Building your child’s successful start to school

A common mistake many parents make!

It can be easy to think that moving from kindy to Prep will be easy for your child. It’s a common mistake many parents make — but it’s completely understandable, and there’s help available.

Your child has been enjoying the structure of kindy, and there might even be a small, informal academic component to it. So moving to Prep and the first year of school must seem like a small step.

But for some children, it isn’t, and if they miss the foundations the Prep year provides, it can affect their academic progress for a long time.

Some parents assume that a child will easily become Prep ready due to their age and current engagement in kindy activities.

They will waltz into the school environment, happy and confident, ready to tackle this new environment. For some children though, it can be a challenging transition.

We have to understand that these children are just 4 or 5 years old, and the world of “big” school is a new and challenging environment.

Many parents leave the thinking and planning to prepare their child for Prep too late.

This can mean that the child, parents and teachers miss out on valuable opportunities for conversations, connections, and, importantly, practice to ensure a smooth transition.

What are some of the key challenges children face when transitioning to ‘big’ school from early education?

Not every child has had kindergarten experience, and even children that have may lack the confidence required when transitioning from the kindy environment to another environment (eg from kindy to school).

We all develop differently and learn skills in our own time. Ideally, a child should have all the skills to be Prep ready, but this is not reality.

Some children may have excellent social skills but delayed fine and gross motor and vice versa.

Some children have low emotional skills but have excellent organisational skills.

The struggle is different for every child. It is important to observe your child, understand their struggles, and provide support for them to successfully transition to Prep.

When should I start thinking about and planning for the transition to ‘big’ school?

The best time to start thinking about the transition to school is at the beginning of the kindy year.

This ensures there are many opportunities throughout the year where struggles and difficulties can be identified early. It also allows you to involve other professionals to be consulted during the transition year if needed.

It also provides enough time to give the child the most opportunities to develop the confidence skills they are still acquiring at this age.

Seeds of Knowledge offers a Prep4Prep program that commences in February (Term 1) in the kindy year. The program helps ensure children are totally confident and have had lots of opportunities and ample time to practice the necessary skills for a successful transition and to and commencement of their formal schooling.

Children need varied learning opportunities and repetition to learn and retain knowledge and also to develop the vital Prep readiness skill of confidence.

Why is the transition to school such a huge milestone for my child?

Transitioning to formal schooling is the first major milestone from self-discovery or unstructured learning to highly structured learning.

There is a shift in the environment from a smaller, safer, predictable environment to a much larger, challenging, and unfamiliar environment. There’s a lot more independence expected from your child.

This can include leaving the parent, independently organising their belongings, socialising with a wider range of children, and following routines and structured learning at a comparatively fast pace.

How can I support my child with the transition to schooling?

One of the ways you can support your child in their transition is by developing valuable school networks. This could be networks for the parent and the child.

Parent Networks: Parent networks include family, kindy educators and other parents to communicate with. Attend Prep Readiness Talks to discover tools and strategies to support your child. Join Facebook or Instagram groups connected to the school to gain information and support as required.

Child Networks: Ensure you and your child attend orientation days held at school to support making friends for your child prior to school starting. Organise playdates with these new friends or friends they may know from kindy or other activities who are attending the same school.

What are the most important skills for my child’s successful transition to Prep?

The most important skill your child needs to successfully transition from kindy to school is CONFIDENCE! It is vital that we support a kindy child to develop confidence in everything they do. Confidence presents itself in a range of ways:

• Self-confidence: Self-confidence for a kindy child transitioning to Prep includes feeling sure of themselves to embrace and seek new opportunities. In transition, they will be able to readily explore the environment around them.
• Learning confidence: On transitioning to school, there are a range of situations that the child will need to be able to problem solve and cope with any ‘tricky situations’ in a positive way. In school, it is important for a child to feel okay with their learning progress and to view feedback as a positive.
• Social confidence: If a child is socially confident, they will be able to transition to school and enjoy socially interacting with a wide range of people in different situations. They will have the ability to ask for help from others when needed.
• Emotional confidence: Transitioning to Prep for children can be an emotional time. At this stage of development, children are still learning about their emotions. Emotional confidence is being able to coregulate when children are feeling unsettled, nervous, or sad.
• Organisational confidence: A vital skill for transitioning to Prep is organising belongings, following routines and completing tasks independently.

