Starting out at school needn’t mean tears
Even if your child has been at nursery or playgroup for a while, the leap to ‘Big School’ can feel like a challenge for both of you.
To help allay any anxieties (or downright panics!) you might have, we’ve pulled together some great advice from Mumsnet which should help make the transition as painless as possible.
You can talk to other parents on Mumsnet’s primary school forum and/or their behaviour and development forum.
And if you’re indecently happy about the prospect of a few child-free hours a day, you can share your happiness there, too.
Tell your child what to expect from school but don’t oversell it. Most children like school and find it fun, but talking about how fantastic it is and how they’ll always have lots of lovely children to play with will not stand them in good stead when some horrid kid pushes them out of the way to grab the last princess/pirate dressingup costume.
Be positive, but also warn them gently that they may get tired and if they have any problems or feel sad they should tell their teacher.
Run through the school routine. If you’ve been collecting your child from a playgroup at lunchtime, tell them that now they’re more grown-up they’ll be staying at school with the other children for the afternoon.
This can be a shock for some children who may get tired and tearful after lunch. You can reassure them that lots of children feel tired – and remind them of this when they refuse to go to bed at night.
As for the learning-things bit, do say they’ll do lots of games to help them learn. You should be aware that some children will get upset that other kids in their class can read and they can’t. Encourage lots of reading time at home, and visits to the library.
For lots of tips and advice visit Mumsnet.com