Getting ready for the new school year

I know we still have a few weeks left of the summer holidays, but as the weeks seem to fly by, it will soon be another school year.

First tip# Have all your school uniform in one place, so you can just take it out and go through it, and do some checking by having your children try on the uniform to see what they have grown out of, and what items they will need for the next year, that will fit them.

This will give you time to get some new bits rather than waiting to order items at the last minute.

Second tip# Label everything with your child’s name on it, even their underwear, as Henry still has the odd accident and also their socks. You can either use stickers, or write on the label or like Emily Norris showed in one of her videos, which I will link, used a stamp to label her children’s clothes and it was strong ink so it wouldn’t rub off.

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I CRIED EDITING THIS VIDEO! HACK, BACK TO SCHOOL & DAY IN OUR LIFE | Emily Norris

Look for second hand uniform as some items don’t need to be brand new as they do grow so quickly and then you can reuse it for your next child, if you have more than one child.

Third tip# If your school does a uniform sale, which follows on to what I said above, that is second hand uniform, just make sure you relabel it with your child’s name and you wash it first before it is worn, as it would have been handled by many people, before it needs to be worn by your child.

The night before the school year terms starts, hang each child’s uniform in their room or if they get dressed in the Living room then have it hanging in their for the morning.

Tip 4# To help save you time, do a check list and to help your child to be independent give them individual check lists so they can go through their bags and clothes to make sure they have it already for school the next day.

new-year-of-school-check-listDownload

kids-check-listDownload

Tip 5# Do a block schedule, so you can print one out or make one, as I have done for my personal planner and my financial planner. I am going to update block schedule by having separate google calendars for school dates, work and personal.

Using google calendar is great as you can take it wherever you go on your phone and set reminders for other things you need to remember.

Tip 6# Make Fridays your clear out day, so you have a good clear out of their school bags, wash all uniform including PE Kit and sports wear, update their diary and check for any homework that is due.

When it comes to homework set a plan of when you will do homework each day and show them. Give your child a schedule so they to can see when they will have homework, when they will have play time, dinner and then bed.

Tip 7# Start looking at booking afterschool clubs, if you would like your child to stay on after schools finishes especially if you work full time, and/or just want some extra time during the day, then book as soon as new places become available. My son’s school have already put the forms up ready and so we have filled this in.

When it comes to choosing an afterschool club, and are not sure if you child will be happy to go to one, then you usually have to contact the actual club organisers which are separate from the school, and ask if your child can try it out first. Some may say no, but there is no harm in asking. Usually when it comes to school clubs, because they are a separate company to the school, they won’t do 1 to 1 care, like they do during the school day, so if you are unsure then I would wait until your child is a more independent and can change their clothes on their own, can go the toilet by themselves and not reliant on another person.

You will soon know when your child is ready and when you do know, get in quick as going on my own knowledge, places for afterschool clubs can fill up very quickly.

Tip 8# Get them prepared for the new school year. At my son’s school they did a couple of transition days towards the end of the last year, and with Henry they did the transition for him the week before whilst he was attending school after Lockdown, and they have created a book about his new year in September to help us get him prepared.

You can do the same, just ask if you can take pictures but make sure you don’t post them on social media to protect your child and other children. In the booklet show them where their classroom will be and look like, where their pegs are going to be, who will be their teacher and assistant teachers and where they will have playtime and lunch.

Tip 9# If your child has not attended that school before or it is their first year, then do a trial run of the journey. Often at schools they will do a Moving up day or a introduction days, so they can get to know their new surroundings, there maybe some children they may already know , because often the nurseries they have been to, if local they will take the children over to the school so they can see what it is like then too. Don’t be surprised if they are a little bit daunted as it is a huge transition from nursery to school, as there are more rules and regulations that we as a parents have to follow and for our children.

There is a brilliant learning activity book that Henry chose with some money he was given and bought it from The Works, and it is a Let’s get ready for School Activity kit, and it has a activity book, instructions for parents of how to use the kit and has a book about starting school and what he will need.

Tip 10# So you can get ready before your kids have to, set your alarm half an hour to an hour before your children wake up, if they tend to wake up late. If they are like my son and early bird, then I don’t really need an alarm, because he is my alarm and gets up anytime between 4am to 6am, so no chance for me to get up before hand, as this means getting up at 3am.

