Acing School

Helping Your Child Excel at School and Beyond

Returning to School after COVID19 Lockdown

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It is so exciting that Primary Schools in Melbourne are reopening after nearly two terms of remote, online learning. There will be celebrations and sighs of relief from many parents, students and teachers.

It will be wonderful to be back to “normal”, all will be better!

For a large number of children it will be terrific to be with friends and to be in their classroom doing lessons. Online lessons were great but nothing beats throwing a ball with friends in a PE lesson, using paints in Art, and borrowing real books from the library; the list is endless.

For some children and families this may not be the case.

It is important to be curious as your child begins the process of restarting at school.

How are they feeling?

How are they behaving?

How does your child feel generally on that first day of school, or starting at a new school? These emotions may be heightened as children return to onsite learning. The expectation of returning to school may not match up to the reality.

For some children the school environment poses them concerns. Friendship, learning, socializing may be points of issue. Added to this for many children there may be concerns about their health. For many months, they have seen and heard that being with others could make them sick.

Normalizing all these emotions and thoughts is vital. Talking about these feelings may help your child to manage this transition. It may be an essential part of this process. It is okay for a child to be excited, to be worried, to be nervous, and to have waves of all of these emotions.

You child may like to draw pictures, write thoughts or stories to help them navigate this space. Giving them the freedom to express themselves may make the transition smoother.

Be kind to yourself as well. Remember that feeling you had when taking your child to their first day of school, sending them to a new school or their first day of high school. Those feelings of will my child be okay; will they fit in, will they be safe, will they cope with the learning? These emotions maybe at the forefront of your mind as you take your child to school. As with your child, all the reactions, questions and concerns you have are okay.

Use your support network to talk about your feelings, keep in contact with your child’s teacher and the school. Remember you are not alone; there is no right way to react. This is a new experience for everyone. Look after yourself and your child.

School committees. Are they worth the effort?

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School committees

Some parents simply don’t have the time to be involved in school committees and that’s perfectly understandable. If it can’t be done, it can’t be done. But if time permits, being a committee member at your child’s school has many benefits for you as a parent as well as for your child.

Although few children will come out and say it (this would be so un-cool!), most are secretly proud of the fact that mum or dad are on a school committee. Immediately parents have shown that they see school as important.    [Read more…]

Take every opportunity to build good spoken language – leads to better grasp of early reading

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Parents play a pivotal role in developing young children’s oral language.

By pre-school, hours and hours of chat will have been exchanged between a child and their parents. These natural and joyful experiences will underpin the development their child’s oral language; their knowledge of words; ability to communicate their needs; and lay the foundation for successful literacy learning.

It’s a memorable experience dealing with the terrible twos when the child is developing strong desires for independence and yet still growing their ability to verbally express their needs. Few parents escape this frustrating period. Then suddenly the toddler has moved on – hopefully!

It’s universally acknowledged that a child’s well developed oral language is an essential basis on which to develop early literacy skills – both reading and writing. You will have found this mentioned many times in our articles in Acing School.

There are many obvious and not so obvious ways for parent to enhance their pre-schooler’s oral language. Let’s look at some.  [Read more…]

“My child looks different – will he fit in?”

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Fitting in with other children and friendship groups is one of most important aspects of supporting children’s wellbeing at primary school.

But some children have more hurdles to jump over than most.

The following question was posed recently from a concerned mum.

 “We want our son to fit in and make friends when he starts prep next year. He is a happy, confident child but our concern is that he has a large birth mark on his face. Lucas accepts this completely but should we warn him that some children at school might be mean to him? We are concerned that he won’t be ready to handle teasing.” [Read more…]

Camps build independence and confidence – please let your children go!

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Parents worry about agreeing to their children going on camp – letting them out of their sight and putting trust in the teachers.

But do trust that the teachers really care and the children benefit and grow in independence, resilience and confidence.

Being away from home (even under the watchful eye of the teachers) can be a real rite of passage for the primary student.

So please let them go! [Read more…]

Taking a precious toy to school is risky business!

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Most schools strongly dissuade parents from allowing their child to take precious gifts and toys to school or preschool.

Teachers know too well how toys or important keepsakes can be broken or lost at school – they are just kids!

It’s devastating for the child, and often their parents, when this happens.

So it is self-preservation for all that there are strict rules around precious ‘show and tell’ items.

However, with a little planning, a child can share something precious with their school mates and bask in the delight or envy which arises!  [Read more…]

Does your choice of preschooling have a standard of care?

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Finding the right day care or kinder program for your three and four year old is the start of many decisions parents make on the long road to provide the best educational opportunities for their children.

