Read MNers tips for supporting your children when starting primary school

[EllieMumsnet]

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Starting primary school is a major milestone for your child, and making that jump from nursery school to primary school isn’t always easy. From making new friends to getting used to the school routine, the changes your child has to adapt to can spark both excitement and anxiety. With this in mind, Tiny Popwant to hear from you about the ways you will make or have made the transition to starting school as smooth as possible.

Here’s what Tiny Pop have to say: “Here at Tiny Pop we recognise what an exciting, yet scary, emotional and challenging time it can be when one of your little ones starts their primary school journey. We think it’s the perfect time for parents to come together and join forces to share the best tips and tricks to support little ones and the wider family as this big change takes place. Tiny Pop is here for you to support you in your new hectic routines whether it’s 10 minutes in front of Super Wings in our Wakey, Wakey segment whilst mums and dads get dressed or some much needed down time at the end of a busy day for Yeti Tales in Cuddle Time on Tiny Pop. We are here for you with old friends and new!”

What are your top tips in preparing your child for starting school? How do you make sure your child gets enough sleep with all the excitement and anxiety in the days and weeks leading up to starting school? Maybe you’ve got a special way to relax and calm them down, or maybe you’ve got some lunchbox and uniform hacks to keep the morning school-run as stress-free as possible?

All who share their tips for supporting their little ones when starting school for the first time will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 vouchers (from a list).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Make it the norm, give them love, attention and guidence

5 Children finally gone into and throught the School system. All very different personalities. We just talk about it as an exciting process, lots of starting school books during the Summer holidays and lots of involvement buying uniform!! My girls love shoes so School shoe shopping has gone down a treat!!

Gradually introduce all of the new elements of school life in passing, so that nothing comes as a shock. I made sure that I chatted with my son about everything ahead of time - colour of socks, route to school, after school routine - so that when it happened it didn't feel like a sudden sensory avalanche.

dont make plans for after school as they will be tired

I think building up their confidence is such an important thing to do so that they can be comfortable and confident starting a new scary experience like that. I think starting a playgroup or a nursery which is attached or associated with the school is a fantastic idea because it allows them to make friends with other kids who are probably going to start at the same time as them so at least they know people.

Always talk positively about school in front of your children. If you secretly think 'they're going to struggle/they don't like lunches/they don't like going in, etc etc' keep those conversations for when little ears are not around. Being relaxed and only speaking positively about school in front of the children means they won't pick up on any negativity.

Keep it low key... We attended pre school clubs which gave her confidence...

Try to join up with another friend they were previously at nursery or playgroup with on the first day so that they have a pal to walk in with.

With my DC, I was working full time and on my own so he had to just get on with it. We talked about his day when I got home, but other than that we didn't hype it up or make a big thing about it.

Totally agree with the earlier post. Not to make it such a big thing then kids will just accept and adapt the change.

Olivia loved her first day at school. I'd told her about mine when I met a friend outside the school who became a friend for life. We went through infants, juniors, secondary school & even worked in the same bank until I retired on ill health grounds. We're still best friends 55 years later.

Make sure they know well in advance and are well adjusted in time!

Just been through this (for the last time ever !), never gets easier. We just make a big effort to re-assure and not say "Don't be worried/nervous" but "It's OK to be Nervouse, but everything will be fine". Trying to make a clean break rather than having them cling-on was a winner for us.

Read books with them such as Janet and Allan Ahlberg's "Starting School"

not to make a big fuss or it. Tell them how fun it will be and how exciting it will be to make lots of new friends.

Ask them about their day when they arrive home and listen to their stories no matter how trivial they seem. Help them with their homework, even if they are grumpy and tired, be patient. Help them get into a decent bedtime routine so they are prepared for the mornings.

Lots of encouragement and reassurance, and talking about the day after they come home.

Talked about it, tried to make it exciting

Emphasis on being a big boy now going to big boys school

DS was fortunate as he already knew a lot of the children from playgroup, so I focussed on this aswell

A week before my son started i started talking about how exciting school was going to be and all the fun activities he'd get up. I made sure he knew that he had a new rucksack and drinks bottle which excited him too.

We have a rule in our house - to talk about everything. We find it works really well. We talk over our evening meal, sitting around the table (no phones or tablets allowed!) and sometimes, my hubby and I will be chattting away so my daughter wants to have her say too so we find out if thre's anything bothering her or how she's coping.

I was more nervous than dd!
We talked up to day she started & treated it like an adventure
Made sure everything was ready, uniform etc the week before

As a trustee of my daughter's pre-school we arranged a little party at the primary school the week before school started (during summer holidays) specifically for the children starting that year. It gave children who didn't attend our pre-school to mix with ones that did and also got all the children familiar with the school (and a couple of the teachers).

It was probably a bigger deal for me than for them, however as a working parent they have become used to nursery, and play groups as well as after school clubs and holiday clubs. This I think helped, although it was still scary starting ‘big school’. They had taster days and met their teachers before the September start and new what the school was like inside which again removed some of the uncertainty.

We get ourselves into a routine with time set aside to talk about their day, and allow some time to read their school book. It's all about making the experience fun and exciting

Encourage them as much as I can