So I have my shower, clothes hung up and picked for the next day, along with my sons uniform and bags packed by the door, so all I have do is get myself dressed, get my son dressed and have breakfast and then off to school.

When it comes to the school run it is always a mad dash, but if you can prepare and plan ahead it will help with the mad rush and concentrate on getting there.

There will be more blogs and tools to come for getting your kids ready for the new school term, so please keep a look out for posts and more printables.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Doing homework during the school summer holidays

Hi and welcome to a new blogpost! So now my son is off for the summer holidays, until September, and to help with his learning his school has given us some printables of activities to do during the holidays (see below an example) and this maths book he has to work through.

To get kids to do their homework I have found having a structured day even during the school holidays to be more effective than doing it at random times, because I find Henry is a lot more willing to do school work in the mornings after a good nights sleep rather than in the afternoon or evening.

I have also found doing a bit each time to be a lot more effective and breaking it down into little chucks, because Henry does have ADHD and works better when he has a small amount to do, than doing say half an hours worth.

Try and set a time for when you want them to do some school work, by setting a timer with no TV or android devices as with my son he can get easily distracted with these on. So I take these away do the homework and then my son is allowed to watch some TV or his tablet afterwards as a reward.

There is brilliant website called Oak School and is a great online service that has teachers for different levels to help kids with different subjects and would totally recommend it for online learning.

If it is easier and the sun is out, why not set up a homework area in the garden so they get to be outdoors and learn at the same time.

Here are some really good books we have that have really helped with my sons reading.

My son loves these books and has quite a collection and are created for different levels of learning.

Use outdoor things to help with their learning, example my son loves buses so we will look at the many different buses and we go through what their numbers are and where they travel to and from.

We have recently bought Henry a watch to help him learn about time  and the other day he pointed at the clock and knew when it was  8 O’Clock.

Then today we were going through different door numbers as we walked to the park, as yesterday we took him to the seaside to see my Auntie and she had this talking parrot which repeated everything you said and he loved it, so took him to the toy shop to find one but they didn’t have one, so I bought him skateboard instead because he was fascinated by the skateboarders we saw when we took him to the South Bank in the week.

Teaching them about the different time zones if you are travelling abroad and seasons so they learn about the nights being lighter for longer and it becoming dark early in the winter.

There is so much you can do to help them with their learning, to the point where like my son did today asked if he can do some maths or reading.

When they start to begin to ask to do some work you know you are on the road to a winner.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

Looking for schools

This last couple of months I have been checking out Primary schools, due to my son being 4 years old, and will start school next year in September. If you are a new mum like me, and your son or daughter is going to begin in next September too, then this is the times to be looking around.

Some schools will have like an open day, where they will give a little brief presentation of the school and then you are shown around.

What I am looking for is,

• How big is the school
• How many kids per class
• What activities and learning strategies do they follow
• Will what their goals are help my son in anyway
• How they have presented the school
• Will Henry (my son) be given the learning and education he needs

I am no expert here, this is all new to me too, so I am giving tips from what I have been looking for which hand in hand, I hope will help you find a good school for your child too.

My next step now, now I have seen all the schools I have wanted, to now decide on the choices of schools I want my son to hopefully go to next September.

Image from http://www.thedailytoddler.co.uk/?p=1361

Don’t just pick one school, choose the ones that suit your criteria, and check out the children ready attending the school their body language, do they look as though they enjoy school, and what have they gained from going to that particular school.

Going on the schools I have visited, it is the children that are attending the school that will show you round, so do ask them questions, and what they like about the school they go to.

Here is some more information I found on the website below, which has further information to help you:

http://www.gettherightschool.co.uk/howtochoosetherightschoolforyourchild.html

It is good to have a few listed as your chosen schools, so you aren’t too disappointed should your child not get into that particular school.

If you are looking for nursery schools, should your child be 5 years and under the time to apply in Epsom and Ewell is by January of the new year, ready for your child to begin nursery school in September.

Check out your local authority to find out when you should apply, how and when by.

I will write more about this as I go and what is the next step.

If you live in surrey then please see link of the admissions process below, for those starting Nurery, Reception and Infants:

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/school-admissions/primary-junior-and-infant-applications

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X