How do I get my child confident to tackle schooling?

Confidence is a skill children can learn that can help with ultimate success in transitioning to school.

Providing children with opportunities to build and connect with their confidence is essential. Use the mnemonic L.O.V.E. to help your child build this vital skill

• L is for link.
  To help children transition to Prep it is important to link what they already know, how they feel, and their learning to their interests. Listen to your child’s ideas and discussions while they are playing and participate in the discussion to extend their ideas.
  It is essential to make links between your child’s current world and the school world. It is essential we link the experience before they have it. A great activity is to play “school”. Other opportunities to develop the skills to go from kindy to Prep include reading books, playing board games, early writing (e.g., experimenting with crayons and pencils), and puzzles. These are some of the skills your child will learn in Prep and you can help them develop Prep readiness by providing opportunities at home to get exposure to and practice these skills.
• O is for observe.
  Observe your child to discover their connections to and understanding of others and their environment. Prep Readiness involves understanding if your child has the skills to transition confidently.
  Watching your child carrying out their normal, natural activities provides information about how they are developing their milestones. If you are uncertain your child is meeting their developmental milestones, talk about your observations with professionals in the field (eg kindy teachers, community health workers, teachers, specialists such as speech therapists, OTs).
• V is for value.
  For your child, value must be about developing and maintaining a high opinion of themselves (self-esteem). They must also see and understand that their actions are very important. Praise and encourage your child when they are engaging in learning activities, or if you can see some progress in their learning or that their learning is visible to you or to others.
• E is for engage.
  The goal is for your child to be engaged and actively participating in their learning. When fully engaged, children will seek and see solutions, and they will progress.
  Model to your child the language of learning through everyday activities (eg baking) where you can model mathematical language (measurement), how to follow instructions, and the process and positive outcome of completing a task.
  Engage in a Prep Readiness Program such as Prep4Prep and let an experienced teacher support your child in gaining the skills required to be Prep Ready.

Programs to help build success

Seeds of Knowledge’s signature programs encompass three early learning programs that are accompanied by educational talks for parents and childcare centres.

There is no better time than now to give your child the skills they need to successfully and happily transition into Prep.

• Prep4Prep (In-Term) – a program supporting children’s development in their kindy year and supporting them to become confident and ready for school challenges.
  Find out more about Prep4Prep In-Term Sessions
• Prep4Prep (Holiday Sessions) – a short series of sessions held over the summer holidays, which introduce children to school skills and routines, helping improve their readiness for school.
  Find out more about Prep4Prep Holiday Sessions
• Learning to Learn – a life-changing program for every child to learn the skills of how to learn.
  Find out more about Learning to Learn
• Prep Readiness Talks – a 1 hour informative, proactive talk presented to parents of kindy aged children.
  Find out more about our Prep Readiness Talks

A belief in confidence driven by experience

Since I began teaching, I have always had a passion for helping kids achieve big things. I have always been driven by the belief that every child has the power to succeed and be confident.

As a teacher, I have always had an awareness of the power of early learning because I saw first-hand the impacts it had on children’s development.

I became more aware of the importance of early learning when I became a mother. This is when I started reflecting on the many children I taught over the years and thought about why they didn’t love or found learning challenging.

This reflection enabled me to see what I wanted for my child. I wanted my child to love learning, to see learning as a gift, and to be confident in commencing and transitioning to school. I now want this for every child…  for every child to have a successful and confident start to Prep!

My vision now is to empower children to feel successful and positive, ultimately instilling a life-long love of learning. Through our proven C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.T mindset methodology, we support and educate both children and parents to fully understand the power of early learning.