As your child gears up for the upcoming school year in 2020, this takes him/her from feeling pure excitement at the thought of starting a new beginning in the schooling journey (just as he/she has imagined), to stressing over the fear of not knowing what to expect.
Will homework be two times tougher than what it was this year?
And if the coming year is a “big exam year”, how will he/she ever survive the entire year?
No matter how the new school year unfolds for your child, you can help to make the most of the experience.
Here are some ideas on what you could do to help your child start the new school year on the right note.
Tune back to the school schedule
With your child’s school holiday routine revolving around trips, late nights and sleep-ins, adjusting back to the bright and early school routine can prove to be a struggle, especially on the first few days of school.
Plan ahead and ease your child into the schedule at least two weeks before school reopens. Push bedtime earlier by half-an-hour to an hour every few days until you are back to the regular school wake up timing. Doing this gradually makes way for a smoother transition and enables your child to face the new school year with joy.
Keep their reading and writing on track
Reading and writing regularly throughout the school holidays helps to keep your child’s concentration sharp. This also gives him/her the opportunity to revise the lessons learnt throughout the year while maintaining school skills such as literacy and vocabulary.
If you are looking to give your child’s reading and writing a boost, you might want to consider signing him up for enrichment programmes that cover these areas. One great option to consider is the Kumon English and Chinese programmes, which are designed to cultivate a love for reading in students and to nurture them into good writers.
Through the programmes, students start off with the basic reading skills and vocabulary before moving on to elements of writing such as sentence structure, paragraph building, summary writing and beyond. This is done by working their way through a Recommended Reading List of 380 books that are divided into 12 levels. Excerpts from the books are also used in Kumon’s English worksheets, which allows students to relate to the book and retain their interest.
Maintain good study habits
As homework and exams become a part of your child’s school life, especially when he/she progresses from lower primary to upper primary, setting good study habits right from the start can help him/her to take charge of the study routine – yes, even while on term breaks.
Allow your child to explore study methods and practices that work for him/her, and be consistent in applying these all-year round. It is important to emphasise the need to be consistent with study schedules, stating that this is more effective than last-minute cramming.
If your child is one who thrives on practicing on worksheets and assessment books in order to do well, you might want to consider supplementing these study sessions with a programme that focuses on worksheets practice like Kumon.
With an encouraging and nurturing environment, Kumon focuses on allowing children to experience a sense of achievement by giving them a set of worksheets which are tailored to their learning pace and abilities. This is determined through the diagnostic test that children will take at the start of the programme. Along the way, children learn to self-correct their mistakes and they receive personalised guidance from the instructors to ensure that they have a good understanding of the topics.
Get to know the upcoming curriculum
You can help your child to prepare for the new school year by taking note of the syllabus that will be covered for all the subjects that he/she will be taking. A great place to obtain updated information is the MOE website, while your child’s school will also host information sessions where the teaching staff shares the curriculum and learning goals that will be focused on for the entire year.
Keep things positive
As the year-end holiday wraps up and the start of the new school year inches closer, do talk to your child about all the learning opportunities that await and keep these conversations positive. When parents steer their children towards the bright sides of school, they will be motivated to do well and perform their best abilities.
Who’s ready to get back to school?
Prepping your children to go back to school need not be a dreaded affair after the long year-end break. Armed with these tips, let’s work towards helping your children to face the challenges, excitement and changes that the new school year will bring.
Wishing you the very best for the new school year!
