Tips from parents
Top tips from previous Kindergarten parents:
1. Preparing for school
Starting school is exciting and nerve wracking just as much for parents as children! It’s a big change for everyone. Make sure you talk about it as a family lots before the big day comes.
- Practise walking to school so there’s some familiarity
- Pack their lunch and water bottle so they know how to use them i.e. opening lunch boxes, being able to open and refill their own bottle
- Try on the school uniform and let them play in it for a while so you know they’re comfortable
- Label everything - practise identifying their name with them
- After school starts - write up a weekly timetable containing what needs to be remembered for each day and who is picking up after school/after school care. It’s great to put this on the fridge so everyone knows what is happening
2. The first day
Make it a celebration day, as much for you as for your child. You’ll probably find it harder to say goodbye than they will! It’s really helpful to go along to the P&C morning tea (if possible) with the other new parents to help soften the blow and celebrate together.
3. Lunchboxes
If you’ve never had to pack school lunches before then this can be a bit of a challenge. You’ll soon get used to what to pack and how much to pack. Camdenville does crunch and sip which means you will pack a ‘crunch’ in a separate container (an apple cut up, carrot sticks, anything that crunches) that the kids get out of their backpacks at morning tea time. Camdenville also has ‘Waste free Wednesdays’, aiming for the kids to have no waste packaging in their lunches. We’ve made our lunches waste free everyday in case I forget which day of the week it is! It’s actually helped me pack cheaper and healthier food options every day. Invest in some good washable containers for the lunchbox and fill them with fruit, cheese and crackers, pretzels, sandwiches... It won’t take long to work out what gets eaten. You will find a balance between too little food (kid comes home starving) and too much (kid complains they ran out of time to play with their friends because they were trying to finish their food).
4. Confidence
The kindy kids don’t have any homework but they do bring home Magic 100 words to learn. It is really helpful for their confidence to help them as much as you can to learn these. If they can recognise these words by sight then school can be fun and they enjoy the learning. We stuck the words on the breakfast table, on the front door, and made up stories for them to read using the Magic Words. We made up fun games, such as the Robot who eats the words when said correctly, and a kind of ‘twister’ where you jump on the word when you find it. You may find some anxiety and competition start to emerge from this learning experience. Each child is different and will learn at their own pace. Even though encouragement is good, it is not something they (or we) should be stressing about.
5. The exhaustion!
School 5 days a week is EXHAUSTING. Be prepared for your kid to come home tired and grumpy. We found turning up to pick up with a snack helped to prevent meltdowns after school. A set bedtime routine helped as well.
6. Uniforms
Camdenville have great second hand sales of used uniforms. It’s a good idea to have a few changes in case they get filthy mid week. We started with 5 tops and 2 shorts so I didn’t have to keep washing every day! We also found it really useful to just buy one pair of comfortable school shoes that were also useful for sport lesson, for example black velcro runners. The kids seem to spend most of their break times running around anyway so it helps to be in comfortable shoes.
7. Keep it simple
It’s tempting to want to sign them up for all sorts of activities to begin with as Camdenville has lots of great options on campus before and after school. However starting school is a big change and it’s probably best to keep it simple for at least Term 1 until you all find a rhythm and everyone feels more settled.
8. Emotional well-being
The play-based learning model offers an excellent transition for students into the environment of explicit learning. So overall the transition from pre-school/daycare is unlikely to be a big shock. Having said that, there is a level of routine they are unlikely to have experienced before. Some children will thrive with the new routine, and some may struggle. You may find that if your child is trying to adapt to this new way of conducting their day, that they express a large range of emotions to you at night. This is just part of the adjustment. You can deal with this by letting them know that it will take time to get used to things. You can keep a second hat/lunchbox/jumper so they don’t get anxious if they lose theirs. Communication with the teachers is really easy, especially via the Seesaw app, so reach out to share how your child is feeling. Kindy kids do tend to make friends easily. Problems are likely to come up around negotiating friendships but Camdenville is very good at encouraging positive interactions, developing techniques for problem solving etc., so they are well supported.
Crying and anxiety at drop off/separation. It’s a big change and it’s a big adjustment for every child. Just know that your child is going through change and be patient and encouraging. It may take a couple of weeks or even months, but they do begin to adjust to the new routine and new friends. If you are concerned about the tears at drop off, it can help to find other parents experiencing the same thing and meet up with them earlier in the playground so the kids have some time to settle and to make friends in a space they feel comfortable. The teacher is always happy to help with upset kids, it’s best to hand them over and don’t linger – that just makes the separation harder for everyone.
9. Your role in their education
Please do not feel your child needs to know how to read, write or know their numbers by the time they come to school. Your role is primarily to build those foundational literacy and numeracy skills that will allow for the learning that takes place at school. We are often not adept at teaching phonemes, for example, in the best way, so there’s no harm in leaving this up to the teachers. Having said that, if your child is interested in words or numbers, there are many things you can do at home to encourage it. Once they start school, it is good to keep these practices going so that they can get more confident in areas they might need support. The school will provide plenty of ideas for how you can encourage learning with your children (but looking at words on signs and snakes and ladders for numbers are a couple that come to mind). Keep their learning authentic through the year (e.g. getting them to pay for things when shopping; learning about words and sounds in the context of books they like).
10. Camdenville culture
You can put your mind at ease about your choice of school. There is a wonderful, friendly feeling to Camdenville. Their philosophy for learning and caring is spot on. A real community exists here. It’s really worth getting to know other families in your class. The play dates outside of school hours can really help your child grow their friendships which in turn can help them settle in better. It also helps when you’re in a pickle, there are other families around to help drop off/pick up. Good luck! You are lucky to be enrolling in such a wonderful school. The teachers are amazing, the classrooms are brilliant and the kids seem happy. Enjoy it!
Amy, Sandra and Angela