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