To be shocked at ‘school readiness’

You're that should read not, "your".

And I think, not cultivating your child's imagination is failing them.

Exactly. All this hand wringing boils down to one thing: Parents. We’ve now got a whole cohort of children being raised by adults who grew up in the “I know my rights” era: no discipline at home, discipline at school criticised, “gentle parenting” taken as an excuse to avoid boundaries, zero manners, & a massive sense of entitlement baked into their own childhoods. Now those same people are raising kids and this is the result.

Farage mentioned in his parliament speech that if he gets in he will 'declare a state of emergency'. I think he's a twat, but would say that social norms around raising children is in a state of emergency. Teachers are leaving in droves due to student pressures and parent expectations, even on this thread its been suggested teachers should be kind and help take off their coats and hang it...we are talking 30 kids! everytime they come in & everyday, not to mention helping with pulling up underwear, feeding etc this is not what teachers are trained for and it's only going to get worse.

Its not an either/or.

A decent parent teaches their child the skills they need for life, including cooking and cleaning, as well as imaginative play, learning through play, an appetite for learning etc.etc.

But if a child starting school can't pour themselves a bowl of cereal...that's not good.

Some of those children will have only just turned 4 years old

Why is it not good what does it mean for their future?

And the OP has excluded SEND children, especially those with developmental delays. However, many children with ADHD are perfectly capable. If you read MN you would assume they are incapable of anything. My ADHD DS was very bright could recognise and read his name, could dress himself and listen to a story. My dyspraxic DS struggled with laces but we used Velcro, he could get his coat on even if he struggle to fasten it, he did struggle with holding a pen but could say please and thankyou.

SEND does not mean can’t, it’s patronising and harmful to suggest otherwise.

Lots of comments about how hard housework was and how busy mothers were in the past. I would agree with that but I wonder - was it better for child development because, for instance, a toddler/ preschooler would have been with that busy mother, quite possibly helping to hang up washing, make the beds, carry shopping, etc.? And of course would have been out and about with them, going on the bus to get the shopping, etc. Whereas now both parents are busy with work and a child can't be with them there.

This is just untrue on every front and if you don't like Farage, why would you take any notice of what he has to say about anything, let alone agree with him?

Does this include SEN children or should their parents have to do it as well?

That's a really unfair and unreasonable question. I have a 40 year old 'child' with significant learning disabilities. She went to a special school and is still doubly incontinent and now in supported living. But that's an extreme.

If a child of 4/5 is still incontinent, has recognisable and diagnosed sen then of course there will already be measures in place to deal with it.

If there is no actual official diagnosis then parents being regularly called into school to deal with incontinence events will expedite a diagnosis. The parents should be called in.
As a parent I would have welcomed this. It would have given me more ammunition to present when asking for the extra help we needed for my daughter. So yes, in a roundabout way, parents should be called in because in the long run it will get the help needed for the child, much more than me just banging on at social services without evidence of any need. If the teachers just carry on changing nappies for a 4 year old, nothing will change.

Because its an age appropriate life skill. There's no reason not to. It's not going to take any time away from play. Its just part of breakfast time.

What would be the purpose in not letting them?

Is it? It's not about not letting them, I just don't agree that not doing it at such a young age is detrimental to them.

Its not specifically the cereal. It's the attitude of preventing children from learning age appropriate life skills.

im shocked at how my own dd allows her dc to behave and don't pick them up on things similar to you have listed.

I have two lovely grandchildren and when they are with me they know how to behave, as I use the broken record technique, but when they are with their mother they run rings round her

I suspect you will whip these children metaphorically into a way of behaving that is acceptable in a classroom (no you shouldn't have to) butt these children will go home and revert back to default with their parents

Pretty much every school in the country unfortunately

But the outcome of not preparing your food in the toddler years is not significant or noteworthy.

How do you know that - goodness this thread is comedy gold!

School age. Not toddlers.

I would be very surprised if there was no correlation between teaching children independence like this in early childhood and their outcomes in adulthood.

This is just untrue on every front and if you don't like Farage, why would you take any notice of what he has to say about anything, let alone agree with him?

I can't stand him but I agree with pp

Reception age then as this is what this thread is about? Personally, don't think a four year old should be making toast and actually cereal is not always what you want them to eat so if it involves, heat, electricity, gas, I wouldn't want them to do this.

Pouring your own cereal teaches motor skills, understanding of volume and rate of flow, and promotes independence and a sense of accomplishment in children

Well you obviously 'can' stand him can't you as you are promoting his beliefs on the matter.

Mollycoddling does no favours. Teaching children to use heat/electricity safely is safer then banning it.

Legally, you are allowed to teach children in year 2 to use hand saws, glue guns, and most other primary school DT equipment. Most reception classes make Goldilocks porridge or something similar using heat. They'd also use knives to cut fruit and veg in reception.

It's obviously going to be better to teach them 1:1 at home first.

For those that don’t believe the op, you need to go and volunteer in a reception class. It’s got worse and worse since Covid.

But cereal is not great for children anyway so if you are limited to cereal for breakfast then you are teaching them bad choices.

You can teach them how to pour paint into a tray and they would learn fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination would improve but by following that with actually painting a picture you would additionally be fostering imagination, self expression, far more beneficial under 5/6.