Starting School 2015

School starts in just a few weeks!!

The first day of BIG school is coming for our students.  We are so pleased with the progress of our students, we know that the school experience will be a fun extension of the skills that we have introduced in our FANTASTIC School Readiness Program.

As both a parent and a teacher, I offer you these suggestions:

Being Prepared for the First Day

STAY CALM
Our children are naturally greatly influenced by their parents.  You possibly have some nervous tension about your child's first day.  This is a very normal feeling for parents - we might be reflecting on our own school experiences, or worrying about new concerns: who your child will sit with, will they make friends? will they find the bathroom when they need to?  will they drink their water?.... the list can go on.
It is of upmost importance that this trepidation is NOT passed onto your child.
On the first day, help your child arrive at school calm and collected by keeping your own emotions calm.

WHO SHOULD TAKE YOUR CHILD SCHOOL ON THE FIRST DAY?
This is of course, a very personal decision.
Schools either collect the kindergarten children efficiently and invite parents in to classrooms quickly or ask parents to leave straight away.  Whatever the schools policy, it is best not to bring a cast of a thousand relatives to farewell your new BIG school student.  If lots of relatives attend the child's first morning at school, it can cause stress for your child as they have to leave the large comfort zone of family to go with their new teacher and classmates.
As a teacher, I have always appreciated just the main caregivers attending the first morning.  If you would like to celebrate this important occasion in your child's life, maybe a celebratory afternoon tea after school would be a sensible option.

LABEL YOUR BELONGINGS
This is a boring and time consuming task, however, you will appreciate your organisation within the first week of school.  Even the best labelled child will manage to lose drink bottles, hats and jackets.  Without labels, you will rarely find the misplaced item.  Spend these last few weeks making sure that everything that is not attached to your child, is labelled with their name!  You will thank me for it :)

GETTING TO SCHOOL SAFELY
Your little school goer is only just older than the preschooler they were at the end of last year.  Make sure that you have organised safe options for getting to and getting home from school. You have possibly heard the stories about the difficult process of parking at schools in the afternoon.  No school ever has enough parking for all of the parents that need to collect their children.  Think through a safe plan in advance.

SCHOOL LUNCHES
Use this time during the school holidays to practice school lunch preparation as well as training your child to use their lunch box independently.
Don't forget to cut difficult pieces of food such as fruit - an investment in an apple slinky may be invaluable!
A lot of school snack packaging is very difficult for little hands to open.  It is good practice to snip corners off packaging when you prepare the recess and lunch so that your child can easily access their food without having to wait in the queue for the teacher to open children's lunches.
As I have mentioned in a former blog, make sure that your child understands the difference in food items between recess and lunch items.  This is easily done with the use of  a paper bag for recess, or a lunch box with separate compartments.
While I am talking about it - send as few 'bad food choices' as possible!  A high sugar diet at recess and lunchtime can wreak havoc on the classroom following these play breaks.

A HEALTHY BREAKFAST
Make sure that you allow time each morning for your child to eat breakfast.  This is a really important meal for your child's day.  Essential learning takes place in classes during the morning, if your child is feeling hungry they may miss these important skills and not be able to concentrate effectively

MODEL FRIENDLY BEHAVIOUR
Your child is looking to you at all times for your attitude to their new environment.  They don't realise that you may never have been in this situation either - in their eyes, the parents know everything (hold onto that moment because they will soon start to question that!!)  Ensure that you model friendly behaviour to the teachers and to the other parents/children that you meet.  This will relax your child who will see you interacting in a happy manner and then be confident to do so themselves.

HAVE A SPECIAL MORNING PLANNED
The whole 'starting school' experience finishes very quickly on that first morning.  The children are deliberately lead away and settled quickly with minimum fuss to ensure a successful start for their school career.  Parents are left behind - and this is how it may feel.  Prepare now for that feeling of deflation that you may encounter (sometimes parents have a feeling of elation - there is no right or wrong feeling!! Your child starting school can be a great relief for both your child and yourself - especially after this long holiday period, that is ok too).  Whatever emotion you may feel organise a 'celebration' plan.  You have loved and nurtured your preschooler to now be ready to progress to Primary School.  Celebrate your successful parenting moment!! Plan a coffee with friends, or go to a movie to distract you.  This is an important day for the parents too - we tend to forget this with all of the lead up organisation for the children.

AFTER SCHOOL
Make sure that you arrive at school early so that you can see how the afternoon routine works.  Your child will appreciate seeing you as they walk out of their classroom. BE PREPARED your children may tell you NOTHING about their day.  This will continue to be the norm for your school aged children - you need to learn the art of careful questioning to find out the facts - that is for another day.  Find out who your child sat with, did they like their teacher, encourage any positive talk that is possible.  Also prepare yourself that primary school is the next progressive step in your child's life.  There will be systems for feedback from the teachers.  Unlike preschool you may not always be able to speak with your teacher everyday about your childs' progress.  Usually no news is good news at school - teachers will approach you if they have any concerns.

Be relaxed, and anticipate that your kindergarten student will be tired after their first whole day of structured learning.  Kindergarten can be a tiring year for your child - ensure they get an early night so they can do it all again tomorrow!

Remember this special moment.  There is only one first day of kindergarten - enjoy this next step in your child's development

For the Love of Learning

Donna