Getting your child ready for their first day at school!
January 2024 in Meet Your Neighbours
If you've found yourself wondering how to prepare your child for the first day of school, you wouldn't be alone. But it doesn't have to be a time of stress and anxiety. With a bit of preparation, you and your child will be ready to start school with confidence, ease and excitement.
Here are our top tips for making it a memorable experience – for all the right reasons!
In the weeks before starting school, it’s good for your child to get familiar with the school environment. This includes routines and rules as well as the classroom, playground, toilets, drinking fountains and so on.
If your child is at a preschool or early childhood centre with a school transition program, try to make sure your child is at preschool on the days the children visit ‘big school’. If your child isn’t at preschool, visit the school yourselves, or see whether the school runs its own transition program.
Explore the school grounds with your child on the weekends if you can. Visit the school and meet your child’s teacher if you can.
Let your child know that teachers are there to help. Ask them if they have any questions for the teacher and encourage them to ask questions themselves.
Show your child where the after-school care service is located, if you’re planning on using it. Make sure your child knows where you’ll be picking them up.
Explain the basic school rules and why rules are important. For example, ‘If you want to go to the toilet you need to ask. Otherwise the teacher won’t know where you are’.