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Back to first grade: our advice to support your child
The start of CP, your child has dreamed of it because it means that he is (finally) a real grown-up! Exciting but impressive too. Change of location, larger buildings, greater number of students… A few weeks are needed to adapt. They must also become familiar with their new playground, which is generally common to all elementary school classes. “It is often a shock for the children of CP who realize that they are among the smallest, whereas last year, they were the oldest! », Specifies Laure Corneille, CP teacher. As for the course of the day, there are also many changes. In large section, the students were divided into small groups of five or six, each engaged in occupations: guided or independent workshops (counting, fine motor skills, games …), while now the teacher teaches everyone at the same time. time. Then, the content of the learning is much more complex. “Of course, last year, they started to learn the alphabet, to count … But in CP, you learn to read, that changes everything”, specifies the teacher. There is also more written work. Necessarily, children also spend more time sitting, in a static position. Which can be difficult at first for some, but also more reassuring for others, more calm.
While mornings are usually spent writing, reading, and math (children generally have better concentration), the afternoons are reserved for discovery activities (science, space, time…) with manipulations such as sowing seeds, watering them… Not to mention sports education , plastic arts and music, approached differently than in kindergarten, but “very useful for using mathematics concepts without seeming to do so, or for learning to work in a team”, adds the teacher. And all of this learning requires a lot of attention, self-control and patience. No wonder that at the end of the day, your little schoolboy is exhausted (or, on the contrary, overexcited). Again, he needs time to find his rhythm. “Generally, they got used to it during the Christmas holidays,” reassures Laure Corneille. The CP is a year which condenses a lot of expectations on the part of the child and the parents. But rest assured, your little one will be able to read and write at the end of the year, and it doesn’t matter if he takes longer than his big brother! For the moment, the important thing is to acquire skills. As for work at home, normally there is no written assignment. “We verbally review what has been worked on in class”, confirms Laure Corneille. And no question of doing the class for the teacher, it may be disturbing for the child. The solution: trust the teacher and your young schoolboy. Of course, if you have any concerns, discuss them with the teacher. It also shows your little one that school is not separate from home and that you are there to make the connection.