School: Is It That Time of Year Already?!?

How is it already the end of summer and heading into a new school year? What does this mean for most parents - books, homework, late night projects, sending off a child to enter the big education world for the first time and more! It can be a time where some parents celebrate kids going back to school (yay!) and also a sad time for others who might be sending their first OR last child to school before they become adults.

If you're like me, time has escaped you and it seems there isn't enough time to soak up the last of the summer vacations, time with your kids and time to prep your little kindergartener to have a good start to the year. 

Here are a few suggestions for your little ones to help as you begin transitioning to a new school year:

Pre-K (ages 3-5)

1. Begin making things with various nature items.

Go on scavenger hunts, finding things that are hard, smooth, rough, shiny, clear, green, brown, red, yellow, plus other things and create an art project or complete a color scavenger hunt or even a name art project. This is a great way to learn about nature, colors, their own name and use creativity. 

2. Help your child to grasp a pencil in a good grip.

Using a little play dough where to place fingers, small broken crayons, or holding a little cotton ball or ball of paper with your pinky and ring finger are some simple suggestions that can help support a good grasp. Connect with an OT for more ideas!

3. Play outside!!

Kids need more time outside. Splash pads, painting with washable paints, drawing with chalk onside walks, looking for bugs, rock collecting, and many more activities! There are so many pluses to doing this: counting, coordination activities through hop scotch or climbing on playground equipment, gross motor, fine motor, bilateral coordination, socialization, writing, coloring, drawing. If you child is fearful in playing on equipment or swinging on the swings, please speak to an OT to see if any support can be provided!

4. Create curiosity with reading and sounding out simple letters or words as appropriate.

Kindergarten

1. Practice having your child eat with a 10-15 min timer to begin understanding how much time they have for eating lunch. There are a lot of children within an elementary school that all need to eat within a short amount of time. Help them learn how to begin managing their time.

2. Have them practice opening their own food and bag containers: sandwich bags, backpacks, lunch pails, pencil cases, etc, etc, etc. These are not only good fine motor and bilateral integration skills (use of both sides of the body (ie. hands) together), but they also won't panic when they have other kids around them staring at why they are struggling to open a container or to keep up with the teacher.

3. Begin talking about transitions and what to expect. Be sure to take a visit on meeting and greeting your child's teacher, seeing the classroom and discussing changes and how it can be good. 



4. If your child is feeling anxious: 

Validate their feelings and that it can be be tough to be going into a new experience. Build confidence in them, letting them know they can do it. Help coach them on what they can do and discuss previous experiences that they were successful in. You may provide something small they can have to help them remember how to be brave: a penny, a feather, a rock. Something that can help them remember that they can do it. 

If you do feel like you are needing more suggestions or would like additional help for sensory, behavior, movement or communication and language difficulties, come see us at SkyBreak Therapy. We want to support you in helping your child to thrive!