Having listened to endless conversations with parents of young children about where to go, when to go and which one to choose, it’s clear that choosing is not as simple as years ago.

In the past there may have been less understanding of the importance of preschool education, less choice of centres and less competition for places.  Even now, working parents may have a smaller range of preschools to choose from as location and travel narrow options to fit in with a busy overcrowded life.

Your child comes first, so what’s the most important things to look for.

[Read more…]

Do preschoolers learn anything or is it just playing all day?

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Most parents would feel really chuffed, on many levels, if their preschooler was showing signs of reading simple books. Some children will, but many won’t.

Does this mean that those who are beginning to read are brighter, more capable and will succeed more in life than those who are still not reading by school?

Of course not! Most of us reading this post will not have been reading before school, however we always aspire for the best for our children.

So what do we want from our preschools when it comes to more academic endeavours which support children’s progress? [Read more…]

All children lie at some time!

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Most children have been caught out in a lie!

Parents know this and often intuitively know the reason behind it. It can be more difficult for the teacher when the child lies about things at school, but the reasons are probably the same!

We all know that lying is to be strongly discouraged.

Lying children can lead to lying adults who are not trusted by those who get to know them.

It is hurtful when the teacher tells you your child has been caught out in a lie! You want to defend your child but far better to work with the teacher to find out the reasons why.

[Read more…]

Those early preschool days were great, but are the wheels coming off!!

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There has been nothing but excitement over the Christmas period.

Grandparents and friends are all smiling encouragement about how much fun it will be to go to preschool.

But now it is three weeks into the new school year and the wheels are coming off! Your child is tired and he says that he has ‘been there, done that preschool stuff ‘and now wants to stay home with you.

Worse still, you have returned to work and there is much adjustment happening in the home. You certainly don’t need a reluctant child!

There is no silver bullet but with some reflection, you can get this back on track.   [Read more…]

Leaving a crying child is breaking your heart!

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Your child is finding the first few days (or weeks!) at school difficult and you are finding it heart-breaking to leave him in the classroom crying.

You’ve read the books, scanned the articles, done the preparation for preschool but despite all this effort, your child is really reluctant, if not anxious, about staying without you.

In most cases, it’s the parent crying, as their baby leaves the nest!  If this happens to you, you will adjust.  Just make sure your child doesn’t see your tears.  They can be contagious!

When your child’s crying persists, it is heart-breaking. What can you do?

[Read more…]

Promoting self-belief in our children

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How does it happen, that when comparing two children of the same potential ability that one child will persist and conquer a task while the other will not?

We constantly encourage our children….. take that next step into the water, try the next maths task or have a go at writing a little story, but sometimes with little success.

Often it comes down to what social scientists call a child’s self-efficacy or belief in themselves to complete the task or succeed in specific situations.

One’s self-efficacy can play a major role in how a child approaches challenges.

What is self-efficacy? How can parents foster this?

[Read more…]

Preschool starts next week. Am I ready?

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Christmas is over, hot January is well underway and your child is looking forward to starting ‘kindy’ for the first time.

The whole family is excited about this new adventure!

Things are looking good. You have managed to book your child into your chosen preschool and you have marked the attendance days and start time on the fridge calendar. Tick!

It is only a week till starting …. it is time to check your list to make sure all is in readiness for a smooth start.  [Read more…]

Someone stole my jumper! Maybe or maybe not!

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Lost jumpers, missing pencil cases and misplaced drink bottles drive all parents mad! Children who are careless with their possessions or disorganised, are the bane of parents’ and teachers’ lives.

Understandably, parents who have to buy the third expensive jumper for the year can be very angry – not only with the child but sometimes with the teacher!

Children under the stress of having lost yet another thing can also resort to the quick answer of ‘someone stole my jumper’! Anything to get themselves off the hook!

The jumper has gone,  so is theft a reasonable conclusion or not?

[Read more…]

How would your child go with the ‘marshmallow test’?

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It’s all about self control!

A Stanford University professor and psychologist, Walter Mischel, conducted a famous series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s with 4 year old children. The children were given a marshmallow but were told that if they did not eat the marshmallow immediately but waited until researcher returned to the room after about 15 minutes, they would be given two.

This study which has been repeated many times since, but what was the pay-off?  [Read more…]

Getting involved in your child’s preschool?

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You can feel confident that your interest and participation in your child’s preschool education will be welcomed.

It is a strong principle in education that children learn best, achieve more and are happier at school if their parents are involved in their learning.

So do get involved!

[Read more…]

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