Breakfast is vital to learning

Research shows breakfast is the most important meal of the day for children and adults alike. A decent breakfast provides the body with energy to kick start the brain and body for learning. Little bodies need lots of sustaining throughout the day so lots of healthy snacks in their lunch boxes is important to see them through the day and fueling their brains. It is better to have too much food in their lunch box rather than not enough. Hungry children can't concentrate properly.

Often when children start school they eat all their lunch at playtime so it pays to put a special playtime snack in a small container and train your child to eat from that at playtime and their lunchbox only at lunchtime. Always put more in especially in the early weeks of school. Encourage your child to bring uneaten food home that way you can get an idea of what they are or are not eating plus you can reuse unopened or uneaten food.

Don't forget to ask your child what they do or do not like as it can save hungry children and waste.

Extra clothes

Just like at kindergarten it pays to put an extra change of clothing in your child's bag. Children can often:

• forget to go to the toilet
• forget where the toilet is
  
• be too scare to ask to go to the toilet
• be too scare to go to the toilet alone
• get too involved in activities
• think they can only go to the toilet during interval and lunch breaks

so accidents sometimes happen in the early days even for children who have been toilet trained for years or are familiar with school and staff.

New Entrants from Rhode Street visit

Miss Ryan and our friends from Room 9 at Rhode Street come to visit us most weeks. This helps with the smooth transition of our children moving on to Rhode Street School from kindergarten. The children begin to build relationships with their new teacher and classmates while still having the support of their kindergarten teachers and peers. The kindergarten and Room 9 children look forward to this regular contact as do the teachers!

Rhode Street Visit

Radio Rhode Street!

Did you know Rhode Street School have their own radio station which transmit to within 5-7 km of the school. We are going to visit the school in the next few weeks and will be doing a brief talk on the radio network. We'll remind again closer to the time. We also have our kindergarten CD being burned so it can be played as part of their radio music selection. How cool is that?

The radio frequency is 88.3 (don't know if FM or what but probably not)

A New Entrant teacher's hope

Last Thursday I attended an induction evening for my daughter's new entrant class. The teacher had this to say about what she would like to see 5 year olds coming to school with:

1. Know how to write their name

2. Know some letter names and sounds

3. Be able to identify some letters by sight e.g. letters in name and maybe family members' names

4. Be able to count to ten

5. Know their full name, address and phone number if possible

6. Be able to dress themselves and toilet themselves without assistance

She encouraged parents to provide lots of opportunity for children to talk about their experiences, family events and feelings to help develop their language skills and vocabulary.

Provide children with pens, pencils, crayons, paints and paper to explore writing and symbol making.

Show children how to hold a pencil.

Letting children see you reading and writing for a specific reason and also for pleasure is important to fostering a love of reading.

The most important aspect was that she said that the new entrant teacher will take your child from where they currently are so not to panic if your child is not doing some or all of the above.

That's reassuring to know as my youngest, Bronya (pictured above with my sister's dog in Nelson) heads to school in early August!

Jo

School Visits

We urge you to make arrangements to take your child for at least one visit (hopefully a minimum of two or three) to their new school and classroom before they start school in order to familiarize your child with what they will face when they start. If children have a chance to become familiar with the new setting it will hopefully be a little less daunting and scary for them when the big day arrives!

Many schools have programmes in place that allow children to have a series of classroom visits where they learn about some of the activities and expectations of school. If your chosen school offers these programmes and visits we strongly urge you to take your child along.Take time to be with your child and support them as they transition. But be aware that there will come a time when you will need to step back more to allow your child and their new teacher to establish their relationship without you.

Don't leave arranging visits until the last few weeks before your child starts. It is advisable to ask at your first meeting about school visits, and once you have made your decision about a school to attend ring and arrange times for school visits in advance. Mark them on your calendar! If the school are slow to offer dates keep ringing until an arrangement is in place.

Some schools only offer one visit prior to starting school however if you feel your child requires more, particularly after the initial visit, keep asking until your request is met.

This is huge for your child and you need to ensure that he or she is prepared as well as possible so the transition is smooth and a positive experience for all involved.

Which School?

Choosing the right school for your child is important because their future is riding on the quality relationships and learning opportunities and outcomes that the school environment provides. We suggest that you visit local schools in your area at least 3-6 months before your child turns five. Make an appointment to speak to the principal or head of the junior classes. This way you can get a feel for the school and what is important to them. It will allow you to decide whether this will be what would suit your child.

Don't be afraid to ask questions that relate specifically to your child's needs. You will soon gauge by the responses and time taken to discuss your concerns and needs whether what you value will be acknowledged and upheld.

Ask to tour the school and visit the New Entrant/Transition/Reception/Year 0 (Y0)class in the school and observe for a while. Trust your instincts about where your child would be in this room and how they would behave and what they might learn. If possible do this first without your child so that you are focussed in what you are observing without distractions.

Seek opinions from friends, neighbours and relatives who have children who attend or who have very recently attended the schools you are interested in.

Read any information provided for you by the school. Check out the last few Education Review Office (ERO) reports to understand how well the school is managed and providing for children at http://www.ero.govt.nz/ (see link under Helpful sites on the sidebar)