Getting ready for school - our top tips

Do you have a little one to get ready for school? Last year was Freddy’s first year of primary school. For us here in QLD that means starting Prep. It wasn’t until we started that I truly got a sense of how big the jump from kindergarten/day-care to school really was. So here are some things to think about before school starts.

Here are some things to think about when getting your little one ready for school

Pencil grip

If your little one doesn’t have this nailed, don’t stress too much as the teachers are really well placed to help with this. But if you want to give it a try, the larger triangle shaped pencils are great at encouraging proper grip. You can also get pencil grips online which are amazing for helping little ones with finger positioning while they are learning to write.

Scissor skills

Just like pencil grip your little ones will need to have started developing their fine motor skills before they start school. While Freddy’s scissor skills were dodgy at best when he started they have improved so much. I just wish I’d spent more time with him practicing before school as he had to get some help with cutting objects out in the early days when others didn’t need the help. I also think this would have helped his confidence and I could have talked through safety in more detail. Getting old catalogues (the Big W toy catalogue was a huge hit) and magazines and encouraging them to cut objects out is great practice.

Writing and reading their name

Most children will have had plenty of practice reading and writing their own name at kindy or day-care. I know Freddy did as they had to move a name card every morning when they arrived and had a locker with their name. But it is still worth practicing these skills so that your child feels confident in finding their desk, bag locker and equipment during the early days at school. Furthermore most schools want children to be able to write their own name when they start. To practice this skill I used to get Freddy to draw pictures for people and write his name on them. Or write his name on a card when it was someone’s birthday. The more casual I was about it the more I found he wanted to practice.

Lunch Boxes and bags

Practice makes perfect. Make sure you have the lunchbox and school bag early. That way you can spend the summer holidays practicing opening and closing all of the zips and compartments to help your little one be independent. We used the lunchbox all holidays taking it to the park with morning tea and lunch in it so that Freddy felt confident using it without any help once he was at school. Also make sure the lunchbox and bag have an obvious tag on it so your little one can spot their own easily.

Getting all the stuff:

I knew there was a lot of stuff, but it wasn’t until it was all piled on the dining table for me to label, wrap, name etc that I realised just how much there really was. The school provided easy to navigate uniform and booklists and we used their preferred supplier which wasn’t the cheapest but the most convenient. Our school has a set backpack and rules around shoes, so we had to get those too. But then there is the extra stuff, the lunchboxes, water bottles, socks, and name tags etc that we also had to get. It took me a few nights to contact all the books (um totally getting covers this year), iron labels on to uniforms, and make sure everything had names on it so I suggest you don’t leave this until the last minute.
So there you have it. There is lots to keep in mind when your little one starts school, but hopefully our top tips of things to think about will give you a hand.