Many of us are probably familiar with the term “job-ready” when it comes to preparing for employment or a particular type of job, but the same term can apply to young children. It’s a huge step in a child’s life to go from being at home to taking on a school career spanning more than a decade, and then possibly university after that. Children need some preparation before being plunged into school life. School is a brand new way of life and can be a little scary for some kids. They need to be “school-ready” to make the transition that much smoother and easy to handle, emotionally and socially.
Arrange Play Dates With Other Children Of the Same Age
One of the more stressful aspects of the first day at school for young children is the social aspect. The child leaves the home environment for the first time and is thrust into a classroom full of strangers. In fact, an entire school of people they don’t know.
One way to make the transition easier is to arrange some play dates with other kids in the area who’ll be going to the same school at the same time as your child. At least this way they’ll already know someone starting school on the same day as them and they’ll start with at least one or more friends to help make them feel more comfortable.
It’s also a very good way for kids to start learning some important social skills before entering a school full of strangers and may even help the child to become more comfortable making new friends once they’re in school.
Do Some Fun Learning Lessons At Home
You don’t have to set up an entire classroom scenario at home, but if you practice a few lessons here and there before they start school, it’ll get your child more used to the upcoming school environment.
Kids at age 4 or 5 just want to have fun, so any home lessons to prepare them for school should be fun as well. It could even be as simple as getting your son or daughter used to sitting at a small table for an hour or two a day and doing some drawing or painting, or very rudimentary mathematics or English. Perhaps even introduce some sort of reward system for every time they answer a question correctly.
An online search on the subject will give you a few ideas of some simple and fun lessons you can give your child.
Talk To Them About School Well Before They Are Due To Attend
The last thing you’ll want to do as a parent is suddenly thrust your child into school life with virtually no prior knowledge of what school is all about or what to expect. Like anything in life, getting them used to the change – and it will be a major change – is important to ensure a smooth transition from home life to school life.
For many parents, by the time their child has reached school age, it’s been quite a while since the parent attended school. Therefore, having someone who is currently going to school explain how it works and what to expect can actually be more effective.
Child Development Programs To Get Children School-Ready
Early childhood development programs exist to assist children in making a smooth transition into school life with the least amount of stress. These establishments are a little different to typical preschool, as the focus is on getting kids school-ready with tailored programs to achieve this outcome.
Child care programs have really come a long way in recent years. Within a child development environment, kids get to learn the basics of rudimentary subjects so they already have an understanding of what’s required once they do enter school.
Early education programs provided early education centres are fully focused on providing a fun curriculum to prepare children for their school years, with basic education, learning important social skills and even discovering things like how to grow vegetables and care for the environment around them.
The idea is to have a well-rounded program that ensures young children are confident and well-equipped for their school lives. It’s all about having some prior experience before taking that next big step.