It’s never too early to start preparing your child for their first day at school, and it’s important that you spend some time getting your little one used to the idea of going to kindergarten. The amount of time and effort that you put in will be entirely dependant on your child’s personality; shy and quiet children may need a bit more time than confident, independent children.
There are three different aspects that you need to work on to get your child school-ready: academic expectations, mental preparation and practical preparation.
Here are our top tips for getting your child school-ready:
Emotional preparation
Going to school for the first time is a big deal, and children tend to struggle with separation anxiety. It is important that you get your child the emotional preparation that they will need for the big day, this ensures that there isn’t too many first-day-tears or dramatics. Have a look at just some of the ways you can prepare your child emotionally:
- Social skills: Your child needs to be prepared to share and interact with other children and act accordingly in the classroom. Teach them through example and socialization from an early age. There are also social skills games and activities that you can use to make sure they have the social skills they need.
- Visit the school and meet the teacher: It will make your child more at ease if they know where they are going. Take them to their new school, walk around and help them familiarize themselves. Meeting the teacher is also a great idea to create a connection between the two before your child starts to attend.
Practical preparation
There are also practical elements to consider when you are sending your child off to kindergarten. These are the things that you need to prepare before they go:
- Uniform shopping: Make their uniform shopping a fun day out and they will be more excited to wear it in the term. Remember not to go too early in the year, as they may grow before school starts.
- Stationery: Go and have a look at the stationery that is required and let your little one choose the ones they want. A colorful and fun pencil case, pencils and coloring crayons are going to be the basis of what you will need for their first term.
- Toilet training: If you could only do one thing to help your child get ready for school – it should be teaching them how to use the toilet on their own. This will save them the embarrassment of a mistake and also gives them the independence of not relying on their teacher for help.
Academic expectations
One of the most important aspects of getting your child ready for their first day of school is to prepare for the academic expectations. This is what you can do to get your child up to the academic levels that school will require:
- Reading: There is nothing more effective for teaching children than reading to them. You should be using storybooks from a young age, and as they get towards kindergarten age, you should start to read out longer chapters and books that are a bit more complicated.
- Writing their name: While it’s unlikely that your little one has learnt how to write yet, it’s essential to teach them how to recognize and write their name down.
- ABC’s: Teach your child the ABC’s before they go to school. You can use educational toys, books, songs and games to make sure that they know their alphabet.
At Miniland, we know the importance of the academic expectations that comes with going to school for the first time. That’s why we developed the Miniland Educational Corner range, which offers everything you could possibly need to get your child up to speed.
From games and reading to activities and worksheets – the product allows your child to learn the fundamentals without losing any of the fun. Have a look at our blogs for more ideas and inspiration for parents and teachers.
