Ready, Set, School!

Helping Your Kids Prepare For The First Day And Beyond.

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We all have memories of our first day at school: the trendy backpack, books fresh out of the store and funky stationary – all set to start the academic year and make new friends. As a mum, you play a crucial role in preparing your kids for school. Here’s  how to help them:

Ready?

Organise play dates with other children over the school holidays. The social part of the school year can be challenging, and this is a good way to ensure they have a friend or two before starting.

Always talk to your child in a positive, cheerful way about school. Try to eliminate negativity as much as you can and downplay aspects that aren’t that popular with children including homework and grades.

Use positive reinforcement to reward good behaviour. Giving your child a reward for successfully completing a task or behaving, no matter how small, will reinforce that desired behaviour for the school days to come.

Monitor your child’s response to conversations about school. It’s important to detect any anxiety and address that before school starts. Try to assure them that everything will be alright, and that this is a new phase that they should be looking forward to.

Read, read, read. Read to and with them as this is the best way to prepare your child for school. Reading sets a great foundation for the future too.

Practice playing games where there’s group participation and interaction, which will show them how a classroom setting would be and how to interact with peers.

Teach your child to use the toilet independently. Using the school toilet differs from going to the bathroom at home (with mum’s help). For younger children, using a public bathroom can be challenging.