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Congratulations, your child is starting “big school”!  This is undoubtedly a big day for your whole family, so how can you ensure that your little one is – and you are! – prepared for the adventure that awaits?   Read some top tips below on preparing your child for Reception:

Be positive

Starting Reception is not only a big step for your child but also for you as parents!

Children can pick up on anxiety so begin to speak positively about the wonderful experience they are about to embark on.

Help your child to be independent without you

This means your child should be toilet trained, able to put their coat on, follow instructions, dress and feed themselves.

Of course the Reception staff are there to help your child along but there should be an element of independence.

Have play dates 

Your child will be entering into a world where there are lots of other children in their environment, this brings along new challenges for them to solve/rehearse such as turn taking, negotiation and communication skills. All these interpersonal skills can be practised on play dates and new friendships can be formed 

Introduce early maths and phonics

Formal learning will begin in Reception but there are many ways you can assist your child before they start.

This may sound daunting but it really is as simple as counting how many apples we have or how many scoops of flour do we need?

Writing numbers down or pointing them out to your child will introduce them to recognising numbers.

The first part of early phonics is all about developing children’s listening and speaking skills.

Can your child hear the difference between a dog’s bark and a cow’s moo?

Do they know which word rhymes with mat?

Can they follow a simple body pattern (clap, clap, stamp, stamp)

Can they hear the initial sound of Mum and other words?

Do they know how many syllables in a word eg: di-no-saur?

Read stories 

Reading is such a wonderful way to connect with your child and is a great way to start a conversation about characters, scenes or making predictions.

Reading is also great for comprehension skills and will build a language rich vocabulary.

Build concentration skills

This could be by playing board and memory games, reading a story, participating in turn taking activities such as catch, football.

Your child will be accessing various activities in Reception which will require their attention, so helping them to get used to short focused activities is a positive step.

Strengthen gross and fine motor skills

Children need to develop both their gross motor skills (which involve large muscle movements) and fine motor skills (hand-eye coordination).

These can be assisted through activities such as playing on the monkey bars, climbing trees, play dough or threading cheerios through raw spaghetti.

Have fun learning how to tidy up

There are many tidy up songs online which are used in the classroom so why not introduce your little helper before they start Reception.

Not only will this help your child when they get to school, but you also have a tidy up helper at home. 

Ask questions

There are no silly questions and your child’s teacher will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Enjoy this time with your little one

Reception can be consuming at times so enjoy the moments you have before your child enters the big world of Reception life.