Getting Your Little One Ready For Big School

What can you do to help your child transition well?

The holidays before your child is due to start Prep is a wonderful opportunity to help grow some of the basic skills needed so they can manage themselves and transition smoothly into school.

1. Helping your child separate from you – when you are going to leave your child for a while, try these three steps, especially if they’re not used to being away from you:
   a) Connect with them at their level and tell them you are going to be leaving for a while and you will be coming back.
   b) Then allow 20 seconds when you hold them or stand close to them.
   c) Then, in some way leave – hand them over to the grown-up who will be looking after them while smiling and waving – and keep going. Hopefully the other person taking care of them will stand close to them helping them feel safe and connected. When you return, remember to reassure them that you told them you would be coming back.
2. Improving communication – help your child to listen and follow directions.
3. Improving literacy – nothing beats reading to our children to prepare them to grow a vocabulary that will enable literacy later. So please keep them off technology and engage in real human-to-human verbal communication as much as you can. Read signs, words on cereal boxes, sing songs, use funny rhyming, ask them questions and really listen and set up some pretend play opportunities like shops, being a pilot, have a tea party or play in a mud kitchen.
4. Organisation – gradually encouraging children to be more responsible with little things like remembering their drink bottles, their clothes, putting things away and tidying up. This can all happen in fun ways at home.
5. Avoid being too enthusiastic – please avoid being too enthusiastic about school with promises they will learn to read and become clever. Many 5-year-olds come home very disillusioned after the first week because they haven’t been able to learn to read yet.
6. Nurturing the teacher bond – to help children transition to another person as their safe grown-up, it can be helpful if you could find a photo of their teacher and have it in the visible place so you can talk about Mrs Jones or Mr Brown. This gentle way of familiarising them can help, however be careful not to overdo it. Parents should try to avoid speaking negatively about any teacher in front of your child.
7. Owning anxiety as normal – chatting to your child about anxiety and that it is normal to be a little bit frightened of starting something new is really important. Tell them that you have been a bit anxious starting a new job or a new school and that in a few weeks that anxiety will disappear as everything becomes normal.
8. Building friendships – building friendships and fostering connections with peers is an important factor in making school a positive place.
9. Life skills – the more things that your child can do for themselves, the more confident and capable they will feel. It does start with little things like dressing themselves, washing their own hands and being able to toilet themselves. It also allows them to have autonomy to make choices – would you like an apple or a banana in your lunch box? Building confidence and competence also takes place in the playground or your backyard. Allowing them to climb a little higher, swing a little farther or to try something they have never tried before are all risk-taking opportunities that are amazingly positive teachable moments, even when unsuccessful.

Please remember that as your little one starts their schooling journey you are still their number one teacher and coach. Also avoid comparing your child to other children. They are all unique miracles and growth, development and learning is not a linear thing. Relationships are the number one thing that helps children to thrive and flourish.

Mrs Sue Zweck, Head of Learning K-5