Preparing your child for primary school can be a daunting task. One minute you’re watching them take their first steps, the next you’re buying their first school uniform! How can you go about getting them ready for school before September comes around?
Read on to find out more about setting your child up for school success.
Defining “Ready”
While there is no definitive answer on what being “ready” for school means, there are some milestones you can help them reach before their first day.
Potty Training
Potty training is a huge milestone and a challenging one at that. It’s good to encourage your child to learn to use the toilet before school begins, to help them feel independence in an unfamiliar setting.
Routines
An established routine will be beneficial to your child before beginning school. Understandably, it is difficult to maintain a strict routine 100% of the time, however by setting your child’s expectations of different daily events they will be well prepared for school. For example, by having lunchtime around 1pm each day, your child will begin to expect a regular and predictable lunch, as will be the case at school.
Hand Washing
Before their first day comes around, hand washing should be encouraged. This should particularly be before eating and after using the toilet. Besides helping maintain their cleanliness, handwashing can help prevent those dreaded illnesses so often caught at school.
Eating at the Table
When beginning school, children will be expected to sit and eat their meals at a table. To help them prepare for this, it is a good idea to introduce sitting at a table at lunch. If your child will be having hot food at school you can bring cutlery to mealtimes to help acclimatise them to their use.
Good Manners
Finally, good manners can help your child make friends at school. Children often gravitate to other kind children, so sharing politely and saying please will set them in good stead.
How Nursery Can Help
To help tick off some of the above milestones, consider taking your child to nursery school.
Many nurseries will be able to assist with potty training by continuing to implement the use of a toilet in a safe environment. While school teachers may not be prepared for toilet accidents, nursery staff can help your child without making them feel embarrassed or vulnerable.
While guided by your child and their needs, nurseries can still help implement a routine to your child’s day. By making sure they are dropped off, have lunch, and go home at the same time each day, your child will become familiar with a school routine.
Alongside skills like doing up buttons and tying shoes, hand washing is something routinely enforced in a nursery. By establishing a good sense of hygiene early in their lives, your child will be fantastically set up for what will be expected of them.
When your child socialises with other children in the nursery play area, it can help them grow accustomed to sharing and learning together. Nursery staff can help them learn to ask for toys politely, which in turn prepares them for their first year of primary school.
If you think your child could benefit from our care, feel free to visit our website to read further about us. We have two sites, one in Eastleigh and another in Hedge End, so do contact us should you like to arrange a visit.