school readiness Tag | Little Acorns Nursery School, Hindley Green

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Tips for a Smooth Transition to Reception Class

The transition from preschool to Reception marks a significant milestone in any child’s life. It can be emotional for parents and, for children, it can be a period filled with excitement, curiosity, and perhaps a bit of apprehension. Ensuring a smooth transition involves a combination of careful planning, practical strategies and emotional support. With that in mind, today’s guide outlines more than twenty simple, actionable ways to ensure your child has a seamless transition and a positive start to school life.

Emotional Support Strategies

Talk About Feelings

Discuss emotions related to starting school. Encourage questions, answer honestly, and address any concerns your child may have. Doing so will reassure your child and create a more positive perception of the upcoming experience.

Positive Reinforcement

Use positive reinforcement to create a positive association with the idea of school. For example, highlight the exciting aspects of learning, making friends, playing new games, and discovering new things.

Celebrate Small Achievements

Acknowledge and celebrate small achievements. Whether it’s successfully completing a puzzle or putting on shoes independently, recognising these accomplishments builds a positive mindset and boosts children’s confidence.

Visit the School Together

Arrange visits to the school — take a guided tour together and explore the classrooms and play areas. This will make the environment less intimidating and more welcoming and familiar when the time comes.

Building Skills

Build Social Skills & Make Play Dates

Organise play dates with future classmates to build social connections before the first day. Encourage interactions with other children to develop essential social skills. Attending a nursery, preschool, or playgroup will provide excellent opportunities for this.

Practise Listening Skills

Engage in activities that enhance your child’s listening and attention skills. These will be essential once they begin at school.

Promote Independence & Responsibility

Foster self-reliance by allowing your child to perform simple tasks like dressing themselves, tidying up, using the toilet, and organising themselves. Also, assign small responsibilities to them at home to instil a sense of accountability and responsibility. Such skills will serve them well once at school.

Encourage Decision-Making

Provide simple choices to empower your child and foster decision-making skills. You can perhaps teach them how to weigh up the pros and cons of each choice they face, so they get a feel for how best to approach a final decision.

Read Together

Read age-appropriate books together, particularly those that introduce topics they’ll be introduced to in Reception class. This not only sparks excitement and teaches them new things but also helps children understand what to expect. Instil a love for reading through interactive reading sessions. Visit the library too and explore a variety of books.

Educational Games

Incorporate fun and interactive learning activities into daily routines. Simple mathematics games, storytelling, and creative arts and crafts can enhance cognitive skills and nurture a love for learning.

Fine Motor Skill Development

Strengthen fine motor skills through activities like drawing, cutting, and building with blocks. These activities not only aid in academic readiness but also contribute to overall coordination.

Nearer the Time

Introduce the Concept of Time

Ensure that your child understands basic time concepts, such as morning, afternoon, and evening. This, in tandem with our next tip below, will help your child better understand the structure of the school day.

Establish a Consistent Routine

In the run-up to leaving nursery/preschool to begin at school, introduce a consistent daily schedule that mirrors the school routine. This will help your child become familiar with the structure of the day and help them to adjust more naturally.

Create a Homework Station

Designate a comfortable and quiet area at home where your child can engage in reading and other learning activities. This can later transition to become a natural place for school homework and be a tool to promote a positive attitude towards learning.

Introduce Uniforms

If applicable, gradually introduce your child to the concept of wearing a school uniform and get them used the the process of getting dressed.

Teach Basic Self-Care

Ensure your child can manage basic self-care tasks independently. Such skills will be invaluable to them once they have started school.

Practise Sharing

Emphasise the importance of sharing and taking turns through play. This is not only good manners but will also help them make and keep friends.

Encourage Expressing Needs

Teach your child to communicate their needs effectively. Good communication is an essential tool for any child. Explaining their needs to teachers and peers will ultimately result in happier outcomes and contribute to children’s well-being.

Establish a Bedtime Routine

Ensure sufficient sleep by establishing a calming bedtime routine. This not only gets them used to a pattern but will also help them to maintain focus and energy levels once at school.

Create a Visual Schedule

Use visual aids to help your child understand and anticipate daily activities. This could be a simple colour-coded timetable, or a series of drawings depicting activities they will be undertaking during their school day.

Create a Consistent Drop-off Ritual

Develop a consistent and reassuring routine for dropping off and picking up. This will foster a sense of security for the child and be key to minimising any separation anxiety that may otherwise occur.

Reception & Compulsory School Age

Reception is the first year of primary school in England, coming after nursery but before Year One. Children joining Reception class usually begin there in the September after their 4th birthday. Compulsory School Age, however, begins later — at the end the December, March or August that follows their 5th birthday (whichever is soonest).

The journey from preschool to the first day of school is a significant milestone for both parent and child. Preparing children for school involves a holistic approach that addresses emotional, social, and practical aspects. By incorporating these strategies into your family’s daily routine, you can contribute to a positive and confident transition for your child and set the stage for the most successful start to their school journey.

School-Readiness at Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green

Here at Little Acorns in Hindley Green, we also follow comprehensive strategies to build children’s skills, knowledge, independence and confidence in the run-up to beginning primary school. Indeed, we ensure they have hit personal bests in every area and are school-ready by the time they leave us for Reception. It’s magical to see how each and every child grows, in so many ways, during our time with them. It’s always sad to see them go when they leave to begin school but, when that time comes, we wish them every success in the knowledge that they leave superbly well-equipped for their journey.

