School Age
By the time your child reaches school age (Any time after his or her 4th birthday) he or she should have enough skills to cope independently - able to take him or herself to the toilet, button up her coat and be able to open all the items in his or her packed lunch or eat with a knife and fork. If your child can recognise his or her own name and possibly write it, that would be a huge help.
You can help your child by giving them plenty of encouragement and telling your child that school is fun. Any activities you do with them will help them develop their fine motor skills (encourage lots of drawing and scribbling, read lots of books, get them to take an interest in the world around them and teach them to take turns in listening. All these things help your child when they get to school
If at all possible arrange for your child to visit the school prior to starting. Some schools allow parents to come for school lunch prior to starting school so that your child becomes familiar with the system and can watch what other children do and so can feel more confident in the classroom.
Explain to your child that you are interested in what they are doing (don’t worry too much though when you ask them what they have been doing at school and they answer “nothing” or proceed to tell you all about what they have had for lunch. Rest assured that primary schools these days are very good at disguising hard work as fun tasks so your child will have been learning SOMETHING even though your child might have been having so much fun that it may not feel like it.
Settling In to School
Some children take a while to settle in to the school routine. If you feel that your child has suddenly started behaving in a strange way have a word with the classroom teacher at the end of the day. There could be a perfectly logical explanation or a simple solution. One mum reports that her daughter suddenly stopped working at her usual pace, which turned out that she was feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of older children in her class and had been moved away from her best friend. She soon settled down and started working well again after a quiet word with the teacher.
Some children worry about SATS even though most schools again are very good at disguising sats as fun tasks. Tell your child that they are largely there to see how well their teacher has taught them and are nothing to worry about (the more they panic the worse they will be so it is best not to worry them!)
© Don’t Wake the Baby 2007 All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: Any advice you take you do so because you believe in your own mind that it is right for you and you do so completely at your own risk. Always get immediate medical help if you have any health concerns.
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