On the Coast – Families Issue 101 I August/September 2019 | Page 34

COAST CHRISTIAN SCHO OL
How to prepare your child
for school in 2020
Starting school is a big deal for all of
us and can create anxiety and worry
if you and your child are not prepared.
School is an unusual environment and
is full of social, emotional, physical and
intellectual challenges for everyone,
parents included. When you think about
it, our children leave the comfort and
security of their homes and loved ones
and join in with lots and lots of other
children all of whom bring their very
different social, emotional, physical and
intellectual experiences of life. In a school
context we put all these little people
into one room and, hopefully, achieve
the best possible outcome. Please bear
in mind also that, in this classroom of
children we place one adult, the teacher,
who also carries his or her own set of
life experiences. I can think of no other
environment, working or otherwise,
where this is the case.
Some parents step into this schooling
environment with the expectation that it
will always be perfectly smooth sailing and
that there will be no challenges. This is an
UNREALISTIC expectation. In any
environment, even in your workplace or
social groups, people will either annoy,
frustrate, hurt, anger or disappoint us. This
happens most often when our expectations
of others are not met and school is no
different. That is why it is important for
you to choose the best school for you and
for your child. When you have made that
all important choice, please don’t step into
that school environment expecting
perfection. This may mean that you do
some work yourself in understanding and
determining realistic expectations and how
you will best respond when these
expectations are not met. When choosing a
school, talk to the school about your
expectations and use the school’s responses
as a way to make the best choice of
schooling for your child.
Now that you have made the choice of
school for your child, here are some tips
on how to prepare your child for success
in 2020:
Teach them to value rules as being
helpful as a way to provide protection
and keep you safe. Think about your
rule keeping and what you model to
your child. Simple responses to traffic,
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speeding, drink driving, crossing roads,
seat belts are all ways to show your child
that you value social rules as means to
keep us safe. Our schools are filled with
rules for the same reason. Our school has
a simple rule for safety and protection
“HANDS OFF, FEET OFF”. We teach
our children to respect themselves, one
another and property through the use of
this simple rule.
Encourage your child to do simple
things for themselves such as dressing
themselves, opening containers, peeling
fruit. This helps them to become more
independent at school and so they are not
relying on others for such simple tasks.
Talk positively about school –
speak about it as a LEARNING
ADVENTURE. Learning is a lifelong
adventure so talk to them about all they
have learned so far and show them
photos of their growth. Your little one
has already learned to talk and walk and
toilet themselves. They have learned not
to touch the stove or poke things into
power points because you have been
their teacher and guide in these matters.
Celebrate these learnings and point them
towards the excitement of learning to
read books and writing. Share your own
love of learning with them and talk about
your learning journey through school
and beyond.
Talk to your child about when YOU
started school. Tell them good stories
and if you can, show them photos of
when you starting school. Help them to
understand that every adult has been
through this and that what they are
feeling is normal. Excitement, nerves,
anticipation
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READ READ READ to and with your
child. Show and teach them the front
of the book, the back of the book. Point to
the words as you read so that they can
see the reason for the black squiggly
things on the page. Teach them that
these are WORDS and WORDS are made
of LETTERS. Encourage them to
recognize their own name in print and
encourage them to write it for
themselves. Write their name in DOTS
for them to trace, make individual cards
for each letter of their name and have
them place them in the correct order for
their name.
Minimise screen time so that they do
not lose the ability to communicate
effectively with you. Child development
experts recommend limiting childrens’
daily screen time. This is because real-life
interactions with you and others are
much better for your child’s wellbeing,
learning and development. At our
school we find that children are better
equipped to entertain themselves and
play imaginatively when screens are not
as often made readily available.
Concentration is a necessary
ingredient for success at school. I
suggest you aim for at least one minute
per year of your child’s age. This means
if your child is 4, you should expect at
least 4 minutes of focused concentration
on one task. (This does not include
screen time). Slowly encourage them to
do something and stay focused on the
task while you walk away. Start with
one minute at first and build up the time
slowly. This task could be playdough,
Lego, colouring, painting, drawing.
Use your family meal times as
opportunities for talking and listening
learning opportunities. Our children need
to learn the skill of waiting your turn to
speak so you can play conversational
games to help them learn this skill. School
is full of talking and listening opportunities
and it is beneficial for your child to have
the basics before starting school.
You can also begin to develop
appropriate social skills with your
child: taking turns, sharing toys and
books, waiting your turn, packing things
up, putting toys away, being helpful and
helping the adults at home with simple
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