How to Prepare for the First Days of School?

Happy First Day of School!

Starting school is a big thing 😊 Not only for the kids but also for the parents... Especially if your first kid is having her first school day soon!

Photo: pexels.com

How to prepare for it? And how to prepare your Little One for the first days of school? Honestly, first I thought it will be enough to think about my childhood, how we did it like some 30 years ago... But I also started to speak with parents of elder kids, fellow parents from kindergarten, friends, and even a child psychologist 😅🙈

I googled many articles, read forums, and what is even more important had many discussions with my Daughter 😊

Now I collected and organized a few ideas for you, that can make the preparation fun and the first days easier - for all of you 😊

1. Tips to prepare all of you for the first days in a new school

You can be sure that it will be a big change for your kid to start (a new) school - what we parents tend to forget, is that it is also an important milestone in our life!

How can you make this change smooth and as easy as possible?

Read books about starting school

Besides reading being important in polishing various skills of the kids, there are fantastic books that can help them get closer to school, and help with their anxiety. Finding characters they can relate to, and situations that will be very likely happening (eg. guessing who will sit next to them and so), give them more confidence and definitely make the first days easier.

As for the parent side.😁 When reading one of these books from the first page till the last one one evening, so many pieces of memories came back from my childhood. I felt like 6 again 😆 And besides the nostalgia, it definitely helped me to understand better my Daughter.

Visit the school, and meet the teacher(s) before the first day

Well, this should have been put on the summer bucket list, but it is still not too late to organize a visit! Now as teaching is hopefully back to school as well after Covid lockdowns and homeschooling, it is possible in most cases to visit the institute during its opening hours. You can also try to have a meeting with the future teacher(s), so your Little One will know who to turn to when school finally starts (and you will also be reassured that he/she is in good hands)! Schools sometimes organize get-to-know events as well for future classmates, be sure you do not miss it if you are lucky enough to have this opportunity!

If your kids will be using a school bus, it is also important to consider and discuss a few more issues, like safety... I just came across a great article about it on The Strawberry Fountain blog, make sure to check that too!

Do the school shopping together

School bag. This is the first thing I think that comes to the mind of parents and soon-to-be schoolkids 😊 I thought it will be an easy job to choose one... oh how naive I was 😅 Do you know that there are like 100000 different brands and types and colors? And no matter whom you speak to, everyone will have a clear idea about what is the best option. And these opinions will lead you to totally different kinds of school bags 😅 

The good news is that I am not adding another opinion to the ones you already collected 😁

However what I would suggest is to check with your kids how interested are they in school shopping, and try to involve them at least in the most important decisions. You do the research about the type (of the bag, pencil case, water bottle, lunch box...) and let them choose the color and design, let them arrange the new things you bought together for the new school year. 

These rituals will help you all to prepare mentally for the upcoming school year!

2. Activities that can help your Little One to have an easier start of the school year

Memory games

You can prepare together cards for playing memory games. Just cut cards from paper, make pairs of them, and draw the same picture (eg. same animal) on both cards of each pair - but different ones on the different pairs. Put the cards on the table down, and try to find the pairs 😀

Rhymes and kid songs

Repeating and learning rhymes and kid songs will make learning reading easier. And you can turn to these as well during unexpected waiting times 😊

Painting

To be able to write the letters properly, special motoric skills need to be developed first. You can help your kid make the first days easier, by supporting the development of these skills with activities like painting.

Storytelling

Ask your child to tell a story about a photo, or with some favorite characters. This activity helps a lot with mastering communication skills.

Sensory activities

The spatial orientation skills of the kids can be supported with easy games, that you can simply build into your daily routine. Eg. ask your child to bring you a red ball in the right hand and a yellow one in the left.

3. Do not forget to celebrate this milestone

Take a photo of your kid(s) in front of the school on the first day, and save it in your family photo book 😊

It will be such a great feeling to check these pictures years later!

If you wish to add some info to the picture as well, you can use a "first day of school board" too, like the one below!