Book Talk
Book Talk
Reading books about starting school is a fantastic way to start conversations with your child about school. Talking about how the characters are feelings and the routines in the stories will help your child to start to process the changes ahead.
Building Independence
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Coat flip trick - place your coat upside down by your feet, put your arms in the holes and hold on to it. Flip it over the top of your head and arms in. Ta-da!
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Stickers in their shoes to make sure they are on the right feet - cut a sticker in half and place in each shoe. When putting the shoes on, the sticker will be whole again (could be their favourite character!).
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Struggling with socks - take it back a step - have a go at putting scrunchies over the feet onto their legs.
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Buy School Uniform together (if possible) and make it a celebration! Then practise putting it on and off and working out a routine. Practise taking off the uniform and putting the PE kit on too. (Don’t forget to put your uniform back inside the PE bag so that it isn’t lost after PE…!).
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Will your child be having a packed lunch? Do they know how to open packets or snack boxes? Have some packed lunch picnics together to practise.
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Will your child be having a school lunch? Practise carrying a plate of food carefully to the table.
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Talk about your morning routine together - you might even want to draw a timetable of what jobs you all need to do in the morning before you leave.
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Have a practise run of school drop off - walk/drive to school and talk about what will happen when you get to school. Validate your child’s feelings if they are worried about saying goodbye and make a plan together - shall we draw a heart on our hands so we can send each other cuddles during the day?
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Toileting - make sure your child recognises when they need the toilet, practise wiping, flushing and washing their hands independently. Also talk about what to do if they have an accident - this is totally normal!
Learning
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Share and enjoy stories together
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Talk, talk, talk - Communication and building vocabulary is one of the most powerful ways for children to develop all other learning skills.
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Fine Motor skills - learning to use cutlery and holding pencils is tricky! Take it back a step if needed - using pegs, threading cheerios on spaghetti, using playdough, building lego!
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Mark make - give children the opportunity to make marks with meaning - helping writing shopping lists, adding labels and prices in their pretend shops, writing postcards and letters, chalks on the pavement, painting with water on the pavement, tracing patterns in flour/salt/rice.
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Emotional regulation - regularly name emotions and talk about how they feel in your body, narrate your feelings and your child’s, co-regulate with your child so that they know which strategies work when they are feeling worried/upset/cross.