My DS is turning 4 in August and starts reception in September. I'm a first time mum with no experience of young children and no real mum friends (trying to get some)! It's tricky to know if I'm parenting him alright sometimes, and I want to make sure we are both ready for his next step.
So please can you help me work out where my son is in terms of being prepared for school starting in September? What does he need to know / learn before Sept to make things easier? What can I do to help prepare him?
Here's a checklist of where we are currently:
- he recognises the first letter of his name but can't read the full name or other words yet
- enjoys scribbling and attempting to draw his letter but it's just scribbles
- can count to 10 and probably beyond but gets bored / trails off after about 12!
- cannot tell time or understand time much at all
- potty trained and very comfortable, no accidents
- that said, he refuses to wear underpants and goes commando! This is because we used the Oh Crap method of potty training where they go commando for a short while afterwards, however he never wanted to try the pants once we were past that stage. This has gone on for 9 months now! I've tried buying cool ones with cartoon characters on, boxer shorts and briefs to no avail. Don't want to pressure him or turn it into a big thing but what would you do? Has any other child ever done this ever??!
- fussy eater. Can eat with fork, use knife etc.
- can be clingy at nursery drop off
- can get himself dressed although his shoes often end up on the wrong feet
- can get himself undressed mostly - hasn't learnt how to take off t-shirts and jumpers.