Grade one or the first year of elementary school is an important time in your child’s school life, so it makes sense that you will want to set them up for the best success possible. The good news is you can find 8 of the most effective ways to ensure your child thrives in elementary school, below.
- Read with them at home
First of all, instilling in your child a habit of reading at home is one of the very best things you can do for their education. This is because reading is the gateway to a good education, without which your child will struggle to access the opportunities which they are given.
With that in mind, the first thing you should be doing at home is instilling a genuine love of reading in your child. That means finding the type of literature they look to consume and getting it for them, and reading it with them. Now this may be YA novels like Harry Potter, factual books like those from the DK series or even graphic novels and comic books. Just remember that as long as it’s appropriate, the type of materials is less important when they are reading at home, because it’s a passion for reading that you are looking to encourage.
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- Work on social skills
Success and happiness in the school environment are not only about academic achievement, but also about making friends and feeling a part of the community. That is why some of the skills you should be working on with your child are the social ones.
Social skills, which include learning how to have a proper two-sided conversation, how to share, and how to work in a team, are crucial for making friends and being successful in group work. These skills can be taught in a variety of ways, including reading books about this topic with them, finding out about school classes, and groups where they can practice these.
- Feed them well
Armys march on their stomachs, and kids are no different. That means they need consistently good nutrition to help them grow, develop and focus on their school work. Things to remember here include that breakfast should not be full of sugar, as this can make them hungrier throughout the day, as well as make focus hard.
Meals should include a mix of whole foods such as protein and fiber, and plenty of veggies. Lastly, wholemeal bread is best, and the occasional treat, especially when they see their peers getting one, will help them not to start to see things as forbidden, which can lead to them craving them more.
- Start early
You can also help your child thrive when they get to school by starting their education at home early, well before they start elementary. Remember, the sooner you can get them to have a passion for learning new things, the better their school education will go.
The good news is that it’s pretty easy to get them to fall in love with the learning process, even from a young age. All you need to do is find something like this list of fun activities for kindergarteners and work through it one by one. You can even choose the ones you know your child would like best, ensuring they have funds and improving their core learning skills at the same time.
- Teach them emotional regulation
Emotional regulation is the ability to be able to feel a wide range of emotions, both positive and negative and not act on them without proper consideration. It’s not just kids that find this skill hard, as many adults lack it as well. However, not being able to regulate your emotions can seriously hold back your child in all areas of life. With that in mind, teaching and practising emotional regulation skills is a vital part of your child’s education.
Some skills you can teach them include not believing every thought they have. Meditation can be useful for this, as can imagery such as picturing your thoughts as leaves floating down a stream, or your emotions as clouds in the sky, where the person is the sky.
Additionally, being able to sit with uncomfortable emotions by identifying where they are in the body, assigning them a shape and colour can be a useful skill that helps kids de-fuse with their emotions and make choices based on their values and not how they feel.
- Establish a good sleep routine
Another way you can help your child thrive in their school life is to make sure that you establish a good sleep routine for them. This means going to bed and sleeping at a regular time each day, as well as getting up at a set time. By doing this, you can help get their body into a good sleep rhythm, which not only makes transitions from day to night easier but ensures they are well rested for their day of learning ahead.
- Set a time for homework
While homework in Kindergarten should be fairly minimal, it is a time when you can begin to get them in the routine of doing their homework at the same time every day. By doing this, you will help them to better manage their time and get them into good habits for elementary school. You will also ensure that they have plenty of time for rest and play, which are also crucial to their well-being and learning.
- Show unconditional love
Last of all, you can help set up your child to thrive in elementary school and beyond by showing them love that is not conditional on their achievements. Remember, kids are very sensitive to these types of things and can easily internalise your joy over their academic success, believing they have to be perfect to be loved.
To that end, praising them for things other than their achievements, or showing love not based on their success or behavior, is an important lesson. This is because it can help them feel less pressure in terms of their studies later on.