How can I best prepare my lad for starting school this year?

Question

Thing is, I never went to pre-school / nursery (there wasn't one in the area I grew up in) and it seems like this has held me back. I was awkward at school and never did well academically. I would like my son to have more opportunity that I did. (And yes, I am aware that it is possible to go too far the other way!)

He's gone to part-time pre-school for 15 months but has just broke up for the summer. This has helped him in that he has learned to interact with other children in a (generally) positive manner.

He has also learnt to eat (mostly) by himself. We are working on getting him to drink by himself and writing his first name on a board. He is attending summer school karate classes (had his first one with his friend yesterday - he loved it!) and we have a kick around in the park at weekends. My wife and I have taught him ten basic colours, eight shapes, the alphabet (phonically), numbers up to 20.

Any suggestions gratefully received :-)

Answer 1

Give him fun little activities to do. Walmart has a lot of books and educational games that are fun and inviting. Also you can go online and look for a reference guide of the things that kids in his grade should know before and after the year is over.

Answer 2

I think firstly don't beat yourself up for what you have or haven't been able to do - or had access to. It sounds like you have done a wonderful job in preparation so far.  Mother ( and father) guilt is alive and kicking - forcing parents to enrol their little darlings into music, sporting, cultural, artistic and dramatic lessons - just so that they don't 'fall behind'. Things like sorting, patterns, classifying ( ie this is a square and this is a circle) , comparing, and working on shapes are all good things to start doing with your aged child. Basic number recognition and counting out loud can be incorporated into everyday life as you look at signs and labels in your everyday environment. You are doing great with offering him opportunities to interact with kids in different environments - so if its something he loves - keep up the encouragement.

It sounds like you have more than prepared him for what they will be doing at school - it will mostly be play based - incorporating what you have already done with him - so it will be a wonderful integration for him.

But honestly.. the most wonderful gift you can share with your child is the love of learning. be curious, ask questions, learn alongside your child - find a subject they are interested in ( dinosaurs tend to be top in this age group - but can be anything - space travel, pirates, bees anything...) and demonstrate how to research and think about the subject... ie.

ask questions - what do we know about this subject - you act as scribe and get your lad to draw or use clay or play-do to model the answer.

ask the question - why do we want to know more? ( this is your motivation for learning)

who would know about this subject? ( or be good at it etc) - this will find some experts in the field. ( people you can look up in books or Internet)

oh - and the Internet - my 3 year old knows that answers can be found there - so if I don't know it - she tells me to go there...!! Obviously care needs to be taken with unsupervised Internet usage etc....

where can we find some info from - let your lad answer this ( hopefully he will say books or the Internet - or TV docos or the library)

then go to those places and help him discover how to find this info.

collate your findings into some sort of chart/ book/artwork and  leave it up in your living room - adding to it with new pieces.

With information changing so quickly - it is the ability to find it - not in knowing it that is valuable. The first step in this - is instilling the love, the drive to want to learn and find out stuff. oh - and have fun and don't stress... it all evens out after 6 months at school ( i.e kids who have been in care/preschool for yonks and those who didn't) as long as he has supportive loving  family who is willing to listen and love him for who he is and celebrates each step....

Answer 3

Sounds like you're doing a great job. If he can spell his name quite well that is more advanced than he needs to be to go into school. The only other thing i would say is to take him to parks or play areas where he can go off on his own and play with kids he doesn't know. If he is confident in talking to others, can eat and drink and mostly dress himself, count to 10 and tell people his name and age he is just at the right level for school, if you add writing his own name to this he is doing well.

