Starting School- a month in...

Your child is now a month into Reception. I’m guessing that they are reasonably happy being dropped off in the morning, that they have started talking about children that they play with and they mention how their teacher likes things done - a lot. I’m also guessing that at home they may be cranky, overtired and, at times, tearful.

It’s pretty tough being a parent of a child who is starting school. First comes the worry of how your child will get on and then later comes the thoughts about whether your child will get used to the weeks and months of school ahead of them. Starting school may be one of the biggest life changes that your four or five year old has been through. Even for children who attended nursery full time, school is quite different. The levels of concentration required are high. The expectations upon children are many and varied. As a parent or carer, you are their emotional back up and it’s you who gets all the worst bits, for a while anyway.

Here are my top five suggestions for making life a little easier for you child and you!

1. Stick to routines that make your child feel safe and secure. When so much has changed, predictability feels good. Children are mentally and physically tired and sleep is 90% of the solution. If you have a fractious child, getting them to bed on time also saves your sanity. On particularly tired days, Little Lady’s bedtime came forward 15 min which kept everyone happy.

2. Hold back on after-school activities for now. At my school, we don’t run any clubs in the first two terms of Reception. Parents ask for them and sometimes seem a bit put out that there aren’t any. However, we know that the school day is long enough for our youngest children who are adjusting to full time school. Clubs and activities are important, but you will know when it’s the right time.

3. Weekends are for cuddles and playing. This is your child’s down time. Playing with new children at school requires negotiation and co-operation. Sometimes it’s nice just to play with your own things without all the social complications. As a family, our favourite thing about weekends is not having to rush out of the house at an early hour. Getting to hang around in pyjamas at weekends feels very relaxing.

4. Half term is proper rest time. Weekends provide partial recharging, but half term is going to be a full recharge. As tempting as it maybe to book a holiday and go away, your child probably won’t thank you. After a rest comes the realisation that they have to go back to school again and this time mornings will be darker and colder. I hadn’t anticipated how hard this would be for my daughter. There are two things that I wish I’d done. Firstly, I wish we had made something for the teacher so that Little Lady was keen to see her teacher on the first day back and hand over the precious card, model, scrap of paper etc… Secondly, having a new school friend over to play during half term would have cemented fledging friendships and made a positive link with school.

5. Read school stories together. My all time favourite book for this is ‘Starting School’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It’s also available as a read along story on YouTube. These stories will help your child make sense of all the changes that have happened to them. They will see how children in stories cope and, as a bonus, they may even tell you some details about their own school days.

Hang on in there! Children are incredibly adaptable and with lots of cuddles and reassurance they will soon be taking school in their stride.