Preparing for primary one

November 21, 2012

Preparing for Primary One – Preparing yourself mentally as a parent

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views, Recommendations Preparing for primary one, primary 1, Singapore education

Primary 1 series 2012

Doggie boy and me

Having a child going to Primary One the 2nd time around my feelings this time is different from the time I felt when Monkey boy was entering Primary One. This time being experienced I feel that I am more relaxed and not as anxious as before. I do know the regime and what will be expected of Doggie boy once he starts his new school year in January. Even though you try your best to fully prepare your child you too need to prepare yourself too as a parent We will never know if our child will be able/ be unable to cope until he enters school proper.

Instead of stressing about the unknown there are some ways which you as a parent can prepare yourself mentally for this major milestone in your child’s life.

Here are four tips for all parents.

Learn to let go slowly.
They are now of age to go to a “Big Boy” school and it’s time to let them exert their own independence. You cannot serve them hand and foot as they are old enough. They should be able to go to the toilet on their own and feed themselves.Let them try and do things by themselves and remind yourself that you need to have a “hands off” attitude in certain areas.
Implement changes one at a time
Going to Primary One need not be a traumatic experience for the parent. Do not make changes all at one as it can be really overwhelming. Do give allowances for impending changes in your schedule and if necessary do a dry run during the school holidays before term starts.For me Doggie boy will be in the afternoon session next year so I do not really have to wake him up earlier then usual but he will have a different study schedule come 2013. There will be study sessions before and after school for him and he will be on the schedule which Monkey boy is currently on. I’m slowly getting him accustomed to the new schedule by putting him on the schedule come December.
Test things out
Give yourself time to get use to the adjustments which you may need to do with your own schedule. Sometimes your original schedule or plan may not work out and you will need to iron out the kinks in it to ensure that your plan flows smoothly come the new school year.
Remind yourself that it’s important for you to be calm and focusedKids are ultra sensitive and do feed off both our positive and negative vibes. It is important for them to know that you have confidence in them and they will be able to take care of themselves in school. With them knowing that you believe in them and are confident that they will do well they too will believe in their abilities and perform as expected.

Do you have any other tips to add in to this list?

In the next installment we will be having another guest post by another mum ~ Suhanya , a mom of a boy who is currently in Primary One.

Post in this series

November 14, 2012

Preparing for Primary One- Doggie Boy Style (Physical Preparations)

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views Preparing for primary one, primary 1, Singapore education

Primary 1 series 2012

Doggie boy

In the last installment in this series I mentioned about how I was preparing Doggie boy mentally for Primary One next year. In this post I will be touching on how I prepare him physically. I believe that it is important to preparing him both physically and mentally for the challenges that he will be facing come 2013.

Doggie boy is a rather active boy. He loves to play in the park and playing at playgrounds. We registered him for swimming lessons since he was 4 yrs old as he loves the water and wanted to go for swimming lessons with his elder brother.

I find swimming a great sport to start him in and it is a life skill which he should know in order to survive as we live on an island surrounded by the seas. Since starting swimming lesson he has been looking forward to his Saturdays mornings as he can go to the pool. We have also started taking him to the pool on Saturday afternoons so that Tiger girl too can enjoy playing in the pool while her brothers go on the water slides and swim together with R in the big pool.

On Sundays we bring the kids bowling and to the playground in the park if the weather permits. We also go cycling and walking on alternative Sundays. I make him take the stairs with me when we are out and he too helps to carry the groceries when we go out shopping.

School bags

Next year he will be carrying his school bag all by himself and it isn’t that light. Even though we have got him an ergo designed Deuter bag it still would be at least 3-5kg heavy with all the books inside. Doggie boy has to be physically fit in order to be able to carry the bag himself and bring it from the school bus to the classroom. On certain days he may have to carry an art folio bag or additional items to school depending on his timetable. He would certainly need to be able to carry these items without any help and to be able to do so he needs to be physically fit.

Doggie boy will be exposed to a larger number of kids in a primary school as compared to a Kindergarten. There is a higher chance of him falling ill due to the viruses which maybe spreading in the air around him. . Keeping him healthy is one of my main priorities with him. Keeping him physically active, coupled with a balance diet and enough sleep is my game plan to get him physically prepared for Primary 1.

What is yours?

In the next installation of this series we will be having a guest post from Jiahui from Mum’s the word about her experience of as a mom of a girl who is currently in Primary 1.

Post in this series