The big transition – getting your child school-ready

Making the move from childcare to school is a big step for both children and parents. However, with the right preparation, a strong early learning curriculum and support from childcare educators, you can help ensure the experience is positive and fun for everyone.

In this blog we share some tips for parents and children to get ready for this big transition from childcare to school.

• Recognise the change.  As school days near, it is not uncommon for children (and parents!) to feel nervous or unsure. It is important to normalise these feelings and focus attention on the positives – like growing up, making new friends, and learning new things. Don’t bury the anxiety in your hearts.
• Support the development of social-emotional skills. Emotionally intelligent children can self-regulate and more easily build other important skills. As part of transitioning to school, educators and parents must collaborate to support a child’s emotional development by helping them recognise the emotions they’re feeling, negotiate with other children, and self-regulate in socially acceptable ways.
• Don’t forget the importance of play. It’s the primary way for children to learn and they must be encouraged to explore through play – indoors and outdoors, with all sorts of (safe) materials and toys. Let them play dress-ups, ask open-ended questions to encourage storytelling and introduce new words as they express themselves to you – it’s all part of play.
• Introduce numeracy and literacy. Reading books to your child promotes literacy skills and a love of learning. Books are a fun way to develop vocabulary, knowledge, creativity, concentration, empathy and imagination. Numeracy skills can be developed by counting, sorting items into larger or smaller, measuring ingredients during cooking, or dividing food into equal shares.At Nature’s Point we introduce numeracy and literacy in an age-appropriate manner and always led by the child’s interests. Our Transition to School dials up and formalises this programme, introducing alphabets, name writing and recognition, etc.
• School familiarisation. Consistency builds confidence. Children feel secure when they know what to expect, so use preschool years to gently introduce the idea of school and the environment, behaviours and routines they’ll encounter.Take your child to the school. Let them dress up for school themselves. At childcare, we foster independence through activities such as getting and putting away their lunch box, introducing name tags, etc. Typically, most children from our childcare go to the same local school, which makes the new environment easier to handle.
• Encourage questions. Encourage your child to ask questions about school to help ease any anxieties they may have and help them feel more prepared.

Transitioning to school can be a significant change for both parents and children, but with the right preparation, it can be a positive experience. Remember, being in a childcare already puts you a step ahead of those who have not experienced growing up in an early learning environment.