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Tips For Being Better Prepared for Prep
Dr Nadia Leonidou
Starting school can be anxiety provoking for parents and children alike. We want to support your family to make this transition a celebration of new milestones rather than a gut-wrenching battle with separation anxiety. Making a few plans over the summer break can make a big difference. Read on to find out what Highgate Hill Paediatrician
Dr Nadia Leonidou
suggests for a great start to your child’s prep year.
In this article, Growlife Medical
provides some tips on what you can do to be prepared for your child starting school.
Don’t Delay your child’s start to school unless there is a very good reason
Sometimes when the reality of prep is getting close, and you don’t feel your child is quite ready, the tendency is to consider holding the back a year. However, unless your child has a diagnosed developmental delay, it is best to let your child make the leap. Whilst it is widely publicised that older children are (naturally) more likely to be school-ready, there are also benefits in advancing with a peer-group due to social connections that children have already established. So feel confident in your decision, and allow yourself to look forward to the coming year. If your child does have a diagnosed medical reason to delay prep entry your GP
or Paediatrician
will be able to support you through this process.
Get the basics checked over summer
If you haven’t already had your child’s vaccinations, hearing, vision and general development checked with you GP, optometrist and audiologist (if needed), make sure you get these sorted before school starts. Children should by now have had their 4 year old vaccination, at which they also get their ears and vision checked. Having a baseline check with your local optometrist is a good idea, and Queensland Children’s Hospital
publishes a list of aligned optometrists
who have additional training in caring for children’s eyes. If separation anxiety is a big issue, see one of our GPs
to discuss whether working with our child psychologists
may ease the transition for next year.
Take time off and have fun as a family
Cherish these last few weeks before your child starts school. Creating an environment of fun and shared laughter is a great way to help your child feel safe and secure, for them to come back to when feeling get inevitably big and scary after a bad day at school. It may be a good idea to given your children a short stint in vacation care in December or January so that they can meet other children who will be attending school with them next year, become used to the surroundings, and feel comfortable with some shorter days. But mostly, just enjoy the last of your little ones being truly little. From next year, they will be learning more than ever, and the proportion of their learning that they glean from others outside the family will increase exponentially.
Be active to encourage your child’s development
Kids love being outdoors and active when given the chance to explore a free-form environment. Gross motor development is an important foundation to ensure good core strength
to support the more advanced fine motor activities they will be picking up over the coming years. Consciously creating opportunities for your child to use their body in many ways is a brilliant, fun way to do this. Swimming Lessons, Climbing Trees, Balancing and playing tag all burn off energy to help sleep, and help develop your child’s confidence, coordination and proprioception. Getting plenty of vigorous physical activity has been shown to result in an impressive increase in working memory and consequent learning.
Take a trial run of uniform and lunch box
Your child is likely to be proud of the uniform they will be wearing. Give them a chance to parade it around at home, so that they can be familiar with any buttons, shoes and pants, and can have a chance to go to the toilet whilst wearing their uniform to save any worries on the first day. Similarly, lunch boxes can be a big stress when starting school if anything is unexpectedly hard to open. Create a fun holiday activity by doing a trial run picnic in the backyard or a park during the school holidays, where they can use their new lunchbox. Take note of any difficulties and be prepared to change plans if they can’t open anything. The educator-to-student ratios are not the same as in a Kindergarten environment and teachers have less capacity to help students open their lunch box. So help your child enjoy their growing sense of independence!
Toilet training
Your child is expected to be toilet trained by the time they reach school. If not, book as soon as possible to see one of our GPs so we can help. Read our toilet training article
prior to coming, and taking note if your child is having any streak-like stool accidents, as encopresis is a common problem in this age group, and is a form of incontinence that is treatable by your GP. This needs action as soon as possible.
Do something for yourself and your skills as a parent
Give yourself a little reward for all the effort you have put in to get your child to this stage. Maybe a massage, a dinner out, some yoga classes
or some time for exercise. Looking after yourself to keep yourself physically and mentally strong will gift your child with the same attitude. Children feed off their parent’s emotions, and refuelling your own petrol tank will pay dividends for the year ahead. We also encourage all parents to do the circle of security parenting program
that we run regularly, as some dedicated time to consider the values and approach you take as parents growing the next generation.
If you still feel that more assistance is needed, seeing one of our GPs is the best first step, with referral to paediatrician Dr Nadia Leonidou, or to child psychologists Bernadette Sharry,
Matthew Simmond
or
Sharon Dawe, who focus on the support and the development of young children and toddlers, if needed. They work across all age groups in providing emotional regulation assessment, counselling and therapy services for children.
The milestone of your child starting school is filled with emotion, and as parents ourselves, we know that mixed feeling of joy, pride and sadness that comes with seeing your toddler become a school kid. Enjoy this Christmas Holidays and be sure to let us know how you’re going in the new year!
Book a consultation
with Growlife Medical
today.
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