Getting Your Child Ready for School

It won’t be long until school starts. Time for mom or dad to put on a brave face and assure his or her child things will be just fine. It doesn’t matter if your child is starting preschool or kindergarten, there is still time to help your child gain some valuable skills. Work on building your child’s confidence by teaching independence, and problem solving skills. Some children may not know what to do if they have a problem, so build those skills. Talk to your child about what he can do if he wants help or needs to use the bathroom. Discuss how it looks when you are listening to the teacher. Teach him to put his eyes on the teacher, use his ears to hear, sit still, keeping hand to self and to sit without talking when the teacher is teaching the group.
Increase your child's independence by making sure he can handle self help skills such as dressing and toileting himself. Let him practice buckling belts, fastening shoes, snapping snaps, and buttoning buttons. If you know other children who will be in your son or daughter’s class, it might help to have a playdate before school starts. It always helps to go through new situations with a friend.
Be sure to attend any orientations to help you and your child learn about his or her new school. When people know what to expect, they feel more comfortable. The same thing is true for children. The more you know about what is happening in school, the more you can help your child.
Children who demonstrate confidence, independence, and problem solving skills are generally well liked and successful in school. When children can take care of small day to day matters, they gain confidence to tackle the harder tasks and are less likely to have problems with bullies.

If you have other tips for parents, about ways to help young children have a successful first week of school, please share them in the comment section.

If you live in the Greencastle- Antrim area, you can sign up for Ready, Set, Kindergarten!—A Special storytime for children entering kindergarten (10:00-11:00 a.m.) on Wednesday, August 20 at Besore Library.