Tips to help children cope with schooling

How can we make it easier for our children to go to school during the early years?

When the little ones enter the first grade of school, What should moms and dads do to help their children get organized and be able to cope with this new stage?

Entering school generates many mixed feelings for both parents and the little ones at home. They can feel both joy and enthusiasm and, suddenly, they can experience moments of nostalgia and worry about the new changes.

How can we help our children to be positive about the new stage at school?

Typical reactions include crying and clinging to mom or dad so as not to stay at school. Even though the child is enthusiastic about preparing his or her materials during the days prior to the beginning of the school year, on the day they have to start school and enter the center, they cry and do not want their parents to abandon them..

Generally, schools collaborate so that the adaptation process is easy and pleasant for the family, however, it will depend a lot on the management of the family nucleus to facilitate or complicate the new stage that is about to begin.

Some tips to make the new reality easier for children

For this reason, we consider it important to offer a series of recommendations to help them in this big step without generating greater fears in the small ones and, above all, to serve as a guide for parents:

1. If possible, allow the child to get to know (15 days before) the educational center (including the classroom) where he/she will be attending. (including the classroom) where he/she will receive lessons, as well as the teacher.

2. One week before the start of school, start getting the child up at a time close to the time he/she will be in class, so that he/she can get used to it.so that he/she gets used to it. Children, during the first week and because of the excitement of going to school, often do it without any problem, but once the first week has passed, they begin to present problems in this aspect. Children need approximately eight hours a day to rest.

3. Keep at home, in a visible place, a large planner or calendar where to write down the tasks, jobs and commitments to be done.The child should use drawings or stickers so that he/she can identify them.

4. From three months before the start of school, homework should be assigned at home according to the child's age, so that when he/she is at school, he/she will be able to do it at home.The child should be assigned homework at home according to his/her age, so that when he/she is at school, he/she can do the homework assigned by the teaching staff. It is also advisable to have schedules at home for meals, snacks, games, breaks and fulfillment of these duties, etc.

5. Establish from the first week a daily study routine to comply with homework.Even when not taking exams, it is important to review for no more than thirty minutes a day. It is important for the child to rest, eat, and then do homework.

6. Label the materials before the beginning of the school period with the child's name.The child should be informed of the importance of taking care of them and keeping them in their proper place, as well as the consequences in case of frequent misplacement.

7. Cultivate in the child the routine of getting his/her materials and belongings ready for school, starting with cleaning shoes (shoeshine).This activity can be done together with the father when he is getting his own clothes ready, as well as getting the briefcase with the notebooks ready, so that the parents are not the ones to assume the responsibility for this task. It is important to have the materials ready the day before to make sure they have everything they need.

8. To help with the previous point, the father or mother can write down the materials (extras) that are being requested at school (extras) that are being requested at school and then go together (parent and child) to get them or make them if necessary, but always making it clear to the child that it is his/her responsibility. Parents can make use of a specific notebook to communicate with the teacher, which the child will always carry with him/her and parents will always check it.

9. Teach and allow the child to line or decorate his/her notebooks and identify them by subject so that the child can by subject so that the child can recognize them.

10. Encourage the student to keep notebooks, materials and bags neat and tidy.. Example: all pages should be glued in the respective notebooks, and those pages that do not correspond to any subject should be kept in a folder for that purpose. We must make sure that the notebooks are kept in order, complete and corrected by the teacher.

11. Maintain constant communication with the teacher to make sure of school activities: meetings, field trips, recitals, etc.meetings, field trips, recitals, etc.

12. In case the child is absent from school, make up the subject as soon as possible.. If absent for a pre-planned activity, make up the material.

13. Keep extra school supplies at home for emergencies.. Generally, in the first years of school life, children are very fond of using construction paper, crayons, erasers, colored pencils, scissors; therefore, it would be very beneficial to have a stock of these materials at home in case a special situation arises.

14. Ask the child how his/her day was, what he/she liked the most, what he/she did not like and why.Ask the child how his/her day was, what he/she liked the most, what he/she did not like the most, what he/she did not like and why. It is important not only to pay attention to what the child mentions verbally, but also to his or her gestures, body language, looks, evasions in the conversation and in case of doubts, to discuss them in depth with the teacher. Most young children do not have the facility to express themselves and when faced with new situations they tend to repress their feelings for fear of not being believed, therefore, it is very important to pay attention to non-verbal language.

15. Both parents should participate in the child's schooling process.In many occasions it is assumed that the mother is the one who should take care of these tasks, however, the father occupies a very important place in the process of accompanying the learning process, therefore, the tasks involved in the schooling process is a joint work.

Observations on the importance of preparing children

It is important to remember that, on many occasionsThe "anguish" generated by the start of school is usually greater in the parents than in the children themselves, who absorb the feelings of their parents, and this can affect their ability to adapt to the new environment, as well as their ability to organize themselves for the new demands of school.This can affect their ability to adapt to the new environment, as well as their ability to organize themselves for the new school demands.

It is not a good idea to try to alleviate the child's suffering when he/she enters school with these strategies that I will list below:

• Staying at the educational center, picking him/her up at earlier hours.
• Constantly calling the center, or not taking the child to the center.

Any of these actions increase the child's distress and, consequently, may cause further adjustment difficulties, may cause further adjustment difficulties for the child.. For this reason, it is recommended to discuss it with the teacher or with specialized personnel at the educational center: counselor, psychologist, etc., who will provide specific guidelines for the proper handling of the case.