Getting young children prepared and ready to start the school years is a process that should begin early on, the earlier the better. Going from a home environment for the first 5 years and then suddenly being thrust into a school environment is a major life change that can be difficult for many kids to handle. It can take time to adjust and some children even freak out about having to go to school.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at some effective ways you can prepare your child for the school years to come.
Talk About School and Always In a Positive Light
One of the key ways you can prepare a child mentally for the school years to come is to talk about school regularly. The closer they get to starting school, mention it daily but always talk about school in a positive way.
The more school is discussed on a regular basis, the more familiar it’s going to become and children will learn what to expect and hopefully even start to look forward to going to school. Psychological preparation for school is just as important as any other form of school preparedness.
Teach Kids Some Basics At Home
You don’t necessarily have to sit down with your child like you’re in a classroom environment and start drumming mathematics and English into them. Learning basic academics can be done in a fun way.
One simple suggestion for teaching basic counting would be to place a bunch of jelly beans into a glass or a jar and have your child try and guess how many there are. Once they’ve had a guess, have them count out the jelly beans to see how close they were to getting the answer right.
There are loads of simple and fun ways parents can teach their children rudimentary math skills as well as other core subjects.
Enrol Your Child In An Early Education Centre
An early child care center that also provides an educational curriculum is one of the very best moves you can make as a parent to prepare your child for the school years. An early child care center will offer a school readiness program, which focuses on an array of tasks and activities specifically designed to prepare children for primary school as much as possible.
Part of the curriculum will include education basics, where kids discover mathematics, science, English, engineering and using computers.
Aside from academics, children are encouraged to participate in activities that will build their self-confidence, improve their social skills, as well as learning to communicate with other kids and adults.
Kids also learn about good nutrition, play games that keep them fit and healthy and basically they just have a lot of fun.
An early education facility will really give your child a massive boost when it comes to preparing for the school days to come.
Train Your Child To Be Independent
One of the biggest problems a parent can face is a child that succumbs to separation anxiety when they start school. Often, this anxiety is a result of being codependent on a parent and the child is also used to the home environment.
If you can teach your child a degree of independence before the school days arrive, they will feel much more confident about leaving the family home and venturing into the school grounds.
Assign them tasks around the home where they are working autonomously. This will get them used to taking on responsibility, being in charge of the task and therefore becoming increasingly more independent. It’s also a good idea to encourage children to start making their own lunch, helping to prepare the evening meal, as well as doing chores with their parents or other siblings. Learning both teamwork and autonomy are each vitally important.
Not only will this sense of independence reduce the chances of any separation anxiety developing, but it will also make it easier for a child to adjust to a foreign environment such as primary school.
The Conclusion
The earlier you start preparing your child for the school years, the easier it will be both for the child and the parents when the time comes.