrimination are never outgrown.
To evaluate your child's visual discriminations at
reading distances, use the same little card to cover one
eye at a time. Ask your child to describe fine details
of a picture in one of his favorite books. If your child
has learned some letters, these are splendid test
targets. If your child demonstrates problems
discriminating small details at near, they may complain
"It is hard to do when you hold the card there," or they
may cover one eye. |
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