Preparing young in year child for Foundation

[Allegrogirl]

DD2 will be 4 on 30th August and due to start school a few days later. I could hold her back until January but few if any did this when DD1 started so she may be the only one if I took that option. She goes to nursery near where I work for her 15 hours which is very relaxed and staff are very cuddly with the children. DD loves this as she wants to be babied.

She's still doing scribbling drawings that don't look like much even though she is quite dexterous. Recently started wetting her pants after being dry for ages. She is good and dressing herself. Socially I'm not worried as she is good at making friends.

What are my top priorities for getting her prepared for September?

getting her dry again if pos

I would ask what the Nursery are going to do to help her prepare for school. Being cuddly is not really what is needed at this stage as she is not a toddler any longer. Have they told you anything about what she can do? Have they talked to you about what she needs to be able to do for school? Your DD might want to be babied, but clearly this is not a very good preparation for Reception. She needs to be able to dress herself, follow simple instructions, be able to hold a book, hold a pencil correctly, listen to her teacher, play co-operatively with other children, and obviously quite a lot of other things. What has the nursery told you about her attainments in the early years curriculum because she is nearly half way through it? My DD started school at just over 4 and cuddling was not part of her nursery routine prior to school.

I wouldn't worry about preparing her too much at this stage. She sounds like she will be fine and has got lots of important stuff cracked already like making friends and dressing herself. Keep encouraging her to use the loo as that's a really key skill for reception kids. But she will mature and develop quite a bit over the next few months anyway and they just seem to up their game massively once they start, no matter how young in the year they are. My August born daughter is having a great reception year, despite a lot of family trouble and we didn't do any special preparing.

I would address the babying. While cuddles are great and necessary, at this age the nursery should start encouraging independence.

What is the nursery doing in terms of "preparations"? I don't mean read and write but taking turns in games, waiting, concentration, letter and number recognition? That are skills which will help in school, especially as the ratio moves from 1 teacher to 8 children to 1 teacher and one TA to 30.

Try to tackle the wetting.

I found this interesting. The teacher who wrote it wasn't so fussed about the academic skills but very hot on independence.

Okay - I would want to know why she is wetting herself as a top priority. Is it: anxiety, too busy, afraid to ask, or an infection?
Can she dress in school clothes (buttons, laces maybe, tie, whatever)?
Can she make simple choices? Which sandwich to have in a cafe?
Ask nursery what she may need to work on.

Are you having settling in visits at school soon? If so ask the teacher's there.

Don't worry about "mark making" or reading or counting. Just continue as you are, and keep reading to her. Taking her to busy playgrounds can be a good idea too (or even the dreaded softplay).