5 Ways to Prepare Your Child for the New School Year

Once, a passenger onboard a plane was greeted by the air-steward who said, “Hi Sir, I served you onboard the last time,” to which the passenger replied, “Holiday’s over. A great year is about to begin!”

Like the passenger, we can certainly look back with pride as we embark on another exciting time for our children, some starting school for the first time, to achieve their milestones in the new year.

Opportunities abound with more to learn, more friendships to forge and greater discoveries to make, all through fun and engaging activities. With the Champion Mindset and the Education and Life philosophy of 100% Respect Zero Fear, coupled with the practical checklist below on how to start the year, the beginning of 2017 will prove a fruitful time for all.

1. Make Use of Your Public Holidays – especially New Year’s Day

It proves great to have New Year’s Day because after all that partying and celebration, we all need a day off to sleep well, wind down and get our children ready for school.

On this day, tell your child about school, explaining that it will be a new place filled with a kind teacher and kids that are his age. Open up his school bag together with him, and delightfully explain to him some fun activities in his text book. Once you see that joy on his face, tell him there are more to come, together with nice, yummy food, a fun time with other children, singing and art.

Remember to let your child know that you will be waiting for him to tell you all about school on the first day when you pick him up. That way, you can gauge your child’s response and experience at school, doing the necessary to balance out the details for him, such as getting him more stationery.

2. Thoughtful Orientation Programmes

As most schools offer orientation programmes, be sure you attend them because they offer you some vital facts surrounding the school, such as information about the school premises, classrooms and gyms. At times, information will be obtained from you and documented on paper or digitally during orientation.

MindChamps’ orientation for parents are superbly thoughtful and exhaustive, applicable not just for the start of Playgroup, Nursery and Kindergarten but for all Champs who are commencing classes basically. What is more, at orientation, Champs meet their teachers, with whom they will be spending a lot of time.

In addition, your child will familiarise himself with the school premises, while you gain an understanding of the key learning outcomes and what to prepare for your child through the curriculum talk/update. This usually occurs at the start of the year. This is applicable to all Champs, whether they are starting school for the first time or otherwise.

3. Play with Your Child, for a Securely-attached Kid

In the book Talking with the Sky, authors Brian Caswell and David Chiem address the secret behind “securely-attached children” who are “able to separate from parent with confidence.” The secret to such children lies in the fact that their parents tend to play more with them.

The book lists the quote from Reverend Jesse Jackson, “Your children need your presence more than your presents.”

Thus, spend quality time in playing and bonding with your child; the benefits could well be seen on the first day of school, when your child is able to enjoy school right from the start, fully aware that Mummy will be there for him when school is over.

The book continues to explore that “bonding with children is different from spoiling them,” and that bonding is “the easiest parenting task of all”, being the “least expensive too”.

And all it takes is a hug. So go ahead, plan for the first day of school with a hug!

4. Make Friends

Another confident booster for your child lies in making friends. When conversing with your child about school, throw light on how interesting it will be for her to find out about the similarities as well as differences there are to the friends around her. Nurture her inquisitive nature as a child to find out about the right things, such as cultural differences and different pets. Before you know it, your child will have good friends so that she will enjoy school in this aspect too.

5. Establish A Sound Sleep Routine

Your child will probably be highly excited with all the occurrences at school, including the new friends he’s made, so understandably, you’d have to introduce a wind down time so that your child can get the necessary sleep he needs.

In Talking with the Sky, Caswell and Chiem write about the importance of sleep, as it affects children’s concentration the following day. Indeed, at the tender age when “three- to 10-year-olds need 10-12 hours [of sleep] a night,” the authors suggest that “children spend 30 minutes unwinding with a quiet activity such as doing a jigsaw puzzle, reading a book or quietly playing with a favourite toy before starting their bedtime routine.”

The bedtime routine takes another 30 minutes and they include wearing pyjamas, brushing teeth, a goodnight hug and then soft music.

“This way, your child will anticipate sleep at a non-conscious level.”

Indeed, that is sound advice, and your child will be ready for school the next day, all fresh and ready for more learning.

Find out more about MindChamps PreSchool, the industry leader with Number 1 market share in premium range preschools in Singapore.

6 Ways to Teach Your Child to be Grateful in Life

From sheltering your child from the rain to putting his/her food on the table, we all know how it feels like to have a sense of satisfaction when we do something special for the ones we love. If you find yourself too busy performing all these tasks, with no time to spare in teaching your child the roots of having a grateful heart, think again.

Scientists at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkerly have recently conducted a research to  understand gratitude and the circumstances in which it flourishes or diminishes. From the findings, they found  a host of benefits enjoyed by individuals who practise gratitude regularly, which includes feeling less lonely and isolated, and living life with more joy and optimism.

Similarly, a child who is appreciative is such a joy to behold. Here are some things you can do to nurture gratefulness in your child:

1. The Quintessential Thank You

Teach your child to always be mindful about his/her manners and observe etiquette. There are no boundaries for saying ‘thank you’, so whether it’s the bus driver who halts his bus so that your child can board, or a waiting staff who has just refilled your child’s glass of water, ‘thank you’ might just brighten the day for everyone.

2. Be A Doer of Appreciative Deeds

One just can’t say he/she appreciates someone by paying lip service. Where being appreciative is concerned, you can always teach your child to do something for someone who loves him/her. For example, your child could use his/her savings to buy a thoughtful gift for that person.

In What makes A Champion, Professor Emeritus Allan Snyder (Editor), who coined the term ‘Champion Mindset’ writes about Prof Gavin Brown, a distinguished mathematician, who said: “Champions have the capacity for critical vision but it is their thirst to be doers that sets them apart.”

3. It’s All from the Heart

In everything that your child does, coach him/her to do it from the heart. That is, it is not merely about  doing just for the sake of it – he/she should mean it as well. Inevitably, there will be moments when your child’s good intentions are either brushed aside or not reciprocated; don’t fret, for that in itself is a learning curve. Continue to encourage your child to do good and the rewarding moment will arrive, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

4. Let Your Child Perform Tasks

Preparing a meal or planning a birthday party is time-consuming. If you let your child join in the preparations, he/she will be taught what they entail and they will become more appreciative when they are on the receiving end of such tasks in future.

5. Explain to Your Child Why He/She Can’t Always Get A Gift

When you are shopping with your child, there’s a chance you will encounter him/her asking you: “Why can’t I buy it this time?” Thus, you will need to explain the vital concepts of money and budgeting.

Even better, adopt ‘real life’ money calculation. The latest research shows that young minds are able to grasp the complexities of the world through experience, experiment and understanding, and the MindChamps Numeracy Strategies approach is ideally suited to help these young minds. These strategies are developed through grouping and counting exercises, the physical manipulation of numbers and groups, shapes and patterns, and through calculating and experimenting with money denominations.

6. Let Your Child be an Active Participant of a ‘Gracious Society’

The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), stresses the importance of graciousness, philanthropy as well as tolerance, among other acts of kindness. It says: “With every small act of kindness, we create a pleasant society with good social behaviour, and make life better for everyone.”

If your child is considerably young, this will be a great opportunity for you and him/her to practice acts of kindness together. Jointly, both of you can let a disabled person pass first, return the food tray when you are done, or help an elderly who needs directions.

As SKM says: “Kindness, bring it on!”

Let your child make a difference today.