Preparing Your Child for School
The following information is provided to support you with preparing your child for school. It is only a recommended guide. Parents often ask the question: ”What can we do to prepare our child for school?” We suggest you might like to practise some of the following, having your child complete them as independently as possible and praise their efforts.
- · Dress themselves
- · Do up zippers and buttons
- · Practise taking their jumper on and off
- · Put on shoes and socks
- · Go to the toilet and wash their hands, and unlock/lock the toilet door
- · Know their own school bag (add a personal tag)
- · Know where their play lunch is in the school bag
- · Practise zipping up their school bag
- · Know their own clothes which are clearly labelled
- · Be able to open and close their lunch box and drink bottle
- · Be able to use a pair of scissors
- · Look after belongings
- · Be able to tidy up
- · Listen with interest and courtesy when other people speak
Literacy at School
When children are about to begin school, it gives them a good start if they are able to:
- · Recognise and write some letters of their own name
- · Pay attention to repeated sounds in rhyme, jingles and stories
- · Look at books together and listen to them being read
- · Talk about favourite stories
- · Have experience with drawing, scribbling and making marks on paper
- · It is also important to spend time speaking to your child about what school will be like
Numeracy at School
When children are about to begin school, it gives them a good start if they are able to:
- · Talk about their age and recognise some numbers
- · Recognise the number of dots on a dice
- · Name some common shapes
- · Name some common colours
- · Help adults with everyday counting experiences e.g., when shopping
- · Talk about the days of the week
You can also check out the Department’s tips for parents to help prepare children for primary school: https://www.vic.gov.au/tips-starting-school
Where can I find the Victorian school term dates?
