School readiness: How to prepare your child for school

These “ready for school” activities can be done in your everyday routine

When it’s time for a child to go to school, there are lots of practical things to think about, like uniform, the school run and after-school care. You can also help your child build important skills for school readiness, which will make it easier for them to adjust to the new environment.

Children learn best when they are interested and motivated. Stop the activity when your child loses interest. You want your child to stay excited about these activities and want more.

Doing the chores

◘ Responsibility

Giving children tasks of their own to complete gives them a sense of responsibility and a sense that they are skilled and trusted. Setting expectations for young children to help with household chores provides a framework for greater responsibility.

Wash the car or bike: give your child a sponge and a bucket of warm, soapy water to wash his/her tricycle, bike or your car. Then give him/her some clean water from a hose to wash off the soapy water.

Variation: if you are up for the spills, put a small plastic container of water on the kitchen floor with a sponge so your child can wipe your kitchen cabinets or chair legs and give him/her a towel to dry them too.

We are learning responsibility, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, and task completion.

◘ Reading

Children begin to recognise letters and words through repetition and picture association.

Putting away the shopping: when you put it away, ask your child to take all the non-glass items out of the shopping bags. Have her/him sort the canned or boxed food according to food groups, such as different kinds of vegetables, fruit, pasta, etc.

Variation: Ask him/her to help select the items at the supermarket. “Can you find the baked beans?” “What letters do you see on the label?”

We are learning: reading, beginning sounds, left-to-right progression, letter and word recognition.

◘ Arithmetic

Children who learn similarities and differences through sorting will be able to create patterns more easily. Sorting by size, matching, classification and colour helps children learn skills for addition and subtraction.

Sorting laundry: when you are folding the laundry, have your child gather all the socks and match them, also sort clean laundry into piles for family members.

Variation: remove sharp objects, such as knives, from the dishwasher rack and place the cutlery tray at child level. Have your child put away the forks, spoons and teaspoons.

We are learning: Arithmetic, classification, size, sorting and accomplishment of tasks.

◘ Writing

Children get excited about learning to write when they use writing or scribbling for a purpose.

Calendar fun: get your child to mark special events on the family or her/his own calendar. When s/he receives a birthday invitation or plans a holiday, let her/him mark on the correct date by drawing a picture, name or letter on that date.

Variation: children can cut out small pictures from magazines to glue on the calendar for birthday parties or holidays. Let her/him place stickers on the calendar to indicate favourite lunches or swimming lesson days.

We are learning: writing, transcribing, and organisational skills.

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These activities are a sample of the advice offered to parents on the “Ready for School” family activity cards compiled by Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ Nursery Group.

www. brighthorizons.co.uk