Helping your child start school

[Jennifer13]

I know there are a few kindy teachers around here...

I wonder what their top tips are for helping my child be school-ready for next year? I think she's ready in the ways I can judge (including socially, she's had three years of preschool) and her preschool says so as well.

But we went to the info morning and I was interested to hear the teacher say helping your child know and recognise their surname was something a lot of parents don't do and is helpful.

Preschool does things like having the kdis put their bag where it goes, get out their own drink bottles, lunch boxes, hats, etc, in and out when needed. Is there anything else in a practial sense that would help her?

We have some play mornings at big school from September, so she can learn where things are, like the toilets.

[Trillian]

This was in the booklet I was given from our school;

Let your child get used to;
Putting on and taking off clothes independently
PUtting on and doing up shoes
eating and drinking without help
carrying and using a hanky or tissue

It is important your child knows how to;
Use and flush a toilet
Ask clearly for things
Say their name and address
Cross a road safely

Also get your child used to;
Recognising their own name in lower case letters
playing with groups of children the same age
sharing toys and activities
caring for and putting away playthings

Now I know all of that is pretty much commonsense stuff, but other things I found helpful were
Getting them used to only eating at set times of the day
Being able to open packets or containers that their lunch will be in
Being able to tell which is 'little lunch' and which is 'big lunch'
Putting jumpers and hats in their bags as soon as they take them off