Answer 4

Well done you for wanting to help your son get the most from his education. It sounds like he is quite advanced academically going into school if he knows the letter sounds and can write his name. A lot of children can't do that. You don't say how old your son is. Is he going into Reception? Things like letter sounds will help him enormously, but he will go over them again at school. Skills that will benefit him the most are things such as getting himself dressed and undressed. Can he do up buttons? Can he do the fasteners on his shoes? You might not think anything of quickly tying his laces, but if the teacher has 30 pairs of laces to do up getting changed from PE is going to take the class a long time, and they're going to miss out on other things. Can he put on his coat and zip it up if it's cold? Can he cut along lines with scissors. There's often a lot of 'cutting and sticking' activities done in Reception, so being able to cut along lines and use a Pritt stick effectively is very useful. He will start to bring simple reading books home fairly quickly. Can he hold a book the right way up and turn the pages. Can he 'tell' you the story by looking at the pictures? Can he point to a 'word' and point to a 'picture?' These pre-reading skills will ensure he is ready to actually learn to read. Can he take turns during activities like playing simple board/card games? A lot of learning in the early years is done through games, and being able to wait his turn will benefit him enormously. Can he play a simple game without getting bored halfway through and going to do something else? Games for little ones at school won't last very long but the children will be expected to stay and finish them so make sure he is in the habit of finishing games. Having a decent attention span is the biggest thing that will help him to progress well at school. If he can listen attentively, or join in with a game and concentrate on it, then he will do well. If he flits from one thing to another then he may miss out on vital information. Make sure that he can sit and listen while you read to him, for example. Teachers do value independence in children, but the practicalities of a classroom mean that children do sometimes have to do as they are told. Make sure that when he is asked to do something by you that he does it. He will have a much happier time at school if he can get along with the teacher and isn't always refusing to do as he/she asks him to. Good luck, and hopefully he will love school when he starts.

Answer 5

I'm glad to see you have put your son in Head-Start (pre-school). This begins early socialization and learning. Children who are equipped and adept socially have a better grasp of all things surrounding them,you have also enrolled him in a Sport, Karate, Sports are in my opinion imperative for the physical aspect that goes hand in hand with the mental academic of learning.He is learning Team Work,Social Networking,Life-Skills,Structure and FOCUS that will stay with him from here on out,a healthy body is a healthy mind. From what I hear, you are doing things correctly with your son, keep working with him in ALL areas(academic,mental,physical and emotional) and other things will fall into place, keep him focused, you are preparing him well...you are obviously an involved parent and that is 90% of the battle.Keep it up and your son will be just fine~~Aloha and Blessings~~

Answer 6

think most things have been covered here, as a foundation stage teacher we expect to have a wide range of issues at the start of the school year but one thing we are gratful for is if a child can go to the toilet and wash their hands unaided, although toilet time is always supervised little people need to `go` lots of time during the day and having to use a member of staff every time is a pain! so if you can get that sorted over the summer that would be helpful im sure

Answer 7

He'll be going into reception in September, i take it.  They are supposed to follow the same sort of idea as a pre school, where the children are still learning through play.  It sounds to me as though he will be pretty much ready.  If he has been to a local pre school hopefully some of the other children will also be going to the same school, so he won't feel alone.  You'll be surprised at how quickly they actually start learning from here.  If you want to do something though, when my son started in reception their first reading books were ones with no writing, just pictures, the idea is to get the child to tell you a story from what they can see.  This gives them the understanding about how stories are made up.  You could try it at home before he satrts school.

Answer 8

it sounds as if you have done a good job already preparing him for school, however just a few suggestions of activities you may like to do if you have not already: Cutting and sticking, mixing, try making playdough with him, measuring things, for instance can you find three long things and three short things and put them in order, water and sand play is a good way of learning mathematical language for capacity and measure also.

Engage in shared sustained thinking with your son by involving your self in his play and asking him to explain his reasoning and ask him questions such as why do you think...

If yo know of any other children near by at around the same age try asking them over to play so that your son continues to mix with other children in the summer. Most of all, be relaxed about him starting school, do not be anxious as he will detect it and think there is something to be nervous about. Read books to him about starting school, oyu can get lots of these aty the library or on line, so he knows what to expect. Talk to him about the kinds of activities he will do such as sitting on the carpet for register and news time, hanging his coat on a peg, playtime, lunch time, role play, small world and story play, letter and number learning, etc,

It is a great time in children's lives and you will no doubt feel much more relaxed when the time comes so enjoy the summer before it passes. Best of luck to the three of you.