Aside from the orientation procedures that your child’s primary school conducts, “remind” your child about him or her having to attend a new educational institution in January.

At the end of the first day of school, you might see some Primary 1 pupils with tears streaming down their cheeks as they step out of the school compound. This is probably happening because they were not prepared for this new environment. Any child can feel emotional when he or she is overwhelmed with that much uncertainty. This December, you can focus on reducing any anxiety triggers or fears of the unknown for your child.

So, what can you do apart from mentioning to your child that he or she is going to a new school?

• Get excited:

  Children feed off the energy of those around them. To excite your child about this change, speak about your child’s upcoming primary school education with excitement in your voice. With such positivity, your child will look upon this change as a fascinating adventure.

• Engage your child in conversation:

  To start, ask your child about his or her thoughts/feelings about entering a new school and acknowledge these concerns. Then, share with your child some positive experiences you had in primary school. These can be experiences such as making new friends or wolfing down delicious canteen food. Hearing about your positive experiences can help your child view entering a new school positively.

• Read picture books about the first day of school with your child:

  To introduce your child to the concept of entering a new school, books are a familiar yet great tool. Some helpful titles include:

Mae's First Day of School by Kate Berube	First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg	School's First Day of School by Adam Rex
Sorry, Grown-ups! You Can't Go to School! by Christina Geist	The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems	First Grade, Here I Come! by Tony Johnston

• Pass by the school compound:

  If you live near your child’s primary school, make a casual family “trip”. Before January comes around, stroll past the school at least two to three times while on your morning/evening walk. Point out to your child the various sections of the school that you can see—classrooms, assembly area, basketball court, etc.

• Put on that school uniform:

  To avoid anxiety triggers, get your child to put on his or her new school uniform. You can say that you wish to take a photo of your child in his/her uniform, or that you want to see if your child’s uniform fits. Bear in mind that 6- to 7-year-old children are creatures of habit. Putting on their school uniform at least twice before going to a new school would help them get used to wearing it.

Routines can help your child get used to how he or she should go about his/her day. With routines,  your child is less likely to be triggered by anxiety. At the age of 6 to 7, they are at the ideal age to learn and stick to routines if it can be followed-through at home.

How can you get started?

• Firstly, have your child prepare the clothes that he or she will wear the next day before going to bed.
  To begin with, select a spot for your child to place his or her clothes to put on the next day. Reinforce this by ensuring that your child does this even if it is their preschool or childcare uniform.
• Secondly, ensure tasks are finished and that you follow through with your given instructions
  If your child has difficulty sticking to a routine, help him or her along initially. For example, if you want to teach your child to always put back his or her toys after playing with them, get your child started by modelling what to do. Once your child has gotten the hang of putting away toys, this will soon become a habit. No matter what the situation, do not make exceptions to your rules (e.g. You think it is late and therefore you feel it is faster to put away your child’s toys yourself).

If your child is self-reliant, he or she can learn to face any challenge bravely. A self-reliant child takes pride in completing his or her goals independently. When your child is able to accomplish this, he or she will realise how to be responsible for himself or herself. With that in mind, your child will then learn to adapt and adjust to the elements in his or her environment.

Independence starts at home

To do this, encourage your child to:

• dress independently
• clean up after himself or herself (i.e. after work or play, as well as learning to keep a tidy bedroom)
• carry his or her own backpack/bag when going out (teaches your child to be responsible for personal belongings)
• check that necessary items for an outing (e.g. water bottle, tissue packets, etc.) have been packed in his or her schoolbag

When entering primary school, one of the newest changes for your child is having to manage an allowance. In addition to learning how to save and spend wisely, your child’s numeracy skills will also improve when learning about money management.

How much should I give to my child for his or her allowance?

If you are unsure about how much to give your child, consider giving just a little more than the cost of a school meal. This will help to introduce the concept of saving to your child. To start, set up a coin bank at home so that your child can deposit the remaining amount of his/her daily or weekly allowance. After some time, show your child that the money saved can be used to buy snacks or something special.

What can I do this December?

• When going out, give your child an allowance so that he or she can “buy” his or her own meals or snacks.
  With an allowance, your child will learn to count money and also budget what can be purchased based on the amount of money in hand. For example, if he or she is planning to buy a snack later, he or she cannot spend too much of this allowance at lunch.
• To raise the stakes, get your child involved in the family’s spending.
  Learning the value of money starts with the family. For example, if you are buying Christmas presents, inform your child about the budget so that he or she can take part in the buying process. Your child can help to select presents that fit into the budget. When you allow your child to be involved in family monetary decisions, he or she will feel more interested in the concept of budgeting and spending. This helps him/her incorporate this value into his/her daily life.

In preschool, your child should have learned some essential literacy skills (like reading and writing). He or she should also have acquired some numeracy skills (like learning to count, identifying numbers, and comparing and manipulating quantities). To settle into Primary 1 comfortably, your child should also be able to read and follow written instructions.

To help you gain a better understanding of the requirements in Primary 1, we’ve collated a list of skills that your child will need to sharpen in the school year.

• For Literacy Skills, your Primary 1 child should know how to:
  • spot and fix simple spelling mistakes
  • know the difference between singular and plural form
  • identify and fix mistakes in conjunctions
  • rearrange words to form a grammatically correct sentence

• For Numeracy Skills, your Primary 1 child should know how to:
  • read the time on an analog clock
  • tell the time using terms like “o’clock” and “half-past”
  • use words to write down the time
  • identify shapes in real-world objects
  • count the number of sides of various shapes

Should your child be struggling with this, you may wish to provide some additional educational support for him or her.

Start your child’s learning journey right with LiteracyPlus

LiteracyPlus’ Enhancing English Language Skills (EELS) programme can help build a strong English foundation for your child. In our programme, our Primary 1s build content knowledge about the world, learn to read for understanding, and to write confidently so that they can take on the challenges in primary school bravely. To find out how LiteracyPlus can give your child the skills and confidence he/she needs to be successful in Primary 1, click here.

Register for our Term 1 2021 programme today!

If you have any questions about our programmes, contact us by filling up our contact form or using one of the contact points below and we will be happy to assist you.

Email: enquiries@literacyplus.com.sg

Whatsapp: 9612 8696

Phone: 6777 2468