Our Top Tips for Starting School
With the new school term just around the corner we thought it would be an ideal opportunity to share our top tips on helping those of you with kids who are starting school for the first time.
Starting school is such an exciting time but can be very daunting too, for kids and adults alike. There’s a wealth of information out there about the practical aspects of preparing for school, such as kids being able to recognise their own name, being able to count to 20 etc, but we wanted to touch upon some of the social and emotional elements as well.
There’s no getting away from the fact that starting school is a huge thing, both for you and your children. We remember when ours started, we were nervous wrecks! However, we tried really hard not to show this and did many of the things we talk about below. So here goes, our top five tips to help the transition to school go smoothly.
1. Have a school run rehearsal - one morning before school starts have a practice run. Get them to put their uniform on and then go on a school run. This will not only give your kids the opportunity to become familiar with their new routine but will also provide a perfect talking point for them to open up about how they are feeling about starting school. If you find your child isn’t keen on talking about it, then why not make up a light-hearted story with them about a character starting school. We have a ‘first day at school’ plot card in our fairy tale story Jar, plus a wealth of different characters you could use.
2. Kids pick up on stress so whilst it will be a nerve-wracking time for you as a parent, try to be relaxed in front of them. If you find your child is suffering with nerves then try to explain that the feelings they’re experiencing are actually excitement rather than nerves. When our kids are in situations where they feel nervous about something we always try to turn the nerves into positives. We’ve found that getting them to repeat the mantra ‘I’m excited, I’m excited’ really helps to divert their attention away from the nerves.
3. Emphasise the fact that starting school is a wonderful opportunity to make new friends. We know for a lot of parents the thought of their child not making any friends and being alone at lunchtime is a big worry. With that in mind we’ve created our ‘lunchbox notes’ - a free downloadable that provides a great way for kids to begin talking to each other and making new friends. There’s also space for you to leave them a little note if you wish. To download the free printable, please click here.
4. Helping them with their confidence in doing practical tasks, such as getting dressed and undressed for PE, should help alleviate any nerves they may have so plan plenty of practice before they start. We also found that putting half a smiley face in our son’s shoe and then the other half in the other shoe helped him to know which foot to put each shoe on too. Labelling everything helps so much too. If you haven’t heard of them, then check out Stamptastic, they do the most amazing name stamps that use permanent ink – no sewing or ironing labels, hooray!
5. Finally, a really important element is to find ways to help your kids feel close to you once they start school. This could be done by spraying some of your regular perfume onto a section of their clothes or by drawing a little heart on the inside of their hand. You then draw the same heart on your hand and both of you press it whenever you need a hug from them. There are also some lovely bits out there from small businesses that can help with the transition and we’ve linked some below for you.
As always, we’d love to hear from anyone who has any other tips that could help fellow parents. Please leave a comment below or send us a message with your suggestions and we’ll share them on our social media channels. We’d also love to know if you use the lunchbox notes, don’t forget to tag us in your photos using the hashtag #magicalstoryjars.
By the very fact that you’re here reading this blog means we know that with your expert support and cheerleading, your kids are going to successfully start school with a spring in their step. Have fun and enjoy the next chapter folks!
Beth and Co x