The year-end school holidays have been packed with activities. Before you know it, the vacation is at the tail-end and you have to embrace the reality of facing a new school year. Whether your kid is entering primary school for the first time or is a returning student, our quick Back-to-School guide will make sure he gets a running start on the new semester.
Get your act together
Get your school supplies ready! That means school uniform, shoes, socks, schoolbags, stationery, water bottles, lunch bags, wallets and watches. Note: Leave some room for your child to grow when buying uniforms and shoes.
Label everything
It is very easy for kids to misplace their possessions or mistake common stationery as their own. Have your kids write their names and classes in their textbooks and exercise books. Print stickers with their names and your contact number on it so that the lost items can be returned if they are found. These labels from Stickerkid (www.stickerkid.sg) are fun to have and does the job of telling what belongs to who.
Address the anxieties
Making new friends in the new grade or in the new school term (if your child is in a new class) can be worrisome to your child. Talk about emotional adjustments of going back to school and role play scenarios to put your child’s back-to-school anxieties to rest.
Calibrate your hours back to school
It is a mystery why kids cannot sleep during the holidays and cannot wake up in time during the school term. Adjust your kids’ clock back to school term hours by slowly tweaking their sleep hours two weeks before the holiday ends.
Ready to learn
The secret of successful students is that they always study ahead of schedule. Having your kids reach the first chapter of the subjects before the school term starts will keep them ahead of their class.
Organise their work
Teach your kids how to organise their school bag and homework files with these two simple methods. Go through the school bag and work files and purge at the end of each week. File away homework that is done, recycle or throw away any papers that is no longer needed for school. Categorise files or use folder tags with these easy to follow instructions to identify the tasks like “Do Today”, “Homework”, “To Hand-In” or “For Filing/Reading”.
Outline a new school schedule
Kids thrive on routines and schedules. Have a chat with your child about his new school schedule. Set aside time for after school revisions or enrichment classes and remember to reserve some time for them to play. Be sure to devise blocks of study time so your kids are not overworked.
Set goals for new school year
Help your children learn how to set goals at the beginning of the school term. Talk to them about making and achieving SMART goals which are Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and come with a deadline (Time-based). Attaining achievable goals and reaping the rewards can be an encouraging experience for them.
Getting to and from school
How does your child get to school in the new school year? If he takes the school bus, does he know which bus to take and where the pick-up or drop-off points are? If you have arranged alternate transport for your child, make sure he is aware of the changes. If your child is taking the public bus or MRT, make sure he knows the correct ones to take.
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