Little things to help your little ones begin their school life
Parents get a backstage pass to their child's life. They see the ups and downs. They see their child's first words, steps, writing, singing, playing. What their child is 'into'. Favourite games, toys, people, TV shows and foods. They know what brings them comfort when in stressful situations. Now imagine you know none of this and you get handed 30 of them to care for while trying to teach them something. That is day one in a school.
When a child comes to school they are in a new place where they don't have their usual support system around them. Teachers receive a register of up to 30 children, all of whom have individual lives, likes and dislikes. Teachers also have to learn their names, try to learn any difficulties these children may have, work out who may need more help with the adjustment to school than others. Which ones are fully toilet trained, who can read simple words, who is naturally quiet, who has additional needs or who will have no clue how to regulate their emotions.
There are a number of things we as parents can do in advance of one of our children's biggest shifts in their young lives. This list is not exhaustive but it is a good start.
i. Focus on toilet training. All children learn this skill at their own pace. But being fully toilet trained can make your child's (and their teachers and teaching assistants) life easier in school. They will know in advance when they feel they need to have a wee. They will know how to hold it until they can get to a toilet (which is not always immediate during school hours for a variety of reasons). They will know how to remove clothing to get onto the toilet and put it back on after wards. Also if your child is still learning, please make sure they have a couple of spare sets of clothes they can comfortably fit into.
ii. Teach them to wash their hands. This follows on directly from using the toilet. Schools are petrie dishes for germs due to children being in very close contact with each other and sharing resources. Sanitation is very important to prevent illnesses spreading through the population not to mention just being correct practise.
iii. Teach your child to recognise their own name when it is written out. School will be a place for learning, but your child will have a peg for their things and possibly work books from day one. Their uniform should have their name inside. If they can recognise it when written down they will be able to take ownership of their own space in the room, their work and personal belongings.
iv. Teach your child to put their coat and shoes on themselves and do up zips and put on gloves. It saves a lot of time when getting ready in the mornings at home, for play time and home time too.
v. Taking turns/sharing. Practice turn taking by playing games such as snakes and ladders, using a slide in a busy park. Sharing can be achieved with adults and children. Modelling these behaviours helps so that children can learn to recognise them.
vi. Numbers and the alphabet. If the children know how to recognise numbers from 1-10 and the alphabet they will have a head start in their maths learning and likewise with the alphabet. These days letters are taught phonetically but recognising the letters themselves will help them not be blindsided into a new subject.
vii. Cutting with scissors. Lots of learning involves the children cutting and sticking with glue sticks so it helps if they know how to use these items safely.
viii. Holding a pencil. School work will involve a lot of writing tasks and colouring for fun. Holding pencils and colouring items will be second nature by the end but can feel very strange in the beginning.
All of these things will help your child and teaching staff to make the simple daily tasks go much smoother as they can focus on the important lessons of each day. By lessons I am including play and socialisation, not just learning to read, write and do maths.
Until next time
xx
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