Is your six-year-old able to read age-appropriate books independently? This crucial skill can help determine whether your child will find Primary One an interesting and enjoyable experience, or a confusing and frightening one. However, preparing for Primary One isn’t a specific sets of tasks but in fact a process – one that your child began years ago and which will continue even after your child starts school next year. Starting school is a huge milestone in a child’s life that will require reading skills, social skills and more.

If you’ve read Part 1 of our Primary One edufeature and feel that you’ve ‘got it covered’, that’s a great start! So now, let’s move on to Part 2, with more tips compiled from parents and educators on how to make that transition to Primary One just a little bit easier.

1. Know the Language of Maths
Speak to any parent of a primary school student and top on their list of Mathematics woes is likely to be ‘problem sums’. Having sound English fundamentals is absolutely ESSENTIAL, so that your child may get a good grasp of Mathematics. Pick up a Primary textbook and note how language is being used to describe concepts and frame questions. Among various grammar skills, your child should be able to understand and use these:

-         Prepositions – words that often indicate time, place and location such as at, on, in etc.
-         Comparative adjectives  - e.g. more than, less than etc.
 

By the time he or she is about five or six years old, a child should be able to perform a various self-help skills such as feeding, washing hands and personal hygiene practices, putting on and buttoning up own clothes and tying one’s shoelaces. However, many children, especially those used to the assistance of domestic helpers start Primary One without being able to do these, and are dependent on their classmates and their teachers. Teachers would be able to make more productive use of classroom time if they did not have to take care of these matters as well. In addition, some children do suffer a loss of confidence when they see that their classmates are able to do these things but they can’t.

Your child needs to be able to pack his or her own school bag, understand the concept of a lesson timetable and interact with friends, teachers and other school personnel in various ways. These include asking questions in class, buying food at the canteen and asking for information from school staff. Build your child’s ability and confidence to engage in such interactions by giving many opportunities to ‘practise’ similar encounters, such as by ordering food at a food court or asking information counter staff at a mall for directions.
 

One of the most important traits that will help your child to have a fulfilling school experience  is the willingness and eagerness to learn. Children are naturally curious, and you should do all you can to nurture that spirit of enquiry in your child. Encourage your child to observe the world around them and ask questions. Don’t be too quick to supply them with answers either – encourage them to think, guess, speculate and develop their own theories and hypotheses.

Do you have other tips to share? Let us know and gain EduPoints.

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