Two weeks before school starts is a good time to start practising some of the things the children will have to do by themselves like going to the toilet, putting their jumper on or off, tying shoelaces, opening their lunch box and choosing what they should eat at the right time, asking a teacher a question or help and learning how to sit on the floor with their legs crossed etc.
Now is the time to start getting your child ready and practising something that they will need to do at school by themselves. First thing this week to practise is opening the lunch box by themselves and learning how to put it in and out of their bag. The teacher will be able to help, but with often 20+ children it can take a while to get around the class.
Also talk to your child about what they should eat at fruit time, recess and lunch time. Often they will eat everything at recess and have nothing for lunch.
Some children also feel they need to eat everything in their lunch box and as a result have no time to play at lunch. Explain what you would like them to eat and then let them finish it off after school because all kids are ALWAYS hungry then.
Children will need to learn where the toilets are at school and will have to go to them unassisted. This means they need to feel confident about pulling their uniform/clothes down s…o they can use the toilet. Often new uniforms have zips, buttons or stockings etc that children haven’t had to use by themselves before. A good idea is for the children to wear the uniform at home and try to go to the toilet by themselves. That way you can watch them and can keep practising if they are having trouble.
Always pack a second pair of clothes in their bag so they can change their clothes if they get wet or they can tell a teacher and often the front office people will have spare clothes they can borrow.
You and the teachers will need to explain what the pictures outside the toilet mean so that they can tell what one is the girls and what one is the boys toilet.
