Contents
Kindergarten
My child enters the small section
What does he / she think?
The child cares little about it, because he lives in the present. But the dive into the unknown on the first day of the school year may be brutal if you do not prepare it, approximately two weeks before the start of the school year. He needs benchmarks, he must be able to anticipate.
And U.S ?
Seeing our baby go to school is funny to us. If he cries at the time of separation, it upsets us. We must symbolically allow him to grow, to move forward, to trust him. So it will be fine.
What are we doing ?
- We prepare it without overdoing it!
He is introduced to life at school, with the other children, the teacher and the ATSEM who help him. This is the time to read school albums with him. If we were able to visit it at the end of June, that’s perfect, otherwise we walk past it, we look at it, we help it imagine what it will do there. We remain on measured and factual remarks, because to portray the school too much as a marvelous place, we are in the face of a disappointment.
- We spot a comrade
The best benchmark to give him confidence is a friend. If we know a child who goes to the same school as him, we invite him a few days before the start of the school year. It helps a lot the child to know that at school there is a child that he knows, with whom he has played.
- We take him with his blanket
You can buy him a small backpack to put on his blanket, which represents an essential safety pole for the first days. Then the master or mistress will manage, and give the rules.
- We arrive early on D-day
We prepare everything the day before to arrive early. The reception lasts about 20 minutes. If our child arrives among the first, the class is calm, the teacher or mistress is more available, our child sees the other little ones entering gradually, it is less impressive.
- If he cries, we don’t linger
The first morning, once the introductions have been made, we take him for a short tour of the class before saying goodbye and leaving. If he cries and clings to us, we don’t hang around too much: that would only prolong the “torture”. We approach the teacher, say “see you later” and leave. Usually, once you leave the premises, he quickly moves on.
- We team up with the dad
The day of the start of the school year, the ideal is to accompany him in pairs. Then we take him in turn. Often times, things go better with dad …
- We don’t bombard him with questions
In the evening, we let him land gently, and a little later, we ask him if it was, with whom he played, nothing more. We wait until he wants to talk about it. The school is its territory… Some people need to compartmentalize.
- We put words on our feelings
The first days are difficult, it’s normal. Talking about it allows you to take a step back and reduce anxiety: “I see that it is not easy for you in the morning at school, for me too, it is a little difficult to leave you, but you’ll see, we’ll get used to it quickly, I trust you. And then, you have a very nice master / mistress! “
It enters in medium and large section
Our little schoolboy is entering familiar territory. However, after a long vacation, the first separation mornings can again prove difficult in the mid-section. Don’t panic if he cries, we manage, as we did last year.
In video: Can a child with chickenpox go to school?
In elementary school …
My child is entering CP
What does he / she think?
He is curious but a little worried to find himself among the little ones in this “big school”. All summer long, his entourage told him: “That’s it, you’re going to high school, you’re going to learn to read, it’s serious! The pressure is mounting, he is afraid of not being up to the task! He needs us to calm things down.
And U.S ?
We are proud to see our toddler take a step forward, but as long as the major section teacher has mentioned “concentration problems” (this is common), we are worried. How can you help him succeed without being too much on his back?
What are we doing ?
- We go soft on the vacation notebooks
No question of making him work like crazy before the start of the school year, that would only worry him.
- We let him choose his schoolbag
This time, the purchase of school materials is a good opportunity to motivate him: a real satchel, a well-filled case, pencils and markers, he is ready… and so proud that he is now impatiently awaiting the start of the school year!
- We spot our school
Most school groups include Kindergarten and Elementary classes. If this is not the case, we locate the places, and we help them find a “buddy” before the start of the school year.
- We make him want to read
We read him books, but also cookery recipes, letters … We listen to audio books with him by following the text with your finger. We make him want to enter the realm of writing.
- We program the “homework”
Every night he has to read a few lines, maybe learn a lesson. In principle, no written work, at least not in CP.
From the first days, we establish a ritual, for example 20 minutes of relaxation, then the homework. We choose a timing that suits everyone and we move our cell phone away.
- We give him the right to make mistakes
It’s not going to be easy, but you really have to get it into her head that “mistakes” are normal, and above all useful, because they help to better understand and memorize. So, we avoid making remarks to him if he reports a mediocre grade. We ask him what he did not understand or not remember, we make sure that now it’s good.
From CE1 to CM2
The successive returns are more and more serene, the pleasure of seeing friends again more and more evident. The more he grows up, the more he feels at ease in this school which he no longer calls “the big school”. The big one is him. Let us take advantage of this calm and serene period of childhood before the big plunge in college and… towards adolescence.
Mom’s testimony: “He didn’t want to go back the next day”
“The day of the start of the school year went very well, but in the evening, Kevin told us: ‘That’s it, I went, but I didn’t like it too much, I won’t be going anymore”. We just forgot to tell him that going to school isn’t like going to the pool or the library, it’s every day! The second day was rather difficult… ” Isabel, mother of Kevin, 5, and Célia, 18 months.
To college…
My child is entering sixth
What does he / she think?
At the idea of entering sixth grade, our future college student is both very excited and very anxious. The balance oscillates between these two feelings over the days, according to his mood, and according to his personality.
And U.S ?
Our “baby” is almost a teenager! It’s a bit as if suddenly he had swapped the pacifier for the cell phone, without having had time to say phew!
What are we doing ?
- We reassure him
Yes, it is a different organization than the primary school, but no, he is not going to get lost, because the adults will be there to explain everything to him. The teaching team guides and accompanies the sixth grade students. In some establishments, he will have a godfather or a godmother (generally 5th grade student) to help him discover this new universe. We set up our workspace
Now he needs a place to do his homework in peace. Having your own space, your desk with its drawers, your schedule pinned to the wall… It’s motivating to enter your college life. The time spent together preparing for all this is also a privileged time to talk with him about his entry into college.
- We help organize
The day before, we help him prepare his schoolbag. Until All Saints’ Day, we check with him that he takes what is needed. Even if he quickly knows how to do it alone, our presence reassures him.
- We prepare the journey with him
Does he want to come home from college with his friends? The rule is “supervised freedom”: it is imperative to travel with him several times, showing him which path to take, where to cross exactly, by reminding him of the rules. Does he say we take him for a baby? It is explained to him that it is at his age, around 11 years old, that accidents are most frequent among pedestrians. Precisely because we consider that the young college student is mature enough to be allowed to get started without prior learning. So we frame!