Speech and language skills, pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-mathematical skills of 7-year old children before entering school in Po？ega-Slavonia County

Sa？etak School readiness is defined by a certain level of maturity in multiple areas necessary for overcoming school's demands (UNICEF, 2006). Important abilities for school entry, among others, are children's communication, language and speech abilities, as well as pre-reading skills, pre-writing skills and pre-mathematical skills, which are considered fundamental for children to be able to learn to read, write and master math skills. In this research, 79 children from Po？ega-Slavonia County obligated to enter elementary school underwent a speech-language pathologist's evaluation in County Hospital Po？ega. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. The results show that the largest number of children have articulation disorder (89 %), 10 % have difficulty understanding language, 29 % have below average receptive vocabulary, 20 % have errors in morphosyntax, 54 % are unsuccessful in phonemic awareness tasks, 27 % have poor pre-mathematical skills, while 28 % of children have poor graph motor skills. Moreover, 32 % of children have poor speech perception. Such results indicate the need for a systematic evaluation by a speech-language pathologist in preschool age in order to detect children with difficulties so they can be included in speech and language therapy. Moreover, the lack of good pre-reading, pre-writing and pre- mathematical skills indicates the need for creating a structured preschool program that will develop and enhance pre-reading, pre-writing and pre- mathematical skills