School enrollment
First graders face a lot of new challenges
The school is set, the first day of school is underlined in red on the calendar. Anticipation and expectations, but also tension, are in the air. You're probably wondering how you can make the new school routine as easy as possible for your daughter or son. Read here how you can best support the transition from nursery child to schoolchild.
A new phase of life for parents too
The start of school marks a big step into a new phase of life. You may have mixed feelings at the thought of having to let go of your child for a while. But you should trust your child and their growing independence. Thanks to the accompanied transition at the daycare center, your child is well prepared for starting school. As far as everyday family life is concerned, you may have to make some changes.
Many things will be based on the timetable, upcoming school appointments, the full-day program and homework. The new daily routine and weekly rhythm need to be reconciled with family and work.
As with all changes, it takes some time for everyone involved to adjust to the new situation. But you will see that with good organization and a portion of composure, the whole family usually gets used to the school routine very quickly.
Tips for parents: How you can support your child in a meaningful way!
The start of school is a major milestone in your child's development. Your child is probably already impatiently looking forward to "finally" learning to write, read and do maths. As a parent, you have many opportunities to increase the anticipation of starting school and support your child. We have compiled the most important ideas for you:
-
Take away the excitement
Take away your child's excitement by radiating calm yourself. Perhaps tell your son or daughter how you experienced starting school yourself? Take a look at your own school enrolment photos together.
-
Awaken anticipation thoughtfully
Describe what the start of school will be like and what exciting things your child can expect in Year 1. However, avoid making the start of school the dominant topic in front of your child at the kitchen table.
-
Matching school bag
Choose a nice school bag together that your child likes. In addition to the design, you should pay attention to the right size and wearing comfort. You can find tips for choosing on the Familienportal.NRW.
-
Materials required
Fill the school bag together with your child. Choose the exercise books, pens and books together. You will usually receive a list of the required materials from the elementary school in advance.
-
Safe route to school
You can also practise the safe route to the new school together a few weeks beforehand. The article on school route training on the Familienportal.NRW describes everything you need to bear in mind.
-
Promotion of the sleep rhythm
If your child has to get up much earlier for school than usual, it is advisable to shift the daily rhythm with getting up and going to bed times in small steps in the right direction one to two weeks before school starts.
-
School cone as a surprise
A lovely tradition for starting school is a colorful school bag filled with little surprises for the big day. Still looking for ideas? These could be (not too many) sweets such as their favorite chocolate bar, healthy snacks, fresh fruit, useful things for everyday school life such as a storage or bread box, pretty crayons, a notepad or school friends book or other small things that your child will enjoy such as popular stickers, perhaps a radio play or a book for beginning readers.
-
Prepare your school bag daily
When school has started: Pack your child's satchel the evening before and think together about what they will need the next day. This will make the start of the next morning much more relaxed. In the evening, take everything out of the satchel that is not needed. This way, the load for your child is not unnecessarily heavy.
-
Strengthen self-confidence
Encourage and praise your child as often as possible - even for small successes. Comparing performance with other children does not help your child,
-
Healthy balance
Make sure you get enough exercise during the day and enough sleep at night.
-
Balanced breakfast
Plan enough time for a healthy breakfast in the morning.
-
Interest in the child's experiences
Listen carefully to your child and regularly ask about their experiences at school without probing.
Starting school is expensive: families get financial help here
Parents incur a number of costs when purchasing new school supplies. School bags, sports equipment, exercise books and drawing materials can quickly add up to 100 euros or more. What many parents don't know: Families with low incomes are entitled to a financial subsidy from the so-called education and participation package.
Under certain conditions, you will receive a grant for the purchase of learning materials in two installments at the beginning of the first half of the school year in August and at the beginning of the second half of the school year in February. An explanatory film on the Education and Participation Packageas well as further detailed information on how to apply can be found here on the Familienportal.NRW under "My applications".
What to do if our child has problems with the transition?
Stay patient and give your child time to settle in. If you have the feeling that your child is having problems attending school beyond the usual initial difficulties, it is best to speak directly to your child's class teacher about your concerns.
The teachers are experienced educational professionals and can assess your child well. You can discuss what you can do together to help your daughter or son. For more serious problems, you can also consult the school psychological service. You can find information and contacts at www.schulpsychologie.nrw.de.
Further information Links to read more
TIPS TO DOWNLOAD
