What an exciting time! The big day is almost here! Your child will soon be joining the big boys and girls in school, starting their wonderful learning journey and making friends on their way. I’m sure you must both be feeling anxious, a little nervous, maybe a tad bewildered, but hey, don’t fret! All this is absolutely normal and expected. Read on for some top tops on how to make your child cross this milestone as smooth as butter.
Top Tip 1: Talk to your child and prepare them for what they will be doing. If they have older brothers or sisters, who already go to school, prepping them will be easier as it will not be a foreign idea to them. If this is your first child, then give them as much detail as you can, try to get them excited and to look forward to the big day.
Top Tip 2: Talking is great, but a visual is even better. Use a visual aid like ‘My School Book’ from CBeebies or any others you can easily find by doing a simple online search. This will expose your child to images they will encounter on their first day at school, bringing your words to life. The whole process may trigger questions, be sure to answer them all, as best you can.
Top Tip 3: If the school your child will be attending has a school uniform, have your little one wear it around the house prior to the start date of school, so they can get used to it.
Top Tip 4: Label all your child’s belongings. Have them choose which lunchbox they like, bag e.t.c. so that they can recognise their belongings easier. Point things out to them and show them where their name is. It should be visible both to them and their teachers.
Top Tip 5: Start getting your child up early and ready within a certain time frame, which will mirror your daily getting up routine once school starts, at least a week before school starts. Even if you have nowhere to go on that particular day, try to get them used to being ready “on time’. This will help you greatly once school starts.
Top Tip 6: Now, this is the last and most probably the hardest one, yet. So you have done everything to the t, and there you are on that special first day about to leave your little darling, and there are tears, cries and shrieks. You feel your heart breaking into a million little pieces and you have second thoughts about leaving your child at school, maybe they are not ready, mYBE you didn’t explain it enough the them, maybe tomorrow will be a better day; you are so close to picking them up and taking them home, whatever you do…that is something you must NOT do! Give them a hug, a kiss, reassure them you will be there to pick them up at the end of the school day and go. Your child will be fine, trust the teacher to do his/her job, to look after your little one for the rest of the day and for many more to come. Do not linger, the sooner you leave, the sooner your child will start their new life venture into structured learning, where the sky is the limit and the whole world at their feet.
You must be one proud parent!
I wish you and your little one a great school year!
Till next time…
Please leave a comment below if you have any other Top Tips for us.
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Saved You a Spot 
Great advice, Peppi. I agree with each one. It is also great, if possible, to visit the school, meet some of the teachers and other staff members, and have a look around the school grounds. Many schools have orientation days, or other special occasions on which this can occur.
Adding labels to each and every item, including pencils, is important too. For this to be effective, children need to recognise their names. If they are not yet confidently identifying their name, a picture added to the label can help the children to identify their possessions. This is also important when there is more than one child in the class with the same name. 🙂
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Great additions! I neglected to mention orientation day, it is extremely important, you are absolutely right. Picture labels, yes!! Of course! Thank you so much for your input, I may just add those to it the post to complete it.
I really appreciate your critical insight. Thank you again. 💖💖💖
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My pleasure, Peppi. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Sharing and building on ideas. 🙂
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Absolutely! 💝
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My family is going to be moving to a new state later this month and I want to enroll my children in a private school once we get settled in. I found it helpful when you talked about how it is a good idea to try to get your child to be excited about going to school. If my children are excited about going to school they might have an easier time making new friends.
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I found your tip useful when you told us to start getting our children up early and ready within a certain time frame to get them used to getting ready for school on time. My son is four this year, so I need him to be ready to attend preschool this September. I’ll keep this in mind while I look for nearby preschools to consider enrolling my son in soon.
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