Ready for School: tips and tricks to prepare your child for the new school year

We often hear about the start of the school year long before the end of the holidays, and although we sometimes want to escape it, it usually arrives quickly! As parents, you can take several actions to facilitate this transition, whether it's in home organization or in the habits to establish and the small challenges to overcome so that your child is independent when they start school. Here are my tips for making September synonymous with fun!

It's never too early to talk about the start of school in front of children and to approach it positively. Show your child that you are eager to meet the classmates who will share their environment this year, the name of their teacher, and the classroom they will occupy. Talking about it with a smile and enthusiasm will certainly have a good effect on them. Some will even go as far as creating a back-to-school calendar to count the days until D-Day (a bit like an Advent calendar at Christmas). Involving them in choosing their school supplies and labeling them will also allow the child to see that school will start soon and that things are really taking shape.

Little by little, it's also better to move up bedtime and get back to the routine neglected during the holidays to return to the school routine.

If your child is insecure by nature or is attending a new school, it can also be beneficial for them to walk past their new school, visit the playground, and play spy to try to discover the premises of this new establishment. When their first day of school arrives, they will already feel familiar with the surroundings and have some bearings, which will certainly be very reassuring for them.

Moreover, on the first day of school, it's not uncommon to see that the parent has difficulty leaving their little one and vice versa. I have often witnessed children who didn't want to leave their dad or mom, clinging to them like a little monkey, and tears flowing profusely. Rest assured, if this happens to you, you are not the first or last parent to experience it! The best thing to do is to leave with a smile and by showing that everything will be fine. You can let the floodgates open once you get to your car, furtively! More often than not, children stop crying within 10 minutes, and everyone survives the first days of school!

Preparing your child well for the school world is not just about providing them with all the materials they need and mentally preparing them positively. Have you also thought about developing their independence a little so that they can accomplish simple tasks alone?

Here are some examples of challenges you could give your child who will be starting school soon:

• Go to the bathroom, wipe themselves, and wash their hands without help

• Sharpen their pencils

• Dress as autonomously as possible (put on and take off shoes, put on coat and zip it up). When snowsuits are required, practice putting on pants, boots, neck warmer, hat, coat, and mittens in the correct order (because putting on boots last is not the easiest!).

• Place their papers in a "duo-tang" and in the correct direction

• Practice tying their shoelaces

• Blow their nose effectively; this may seem trivial, but I have seen several children in the 1st cycle who did not know how to "blow" well through their nose

• Wait their turn to speak and not interrupt

• Work on patience; make them wait when they make a request. ("Wait until I've finished the dishes." "I'll come see you once I've finished my recipe.") At home and in daycare, the child-to-adult ratio is not the same as in a classroom, so little ones must be patient when making a request or expressing a need.

"But there's no time! I'm always rushing!" Indeed! And when you're in a hurry (or already late!) is probably not the best time to take on a new challenge. Instead, wait for a time when you are relaxed and nothing is pressing. Also define a realistic challenge so that your child experiences small victories and is encouraged to continue their efforts. Using a timer can be very useful here. Whether for bath time, getting dressed, limiting screen time, tablet time, or playing before bed, the timer allows you to see the remaining minutes and concretely understand what 5 or 10 minutes represent.

It's a safe bet that at the end of the first few days of school, you'll want to know the details of your child's day. And you might be left wanting more, as many students are very quiet, and their activity reports will be very brief. In this case, I suggest you ask your little one to name one thing they enjoyed about their day, a positive element. This could be an emotion experienced, a funny moment, a task they liked, a period with a specialist teacher (physical education, music, English, etc.) or an activity done in daycare. You might encounter a "I don't know" the first few times, but persist and play along too! You'll learn a little more about their daily life, and this small ritual will help balance out the more difficult moments. These simple, yet pleasant, funny, or happy little things will end your day on a positive note.

Assigning tasks and responsibilities to each family member, according to their age, greatly helps to lighten daily life, while empowering both young and old. Thus, every day, everyone must do their part in the house. Even if it's not always perfect, everyone pitches in and contributes to the smooth running of the household. In addition to reducing the number of chores for parents, this prepares your child for group life where everyone must do their part and take responsibility. Speaking of responsibilities, did you know that most elementary school teachers assign responsibilities to each student? This contributes to the smooth functioning of classroom life and encourages students to take responsibility and think about their role within the group.

Play and have fun!

Be present for your child, in body and spirit, read them stories, ask questions during their readings, make them laugh, and get out all kinds of games. In preschool, learning happens a lot through play, and many concepts can be introduced and initiated at home. Craft, cut, color with crayons and chalk of all colors; this will work on their fine motor skills, imagination, and creativity. And I bet these will be the little moments spent with you that they will talk about in class discussion the next day!