Parents! Are you ready for school yet?

As parents we all worry about our child’s first day at ‘big’ school, and yes, compared with nursery, big school is really big, and DIFFERENT, and the reality can be overwhelming and scary for the children. But the whole time the children are with us at Seedlings we’re getting them ready to take this next big step.

Our two top priorities for the children are for them:

• to be independent, and do as much as possible for themselves and by themselves.
• to be able to listen and follow instructions.

So here’s what you can do at home to support us:

• don’t do anything for them that they can do by themselves. So, don’t carry their bags, don’t look for their coats, don’t put on their shoes…
• don’t let them take ages to eat. The school timetable doesn’t allow for this, so if you child is a slow eater, now’s the time to make some changes.

• make sure they can use knives and forks.
• make sure they’re fully toilet trained. They need to be able to wipe their own bottoms, and unless there are medical reasons, to have moved on from pull-ups to pants.
• get better at just saying ‘no’ without lengthy negotiations
• aim for 100% attendance, and to get them there on time each day – school doesn’t wait for children, and time that’s lost from class weakens their understanding of what’s going on and their ability to do well.
• if you are teaching them to write letters, make sure they’re holding their pencil correctly (talk to us about how best to hold it if you’re unsure) and don’t teach capitals except for the initial of their name.
• Take time to listen to them.

Bombard them with new words!

This is the very best thing you can do. The extent of children’s vocabulary when they start school is a predictor of their future educational success. The more words they know and use the better. Think about it – how can you become good at reading if you don’t know the meaning of the words on the page? And if they don’t understand what the teacher is saying, they’ll have difficulty following instructions.

So, talk to your children, and with them, as much as you can, using adult words.