It’s that time of year when a lot of mums are experiencing the excitement of their little ones starting school for the very first time. However, it’s a time that is also filled with fear and dread. The unknown is scary and I know all too well. I was there this time last year. The panic and anxiety. Will he be OK, will I be OK? well, I hope I can ease some worries and calm some nerves with what I have learnt this year. Here’s what you need to know and remember, if we survived, you most certainly will!
1: You will cry on their first day and their last day. You will probably cry several times throughout the year too. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Most of the other mums will be crying too. Put some tissues in your bag. My only advice here would be, try not to blub too much until after your child is through the door
2: Your little one will know when it’s ‘go time’. There was no crying or hysterics on our son’s first day apart from the odd tears but he knew it was time to go and we knew he would be OK. It’s a hard thing to explain but they know deep down when it’s time to go. Just make sure you give them lots of love and cuddles before they go, don’t leave it until the last minute and they need to rush out of the door. A special good bye song that you will sing every day at home is a good way to start their journey too!
3: If you have more than one child starting school, try not to take them all on their first day. In my opinion, it was too much for us to do and if we had our time again, I would have taken one child on the first day and then the other on their first day, or I would have just taken them both separately.
4: If you can afford it, buy some new school shoes. It doesn’t matter if they are not designer or top of the range shoes either. As long as they are comfortable and good quality they will do the job.
5: Buy a big pencil tin or storage tin for their crayons, pens, scissors and glue. Label it well so you know what goes in it at the start of the year and later on in the year if any permanent markers go missing you will be able to hunt them down fast!
6: Buy some books that are easy to read. I would advise buying a book on colour, shapes and numbers and then your child can practise at home before they go into school! You can also buy colourful, bright board books too.
7: Stay calm! Deep breaths it’s OK, it won’t be forever and you will always have them with you. I wrote this on a card and put it on the front of one of his school bags ‘you can do anything for 5 minutes’ and I would read this to myself when I was feeling anxious that time was going so fast.
8: Encourage your child to write and draw as much as they can. This will help them in so many ways for their future education and life. It is never too early to start!
9: Most schools will send home information letters at the end of their first week or in the first few days. Put these somewhere safe as you will need to refer back to them several times throughout the year.
I wish you all a stress free year ahead and let me know if I have missed any other helpful tips in the comments below.
