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TygerBurger approached Prof Rouaan Maarman, Deputy Dean of Research in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape, to find out what coping mechanisms parents, teachers and children attending school for the first time can apply, for their first day of school and academic year.
Many moms and dads will see their little ones go to school for the very first time this year. This can be a daunting experience for both children and parents, although there are ways in which one can prepare to deal with this stressful situation well.
TygerBurger approached Prof Rouaan Maarman, Deputy Dean of Research in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape, to find out what coping mechanisms parents, teachers and children attending school for the first time can apply, for their first day of school and academic year.
Q: What should parents keep in mind when sending their child to school for the first time, what are some of the things that they should prepare their children for?
A: Schools nowadays provide parents with a lot of information to read on how the school operates and what the expectations of parents are. Parents are also invited to orientation sessions and meet-and-greet sessions with the particular class teachers. The ideal would be a smooth transition from ECD centres into schools for Grade R or Grade 1.
There are two important factors that parents should note when preparing to start formal schooling with their children. The first one revolves around supporting your child at home with as many school activities as possible and to be really in the know of what the school expects for them. Secondly, parents should reach out to class teachers whenever they feel that they do not understand something relating to the child’s experience. These two factors will ensure the home and school contexts merge into a supportive space to pursue success at school. Building and strengthening that relationship is the first important focus area for parents.
Q: The first day is always overwhelming for the little ones. How can parents and teachers approach the first day to ease the separation anxiety? What can be done to calm both child and parent?
A: To attend to first-day anxieties, parents should invest in preparing the child at home through regular informal conversations in the preceding weeks of that first day. In that way children will not see that first day as a daunting experience. This desensitising phase usually helps allay initial anxieties.
Most children are very excited about attending “big school” and usually cannot wait for the day to come. However, we do find that if the school environment is totally new there may be some anxiety. Children must have the opportunity to ask questions about the new school, and parents can use those questions as engagement moments to address the build-up phase.
Lastly, it is also important for parents to read some material on anxieties of children in general, but also on those of parents. These are regularly available on the internet, and investing some time to understand the phenomenon usually helps the conversations at home.
Q: Academic work is a lot different from the work dealt with at ECDs. How best can you prepare your child for his or her first year of school academically and are there some tips they can follow to best prepare them?
A: One should recognise that the current learning level of the child is already set. One cannot do much during this holiday to prepare them better for academic work. There should rather be a focus on engaging conversations (at the level of the child) about the new exciting experience starting in January.
Reading with your child has proven to be one of the best indicators of early success in the foundation phase of schooling. Except academic, there are many other benefits stemming from this practice, for example, feelings of safety and that an adult is sharing this experience with me, bonding about academics and the stories they read together, discussions of the stories about life in general as well as academic or school work and most importantly, stimulating the child’s mind to pursue their inquisitive nature that all children possess. Engagements about this new experience at home should be kept light and positive.
