Prioritise holistic development: Nurturing social-emotional skills and the joy of learning to help your child navigate a new school environment.
Starting Primary One (P1) can be an exciting yet nerve-wracking time for your child. They will be leaving their preschool for a new environment, meeting new friends and teachers, and adapting to new routines. This can be an overwhelming experience – but it doesn't have to be so.
To support your child in having an enjoyable start to primary school, preparation is key (no, not in the form of assessment books). Here are some practical tips to ease the transition and spark joy in their new adventure!
Take Time to Prepare Your Child for the Start of Primary 1
Have open conversations with your child about their feelings and validate their emotions about going to P1. How do they feel about starting P1? If they are nervous, what is causing this feeling? How confident do they feel about doing things in school independently? Where do their strengths and interests lie?
Spending time listening to, understanding, and encouraging your child will help you to assess their concerns and overall starting point. Listen to their stories about school, their thoughts on friendships, and their feelings. Make eye contact as you listen. This process will also help your child to feel safe and supported and thus build a stronger parent-child relationship.
Assure them that you will work through new challenges with them, be it learning, packing their school bag, or getting used to new routines.
Refer to the conversation starters in MOE's Parenting for Wellness Toolbox for Parents to get started!
For a smooth transition to P1, children need certain skills, values, a positive learning attitude, an established support system, and consistent routines at home. Hence, it is important to help your child develop holistically so that they will be ready for P1.
Here are some tips to get started.
Build social-emotional competencies and strong values
An emotionally secure child is well placed to learn better in school. Nurture your child to:
- Identify, express and manage their emotions in a healthy way.
- Know the value of thinking before acting.
- Recognise that actions have consequences.
These can help your child to develop accountability and a sense of responsibility, which are important for them to take charge of their own learning.
As learning is often a social activity, your child will have a better learning experience if they can interact with their peers respectfully and appropriately. This includes knowing how to show care and respect for others, taking turns, expressing their thoughts and feelings, and knowing how and when to seek help from trusted adults.
Children learn best when they get to practise.
- Guide your child to practise these values and actions in their everyday interactions.
- Model how your child can express their emotions and use words to label their big feelings, such as feeling "scared", "angry', or "anxious".
- Share how you feel on bad days, so your child knows that they are not alone in experiencing big feelings. You could also encourage them to express their feelings through other forms such as drawing.
Establish healthy habits and consistent routines at home
To help your child get accustomed to their new school routine, it may be helpful to instil some of these routines at home in the lead up to P1:
- Build independence: Teach your child how to pack their school bag for preschool the night before and how to put on their uniform and shoes in the morning. Have them do so with minimal assistance thereafter.
- Focus on tasks: Set aside a conducive space at home to encourage writing/drawing and develop their focus to complete tasks.
- Sleep well: Establish an early and regular bedtime to ensure they get ample rest to be ready to learn in school.
- Responsible screen use: Set boundaries for digital use by restricting access to digital devices and provide supervision during the limited access (less than one hour a day of educational content for children 18 months to six years as guided by MOH's Guidance for Screen Use in Children). As major social media services require users to be at least 13 years old, parents should note this and restrict your child's access to these platforms appropriately. Engage and support your child with regular conversations about screen use and balance screen use with physical activities, allocating downtime after school for a "brain break" for activities they enjoy, outside of screen-related activities.
Your child may also feel more confident to start P1 if they have a better idea of what to expect in the new school. Role-play with your child some common scenarios that they may encounter in school, such as buying food.
Develop the joy of learning
Compared to a preschool setting, your child would need to adjust to longer school hours with a more structured learning environment at P1. Help your child adjust to these changes by building their independence and explaining the importance of following classroom rules – they are in place to help them learn better.
A child who enjoys learning will be more receptive and adapt faster to their new learning environment. Promote an intrinsic joy of learning to build their confidence and love for discovery. Engage your child in different fun and hands-on activities that spark their curiosity, such as:
- exploring nature or role-playing characters in storybooks (in both English Language and their Mother Tongue Language);
- visiting the library and taking part in the storytelling sessions; and
- encouraging questions, allowing mistakes, breaking tasks into smaller steps, resisting the urge to jump in too quickly when your child struggles, and celebrating small achievements of theirs throughout the process to help your child stay confident and excited about learning.
Reinforce fundamental skills taught in preschool – and knowing when enough is enough
Preschools prepare children well for learning at the start of P1. These are some of the basic concepts in early literacy and numeracy at the start of P1, which most children should be able to achieve:
- English Language: Recognise some letters of the alphabet and some common words (e.g., "I", "at", "is"), write their names, and copy words, phrases or short sentences.
- Mother Tongue Language (MTL): Use familiar MTL greeting phrases (e.g., "good morning"), understand and follow one- to two-step verbal instructions in MTL.
- Mathematics: Recite 1 to 10 in the right order, recognise these numbers in numerals and words, as well as compare quantities between two groups of objects within 10 (e.g., whether one group has "more", "less" or the "same" as the other).
There may be some children who require closer support to meet these expectations. To facilitate a smoother P1 transition, you could provide opportunities at home for your child to practise these skills – which are taught in preschool – to reinforce them.
A common pitfall parents may make is overly preparing their children academically, such as getting them to complete assessment books or attend academic enrichment or tuition classes. However, children who have already learnt the material prior to it being covered in the classroom may become bored and lose their joy of learning, which may affect their learning attitude.
P1 teachers are trained to provide differentiated support to children with varying levels of readiness. They can offer your child extra support in the classroom, if needed. There are also support programmes to help children who need additional help.
There are no weighted assessments and exams in P1 and P2 to give children more time to settle into a formal school setting and to develop necessary skills and learning dispositions. Instead of administering your own "tests" at home, try creating opportunities for your child to explore, ask questions, and develop a natural love for learning.
Be Present in Your Child's School Life
It is important to communicate with your child to understand how they are experiencing P1 and if they are facing any issues at school. At the same time, communicate with your child's teachers too as they can share about your child's behaviour, strengths and weaknesses in school. Work together with them to align expectations at home so that your child can grow and develop with a set of consistent expectations. At the same time, you could use these opportunities to get feedback on how your child is coping with the P1 curriculum and request to be kept informed on their progress in school.
A strong school-home partnership will enable you to better understand your child's experiences and challenges, and work together with the school to support your child.
For an overview of how to better prepare our children and raise them to be happy, confident and kind, read more here: Guidelines for School-Home Partnership .