A High-Quality Childcare Nursery for Your Child in Hindley Green

Are you looking for a really good childcare nursery in Hindley Green, near Wigan? Please get in touch with us at Little Acorns Nursery if so. We offer a superb childcare service and early years education to babies, toddlers and preschoolers aged under five. We support many Government-funded ‘free childcare’ schemes too, meaning childcare will be more affordable for eligible families.

Apply Today Book a Tour Message Us 01942 259 870

Little Acorns is also near Bickershaw, Leigh, Atherton, Westhoughton, Ince-in-Makerfield, Platt Bridge, Tyldesley, Bolton and Greater Manchester, so may additionally suit families in those areas.

30th November 2023/by Mark

Activities for Children, Childcare, Children, Early Years Education, Education, Hindley Green, Learning & Development, Nurseries, Nursery, Parenting, Preschoolers, Preschools, Reading, Toddlers, Under-5s

Under-5 to Superchild! The Power of Reading With Your Child

In the journey of childhood development, there is a simple yet powerful tool that supercharges learning, imagination and even life outcomes: reading with your child. While a magical connection with books is a cherished tradition in many families, it is also a proven way to optimise a child’s cognitive and emotional development — and even to give some a social boost. With that in mind, we explore today the incredible benefits of reading with children in the early years and learn how study after study has proven how transformational it is to their lives.

Enhanced Cognitive Development

Numerous studies have demonstrated the profound impact of reading on cognitive development in young children. The studies found that reading with children between the ages of 3 and 5 results in significantly improved cognitive skills, including attention span, memory, language development, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

This cognitive enrichment is not just confined to early childhood. Long-term studies have revealed that children who are read to regularly during their early years are more likely to perform well academically throughout their school years. We’ll explore more about how reading in the early years prepares children for school later in this article.

Transformed Language, Vocabulary, Spelling & Literacy

One of the most notable benefits of early reading is the rapid expansion of a child’s vocabulary. Indeed, research suggests that children who are exposed to a diverse range of words in books tend to perform better in language assessments, spelling, and overall literacy development. With reading to children opening up whole new worlds of information and vocabulary to them, this positive outcome makes total sense.

Academic Preparedness

Early reading provides a substantial head start in academics. A 40-year study by the Nuffield Foundation in the UK tracked the development of children from birth to age 7. Results revealed that children who were read to several times a week at a young age had a significant advantage in literacy skills when they started school.

The language skills of children aged just 3¼ years old were found to receive a 20% boost when they were regularly read to by a parent or carer. That’s an 8-month improvement!

Children who experience shared reading activities with their parents in their early years also tend to have a more positive attitude towards learning. They therefore perform better in school. Indeed, many enter formal education with increased confidence and a love for learning.

Advanced Emotional Intelligence

Reading with children also contributes to the development of enhanced empathy and emotional intelligence. Stories often feature characters experiencing a variety of emotions, and by engaging with these stories, children learn to empathise and connect with the feelings of others. That’s because exposure to complex characters and their emotional experiences in books helps children better understand and relate to the emotions of people in their real lives.

Social Mobility

Remarkably, the benefits of reading with young children also have the potential to break the cycle of socio-economic disadvantage. Several studies have found a strong correlation between early reading habits and positive socio-economic outcomes later in life. Specifically, children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be more likely to surpass the usual limitations of their circumstances when exposed to regular reading sessions with adults at an early age. This positive effect was found to extend well into adulthood. Individuals who were avid readers during their childhood were found to be more likely to achieve higher levels of professional success, with better job prospects, higher incomes, and greater job stability.

Tips for Effective Reading Sessions

Note that, at the start of this article and throughout, we have talked about reading with your child as opposed to simply reading to them. That’s an important differentiation because reading with children means involving them, so they’re fully engaged throughout. That’s another huge factor in unlocking the most potential for the child. So, how do we go about that?

Make it Fun!

Reading in a monotone voice is a sure way to get children to switch off and disengage from your reading sessions. Instead, make it fun by immersing yourself, as the reader, into the different characters and situations, using different volumes, voices, accents, cadences and tones as appropriate. This will naturally captivate your child, bring the story to life, and make it fun!

Encourage Interaction

Engage your child in the reading process. Ask your child questions about the storyline and characters. See if they can guess what happens next and discuss the story generally. This interaction enhances their attention, comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Encourage Questions

When your child asks questions or wants to talk about the story, embrace those moments. It shows their active engagement and curiosity. Encouraging discussions will help to deepen their understanding in so many ways.

Quality Time Spent Together

Reading is not just about the words on the page; it’s also about the quality time you spend together. The connection you build during reading sessions is priceless, fostering stronger bonds between you and your child.

A Positive Example

Children often mimic their parents’ behaviour. By showing them that you value reading, they are more likely to embrace it as a positive and enjoyable activity. So, why not become a reading role model and let your child see your enthusiasm for books? It’ll not only be fun and engaging for them but is also likely to result in a love for learning and a huge number of profoundly positive benefits.

Quality Childcare & a Good Early Years Education at Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green

As we’ve said before, parental engagement with children’s education is incredibly beneficial to little ones and that’s particularly true in the case of reading with them. So, we take every opportunity to read with children and encourage interaction at Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green. Reading with children is not only giving the gift of knowledge but also a key to unlocking future opportunities and even social mobility. As such, it is an incredibly powerful tool that effectively supercharges children’s education and future prospects. And don’t forget, of course — children simply love it!

If you are seeking the best childcare nursery in Hindley Green for your child, please get in touch. We offer a first-class weekday childcare service and early years education for babies and children under five. We also support all Government-funding childcare options, making childcare more affordable for eligible families. Please select an option below to further explore a place for your child at Little Acorns Nursery: