5 Tips To Help Kids Prepare For Starting School

Giving your child the best start to their time in school can have a positive impact on their entire education. So, how do you get it right? All children will enter school at different stages of development, and this is completely normal. However, there are certain things that all parents and carers can do to ensure children are ready for this new experience. 

Here are our 5 tips for getting kids ready for back to school!  

1. Routines

Most children follow a similar school morning routine but with small differences. To find a great morning practice for your children, you can start by making a list of the bits they need to do before school starts.

A typical morning routine will include things like:

• Breakfast
• Brush Teeth
• Get Dressed
• Use the Bathroom
• Make the Bed

There will be small changes within everyone's personal routine Deciding how much time your child needs for each task will also help you decide on the time needed in the mornings. Make sure to add on a few extra minutes for those last-minute “can't find my PE kit “ moments too!

A few days before school starts, you can even practice the routine you’ve established so your little one feels more comfortable with what’s to come. You might even consider doing a test drive to the school & role-playing the first day!

Sleep schedules. 

Understanding your child's sleep pattern is the ideal way to figure out your child's optimal sleep and wake times. The best way to understand the amount of time your child requires is by clocking their current sleeping time.

Following the guidance of the NHS young children need around 10- 14 hours of sleep per night. If your child often falls asleep at about 8 pm during the holidays and wakes up at about 8 am then the perfect time to set a bedtime would be 7 pm. This way they can wake up an hour earlier without feeling tired or missing a vital extra hour of sleep, ready for their long days at school.  

The bedtime routine. 

This part of the day is probably the most challenging for children to follow so we have the perfect solution for making bedtime easier, simpler and happier for your kids. Starting with their own reward chart!
Reward chats are the perfect way to get kids excited about following rules and routines. It offers children a positive outlook on things they don't really like or enjoy doing. Reward charts can be made for almost anything you like but in this case, we will specifically focus on children's bedtime routines. 

The first step to making this reward chat is a list of tasks you would like your child to have a go at on a weekday evening.

Some ideas for what you can do the day before:

• Help pack lunches & snacks
• Lay out clothes & shoes 
• Pack backpacks & leave them by the door
• Brush teeth 
• Bath time 
• Bedtime stories 

         
Prepping the day before will help lead to a calmer, more peaceful morning for all of you (which is exactly what you’ll want!) 

2. Preparing children for pre-school.

Getting to know the school, new places and people can be very daunting for little ones. Becoming familiar with their new surroundings, as well as meeting the teachers and other adults working in their class will reassure your child that they are going into a familiar and welcoming environment. You could :

Arrange to visit the school and talk about activities that might take place during their school day prior to their first week. Find out as much as you can from the school about what the first day will be like. That way you can encourage questions and have the right answers for them. 

Let children practice eating lunch without your help. Show children how to use cutlery at home, and even if they aren’t particularly capable yet, this skill will develop over time as they eat socially at school.

Encouraging questions and talking about feelings. Start by encouraging questions at home will then develop into practice for the classroom. We want children to feel confident to put their hand up and ask a question or express feelings to their teachers and staff members at the school so it is really important for children to start this practice during the summer. 

3. Emphasizing positivity and getting children excited by the new changes can take away fear or negative feelings. 

It’s important to let your child get excited. Starting school can be daunting but also exciting for young children. Allow them to enjoy the anticipation and help them to prepare emotionally for what school will be like. Why not read books about starting school together? This promotes excitement and joy around their first day and creates a positive outlook on the new changes. It may also help to buy their school uniform a little early to allow your child time to get used to wearing it or to role-play going to school at home. 

Here are the top 5 UK recommended pre-school books / Back to School essentials :  

• Chu's First Day at School, by Neil Gaiman
• Starting School, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• Wise Before Five: Amazing things to know before you start school by Ekaterina Trukhan
• All You Need to Know Before You Start School By Felicity Brooks
• Ellie the Elephant Makes New Friends at School by Agnes Green

4. Practicing healthy sleep habits during the summer for children to follow when they start school.

Many of us allow children the treat of staying up during the holidays however this can create a habit or can be hard to break once the holiday comes to an end. It can throw children off and create stressful nights. By avoiding late nights as a treat, it shows children the importance of bedtimes and routines which creates ease for both parents and kids when school starts but also avoids knock-on effects for the next day. 

Other healthy sleep habits for children recommended by the Child Mind Institute and the NHS include : 

• 30-minute wind-down period
• Make sure you have a calming, predictable bedtime routine that happens at the same time and includes the same things every night.
• Try and avoid screens in the 30 to 60 minutes before bed – the light from screens can interfere with sleep.

As the first day approaches, don’t forget to savour these moments of preparation and anticipation with your child. After all, starting school is a significant milestone not just for them but for the whole family. If you’re in need of any back-to-school essentials or want to give your child’s school kit a refresh, be sure to explore our range of back to school essentials here.

Here’s to a fantastic start to the school year—we wish the best of luck to all the new students and their families!

We wish the best of luck to everyone starting their first year of school.