Does your child need glasses?

We all know that as we get

older, our eyesight tends to go.

However, a lot of people need

glasses at a younger age.

Some people start having to use

glasses in their teens and some

need them when they’re even

younger.

But how can you tell if your pre-

schooler needs glasses?

If your pre-schooler does need

glasses, it’s best if you can pick

up on this straight away.

At Friday’s Child Montessori,

and at nearly every Montessori

early learning centre worth its

salt, we believe in helping

children move onto reading

skills as soon as they show the

aptitude for it.

But if your child has problems

with vision, this could prove to

be a real barrier to their

learning.

Waiting until school isn’t a good

idea, as a child who is ready to

learn their letters but has

trouble seeing them and

recognising them will easily

become frustrated.

This will lead to the early days of

reading being filled with tension

and anxiety, rather than being a

stage when a whole new world

of discovery opens up.

Often, the problems that mean

that a child will need glasses are

congenital (i.e. they’re born with

the problem).

This is especially the case with

short-sightedness (short vision

or myopia) and long-sightedness (farsightedness or hyperopia).

In these conditions, often the

problem is in the shape of the

eyeball.

In a normal eye, the eyeball is

exactly the right length so that

the light rays going through the

lens of the cornea will be

focussed when they reach the

retina on the back of the eyeball.

However, if the eyeball is too long or

too short, the focal point is either

forward of the retina or beyond it,

meaning that the light rays (and

thus the image) that reaches the

retina isn’t focused properly and

looks all blurry.

The thickness of the cornea also

creates problems – it’s the

thickening of the lens during or

after middle age that causes

age-related short-sightedness

(also known as presbyopia).

There are other problems that

may require your child to wear

glasses. Astigmatism is another

problem that is also caused by

an odd-shaped eyeball.

If a person of any age has

astigmatism, nearby things and

far away things will look blurry.

Again, glasses are the most

common corrective.

Some of these problems show

up in later childhood or in the

teen years.

In many ways, it’s easier for a

parent when children get

problems with vision at this age,

as he or she can notice the

trouble and complain about it.

For example, they’ll tell you that

the words on the page or the

pictures on the screen are

blurry, which is a real giveaway.

If you suspect that your child

has a problem with his/her

vision, then your first port of call

should be your GP.

An eye test will soon see for

certain if your child has a

problem, and your next stop will

be the optician or the eye

specialist to get glasses with the

lenses that will correct your

child’s unique problem.

This article is brought to you by:

Fridays Child Montessori