In the weeks leading up to starting school, promote and encourage it ie. how fun it will be, all the wonderful things the child will learn, the friends they will make etc.

Being prepared! Don’t leave ANYTHING til the last minute with the thought ‘I can do that on the morning.’ Chances are you wont/can’t. Do as much as possible the night before. It all helps

Make sure that you do as much as you can the night before as it is generally chaos in the morning.

sounds awesome and looks great

starting school tip as ive just gone through it my eldest started school this year. my tip is to be excited and make a big deal out of it with them…my daughter basically ran off and left me at the school gates and couldn’t wait to get in and get started. Don’t show sad emotions as when kids see this that’s when they start getting clingy and crying too. the sense it from us…once settled into school routine is a massive thing that works well for us. come home, out of uniform, unpack school bag, wind down/playtime, tea, bath, reader and bed

Thank you for these useful tips

I think the best tip is to be excited for them and not show sadness etc. This way they can go off guilt free!

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 29 Jan 2015 , 12:00 pm

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  This is such a good point/tip!

When children start their first year of school, don’t enrol them in any after school activities. They will be already tired from the day. Give them a term to settle in.

Set up a school routine/chart; homework times; chore times; bed times. Get the kids to learn the routine ahead of time.

Be prepared the night before is what has saved me many times

Do a couple practice runs! You’ll feel less stressed and more organized on the day

Just be prepared. Share as much information with your child as possible and involve them in everything… from choosing their bag and lunch box and drink bottle, to driving past the school, to meeting up with any classmates during the holidays, to trying to paint a picture of what a school day will look like. We start pre-planning, even as my son enters Year 9, a few weeks ago.

Prepare them a few days before by talking about the things they might do at school, making friends or catching up with them. Make sure they get enough sleep. Leave plenty of time in the morning for them to get ready.

Try not to stress out too much.

We have a shop in bundaberg called ASTAT and they are our 1 stop shop for all school supplies and there is never any hu ting around to find certain stuff coz its all the shop does is school stuff unlike the newsagents

Now is the time to make sure you have everything, the uniform fits, they know how to put it on and find out things they find hard to do. Start filling the freezer with goods that can be used for lunches that are healthy. My two younger ones are using lunch boxes for their lunches for the next few weeks to get the hang of how to use them. The box has morning tea plus lunch in it and around 3.30pm we have afternoon tea at the breakfast bar. I will be walking them a few times to see the school and they know what route it is. My teen daughter has been learning the bus/trains needed to get to her school plus learning how to tie her tie and the right way to put stockings on, oh how I will miss her wearing socks. Good shoes are really needed to help them plus a hat that sits on their heads. The big one is to put name tags on all things going to school and sport, have a chance of getting them back. Also if you supply an art smock, their name is on it so hopefully they will get to wear it for art. This year names are to be put on front of smocks to stop fights.

Try EzCover School Book Covers cost $1.20 each no matter what size and are reusable year after year. Very hard wearing and colourful and smart. Saves you the exhaustive task of fighting with tape and sticky plastic and air bubbles.You will never have to do it again as the kids are happy to place these covers on their own books themselves. You can have a different cover for each school subject after the initial expense you have them for all their years of schooling. The covers come in really nice prints check out http://www.ezcover.net.au my kids love the Comic Book, soccer, hippy, skateboarding, graffiti and aztec ones.

Be prepared, but that means let your child be prepared too. Get the little ones just starting school familiar with their lunchbox by having some practices at home and letting them pack their own bags. Then they know where things are in their bags and it helps them feel settled at school.

I found that on the first day its important to have as much organised the night before to make the morning clam and not rushed.
Deliver your child to school and if they are clingy then thats ok. Get them started in an activity if possible and signal the teacher when its your time to leave, Give your child a quick hug and a kiss and tell them you will pick them up at the end of the day and its time for you to go and the LEAVE. IF your child is crying, yelling, screaming, etc….dont hesitate…you said you were leaving so leave. Delaying and calming your child is not going to help because you will just go through this over and over.

On the subject of lunches. I freeze my daughters yoghurt and poppers to help keep her other items like fruit and sandwiches fresh. I also use frozen bread for sandwiches too. It thaws out nicely by lunchtime. I also cook a batch of little muffins and freeze them so I always have a variety of lunch items. Also I let my daughter choose what she would like in her lunchbox (within reason). That way I know she will eat it.