SO WHAT TO DO TO PREPARE THEM…

Talk to them about Year 1 – we are! Be positive. Praise them and tell them how much they have grown up! Make them excited about it.

The summer holiday is a long one. Keep reading as much as possible – every day if possible! Use Oxford Owl/ Reading Buddy – that is what it is there for. Or join the library and borrow some books. Reading is still the key to everything.

Try and organise some playdates to encourage and develop their social skills.

Build their independence. Do not do everything for them anymore. Try and build in extra time so that they can be independent. Show them how to do something and then let them do it.

Help them with eating by giving them a knife and fork and sit them at a table. Remind them that cutlery are tools that work together – knife in the right hand, fork in the left.(Left handed children may reverse this.) Encourage them to have a go at cutting up their own food.

Encourage resilience so that they do not dissolve in tears if something goes wrong. It doesn’t matter. We all learn by our mistakes but don’t have to cry over it. Perseverance will really help them as they face new challenges.