Some children will tell you that they absolutely hate going to the school and this is just a phase they will get over. Of course, they do learn over time that school is important. They get used to it and eventually like or even love it completely. However, the first day of school can be a huge challenge. With a few tips up your sleeve, you can easily prepare your child for his or her first class with ease. But before that happens, it is important to take into account a few important things as far as early childhood education is concerned.
It’s also about you
This is where most parents miss the point. The day is certainly a significant one for your child. But it is also your day. How well you prepared your child during his or her kindergarten years will go a long way to ensure his or her early days at school become successful. Your best bet is to therefore find the best day care facilities around you that can in one way or another prepare your kind for the much dreaded first day at school. Your kid will in fact, not dread the day if he was well prepared during his or her kindergarten days. In a nutshell, the buck starts and stops with you when it comes to matters concerning early childhood education. Foundation as they say, is key to everything.
Let your child learn from you
Children learn a lot by imitation. A child who grew up in an environment where people habitually read will have an easy time at school. Not so with a kind who hardly notices anyone at home with a book. So as much as possible, let your child see you study. Research indicates that children who grow up in a ‘reading’ environment tend to learn faster how to read than children who don’t. The observation is very practical. It makes sense given that children first learn from the habits of their parents before they learn from others. Study with your children. If you have a home office, encourage your child to study there as you work.
Make learning fun
This may have little to do with you since much of your child’s learning happens at school. But you can still play a part. Invest in learning materials that have been designed with a ‘fun’ element. Cards, brick games, word puzzles and jigsaw puzzles can all bring about the element of fun in early childhood education. The trick here is simple. Simply make sure that your child has a different set of games from the one at school. All games should however, promote learning.
It could be reading skills or arithmetic. Different learning games will break monotony and make your child eager to learn something new every day. Be sure to take part in the games and allow your kid to beat you in several games. Then note your child’s favorite game and encourage him or her to play it regularly.
Rewards
Reading may be easy for your kid. When it comes to arithmetic though, the story may be different. This happens to most kids. Your best bet here is to keep your child focused and make sure he never runs out of enthusiasm. That is exactly where rewards in form of treats come into the picture. Encourage your kid to open up on the most difficult sums at school. Help him or her out with each hard sum. Then for every difficult sum you manage to solve, reward your kid with a treat. It could be a day out over the weekend, a set of new crayons, a new toy or your child’s favorite snack.
Over time, your child will learn that hard work gets appreciated. This will motivate him or her to learn new skills without supervision. For the difficult tasks, make it appear as though you are in it together. It should simply appear as teamwork.