School is here, is your little one ready?
We all want the best start to our child’s education/care. We all want them to do well at school and achieve the benchmarks.
I share with you 5 TOP TIPS you can do to ensure your little one is ready for Kindy/School or to help with day-care (age dependent).
- Recognise their own name (especially Kindy/Prep) aged children. This includes their first name and their surname in a range of fonts, colours and sizes. You will be surprised how many children will have the same design water bottle or back pack. Having your child being able to recognise their own name just avoids upset children and from the wrong child taking the wrong back home. Trust me – it happens all too often. AND if you are a bit of a germ freak like I am, you don’t want your child drinking out of someone else’s water bottle.
Use bath time as a name recognition time. You can write their name in the bath tub. You could use foam letters to make their name or washable paint pens. It’s quick, easy and no real mess to it clean up. Reminder different fonts, colours and sizes and insure you practice recognising the surname too.
- Ability to open their lunch box independently including the items in their lunchbox – practising these skills during bath time is a fantastic way to have no mess and they can hide toys in their lunch box or if you have plastic/wooden food items you could have a play picnic or cook up in the bath opening and closing lunch container and the actual lunch box. This includes zipping and unzipping their cooler bag. Finger gym exercises are a fantastic resource to focus on if they struggle to open containers/yogurt pouches initially.
- Ability to fill their own water bottle? Again, this is a fantastic skill to practice during bath time because it doesn’t matter if they get water everywhere. This includes opening or unscrewing their water bottle, filling it, and then closing or screwing on the lid. Generally, most kids will not ask a teacher/carer to fill their water bottle when its empty and they are thirsty, so teaching self-independence to do so is so important especially prior to their prep year.
- Dress themselves head to toe – especially important for those day-care and kindy days when they don’t necessarily have a set uniform. Buttons and zips can be tricky for little kids but giving them the opportunity to practise and master these skills is important. Can they put their own shoes on? Take their own shoes off? If Prep age, save yourself and your child’s carer/teacher by buying Velcro joggers/runners. Tying show laces is generally a skill learnt around the year 2 mark, for most, but if there is opportunity/skill and interest to tie laces sooner, why not. AND PACK THEIR BAG – INCLUDING ZIPPING OPEN AND CLOSED.
- Roll play what drop off and pick up will be like. Might sound silly but for some children they will need this and will have a smoother drop off if they know what it will be like. Practise them getting dressed in their uniform, packing their bag, putting their shoes on. Practise what it will be like leaving Mum or Dad at morning drop off.
NOW PARENTS - As hard as it is and as emotional as it is the quicker the drop off, the better it is for your child and for you as the parent. I will say that again. The quicker the drop off, the better it is for your child and also for you. Doing 10 hugs and standing at the door or in sight outside is not going to end well if your child is already upset. TRUST ME. Your child’s educator is well equipped to calm and comfort your child. Trust them and know that they have your number if they for any reason do need to call you to come back. Day 1 is always the hardest but if you set the expectation of what drop off will look, feel and be like your child is much more likely to have a smooth drop off and you will thank yourself for it. Start practising weeks before they start day-care (age dependent), Kindy or school and it’ll make a huge difference. ALSO, don’t forget to role play what pick-up will look, feel and be like. If they have never done drop-off/pickup before it’s important or them to know that you will be there ready to give them a big kiss and cuddle and hear all about their day when the door opens.
This time in your life includes big changes and challenges for you and your child. Implementing these 5 tips will lead to a smoother experience and helps your little one out a lot. Good luck and be kind to yourself.
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