Do you remember your first day of school? Well, I do. But I'm sure many of you remember your little his first day of school (those who have kids of course), just like my little boy will remember for many years. He probably did not realize how special an event was it. But he was nervous and excited days before he had to go, it seemed like I had to prepare for both, enough of him on the emotional front I guess. Rather than getting ready, I had to prepare for this trip he was about to begin, which would continue for many years to come and make a big part in working on their own personality. I did some thinking earlier on and made a mental checklist of what I needed to do, and helped me quite a bit. So here goes.
1. Mental preparation
Above all, you and your kid both need to be ready for this! First target for yourself:) You need to be prepared for your child is away from you, in the care of others, even if its for a few hours a day, of course, more so, if you're a mom home. You have to understand that he will learn a lot more now, now find more kids and can actually become more mischievous:) Its all a part of the game, sigh, that's what I had to say it. It was not easy, let me tell you.
As your baby, your best start to prepare him / her earlier on so that he gets all excited about going to school. We took our toddler with us as we begin our consideration of the schools (step 2 below). This was some months before he really started to go to school. We keep saying how much fun it would be and how many friends and he would play with them. The first day he was very happy and in fact was not ready to go home after school:)
2. Review
Look around, ask around, find out about good schools in your area. Its great if the school is close to home for many reasons, but that's of course not the only criteria. The school needs to have a good reputation, especially if your a prep school, preschool if you, like where we live. Such schools are stepping stones to the right school to enroll their child in when he is around 4-5 years old. Of course, this will vary from site to site. Visit schools, talk to your principal and check out what a little is in place, that is, their ideas about teaching-learning philosophy, concepts, care, educational facilities and so on. At this age your child should be made to feel comfortable in school, as its first step outside the home without you, especially true for kids with moms home. I selected a good school in the neighborhood where the learning is done with several kinds of fun activities without applying undue pressure on them.
3. Shopping
You do after a short list of items you need to buy and go shopping. It was one of my favorite parts of this entire exercise. Most likely, this would include a school bag, lunch box, a bottle of water / one sipper, crayons and a new clothes safely:) Make sure you check with the professor in charge of the things you need to put in your bag . They might have some tips for sending you such as napkins and a change of clothes / of undergarments for smaller kids. Some schools may provide that assemble kits that include a school bag and some other stuff, so its best to check before you buy.
May be a good idea to take your kid along with you to purchase if he has his own choice of colors for your bag / bottle and so on. And maybe you could buy him / her a toy as a "first day of school gift":)
4. Tags
Make sure you label everything with the name of your kid. Things are likely to get mixed up in school, so labeling is required. The sticky labels make for bags, but for the boxes and bottles of water for lunch, you need to write with permanent markers, then these things would be washed regularly. However, with personal experience, what works best permanent markers is nail polish! (ie no matter if you write with it!)
5. Toilet Training
Oh now the scariest of them all:) I was really worried about this and the still somewhat worried. Although he has grasped everything fairly quickly, my son took a long time to get toilet-trained. We tried for long, but he got trained only about a month before he had to start school and was only in the country that he told us. He used the diapers whenever we went out somewhere. Its best to keep reminding your child to school when he needs to inform his teacher when he wants to go. Also, check when you are hunting from school, what the school policy on this point. Where we live, some schools do not allow the diapers, and some do. Fortunately, the school we chose was not rigid about it. They advised me to send in diapers for the first week, and then out. They were ready to take care of wet accidents, and assured me he would put down in a few days. Its elaboration well as of now, but I have to send a change of clothes.
6. Box lunch / snack
No junk food! Its convenient, sure, but it is unhealthy and if you give it some time, the kid would take it for granted that he'd get such stuff always eat during snack time. So when you give something healthy, he might not eat it. Today, teachers stress healthy snacks too, so what kind of aid.
7. School work
Make it a practice to check your child's bag when you pull out your lunch box after school. Often the work of the school your child that day (his drawings etc) on it and / or a note from a teacher. This is most applicable to preschool kids I think. It will be very encouraging for the child if you appreciate the work he has done at school and also a good idea to keep your all works carefully. The system will serve as good memories later:)
8. Talk after school
After school, spend time with your child and ask him / her what he did at school and heard a whole list of things he will say. Its fun, is not it, when just jabber on:) A certain part of it that you can not understand, depending on how old your child, but its more fun though she says you are a part of his life school too.
9. Good word for teachers
Repeatedly, put in a good word for the classroom teacher while talking to your kid. Tell her she is very nice and will take care of it and he should listen to it carefully. Help the teacher.
10. Routine
Last but not least, do not forget to set a routine for your kid. He should sleep early and rise early. Try to set daily routine before he starts going to school so its easier for the child to adjust.
Bindiya Abbey is home mom, spending time in articles and the operation of writing a small business online, while taking care of your child of 2.5 years. She has worked for over 8 years in advance information technology.
Your business website has a great selection and a wide range of unique personalized gifts for all types of occasions. This website is primarily for UK residents.
Monday, November 23, 2009
