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A Back-to-School List for Parents: Five Tips to Prep

Helping Your Children Stay OrganizedBack-to-school is around the corner, but don’t be daunted by the transition from summer fun to school schedule. Children take their cues from their parents, so it’s key for US to get into the back-to-school mind-set first. Here are my pain-free prep tips for parents – our stressless adjustment will filter down to the kids, making it smoother for everyone.

Adjust your schedule. Ease back into the more strict school schedule by making the week before school starts a test-run week. Plan for the whole family to adopt more regular mealtimes, bedtimes and tidying-up routines.

Document your summer. Organize photos and mementos of summer adventures. Have everyone help, and display your project. Seeing summer fun all in one place is a concrete way of knowing that it’s time for the next phase.

Organize your home. Organizing the house helps to organize your mind! Get your surroundings into school mode to help you prepare. Reclaim school space by putting away sidewalk chalk and pool floaties, making room for lunch boxes, jackets and school papers. Have the kids help you set aside things they’ve outgrown, label bins and organize. Activities like this cue the whole family that it’s time to move into a new season.

Go shopping. Doctor’s orders! I love being able to use shopping as an excuse to boost psychological adjustment. Back-to-school shopping is a way to psychologically prepare. There’s nothing like buying school supplies or seeing your child fit into the next, larger clothing size to tell you that it’s transition time. Have the kids help you donate their outgrown clothes to those who need them, too.

Get haircuts. Shaggy summer hair is adorable, but fresh, official new haircuts (for Mom and Dad, too) signal it’s time for a fresh, official new schedule.

Is your child ready to go Back to School? Contact Premier Academy Today!

 

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Getting Ready for Pre-K

Importance of School ReadinessThis new journey of preparing your child for Pre-K is a very important time in your child’s life.  If you have placed your child in pre-school, this may be a very easy transition.  At Premier Academy in Omaha and Elkhorn, our goal is to not only help your children but to help our parents!

Pre-K is such a fun time.  Your child is growing up and this new stage in life is so exciting.  Your child is now gaining their independence right before your eyes.  Encouraging this behavior will help prepare your child for grade school and beyond!

Allow your child to “Do-It-Yourself”:

As we all know, doing things yourself is quick and easy but it won’t make your child self-sufficient.   Asking your child for your assistance is a great idea.  Kids want to be adults and will usually not take you up on your offer.

Praise your child for good behavior:

Praise is key; especially if your child is not in a cooperative phase. Try to catch your child being cooperative and helpful.  Kids repeat behaviors that get attention.

Give structured choices:

Preschool is full of choices and options.  From sharing to listening, your child will encounter this all throughout life.  At home, offering your child a choice allows them to make decisions on their own.  Although they will not always make the right decision, they will soon understand the consequence. A great tip for assisting is making an option less attractive.

Don’t redo what they’ve done:

If your child helps around the home, maybe setting the table, making their bed, helping bring in the groceries, keep these positive behaviors going.  Having responsibilities around the home will only help in the classroom.

Problem Solving:

As easy as it is to help our child make an easier decision for assembling a toy or reaching a high object, children need to learn to problem solve.  This can be a major benefit in math and science classes in the future.

Helping Around the Home:

Preschool is all about helping our peers and teachers.  Learning to share and cooperate are a huge part of life.  Giving our children easy chores around the house is a great way to encourage this behavior.  Making a bed or watering the plants is easy ways to start this behavior.

Is your child ready for Pre-K? Contact Premier Academy Today and schedule your tour!

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Evaluating Providers

Helping Children Make FriendsWhen it comes to child care, as a parent, there are a few things you should be looking out for when visiting daycare centers.  We all want to send our child to a high standard, and good working preschool. As parents, we should always want to give our kids the best head start in life, and by far the most effective way to start with this is to send your kids to a high quality child care center. Kids need to socialize with other children from a very young age, it allows them to become familiar to social interaction, sharing and good manners, this is what your child will gain from attending a preschool. Not only will they learn how to act and behave around others, they will learn valuable reading and writing skills.  Statistics show that kids who don’t attend preschools and head straight into schools have a much harder time learning than the children who did attend preschools. These statistics come in very handy when trying to give your kids the best head start in life, and it’s obvious which choice you should make.

When choosing a preschool for your child, you need to note everything you see when you are taken around the preschools:

  • How the teachers and teachers look after children
  • How do they react to children
  • How do they treat children

Another important thing to watch out for; the way teachers greet children, if they do, and see if teachers come down to kids’ eye levels to address them and talk with them. You can usually tell if a carer has a genuine love and passion for young toddlers when you first meet them, you’ll see their body language and the way they act around your kids, and then you will be able to tell if they are committed to their job or not. You want to find a preschool that shows a love for kids, their development, and one that has teachers who address kids in a grown up manner, but they take time to individually acknowledge each child, and help them with their needs, no matter how busy they are.

You’ll need to see how teachers answer your questions, if they do, this will tell you how interested they are in pleasing your needs, and how they pay attention to individual kids behaviors. You’ll also want to note the setting, is the area bright and pleasant? Or is it depressing and dull?  All these things will make a huge difference when it comes to your child actually enjoying the daycare center.

Another must is checking if the center is a licensed daycare or regulated, this will let you know what sort of center you are dealing with.

Overall, you need to get a general logistic feel of the daycare center. Does it make you happy, do you hear the sounds of laughter and fun, or the sound of silence? If the setting is good, the caregivers are exceptional and everything is legitimate, you will have found yourself the perfect childcare  center for your child.

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The First Day of Preschool

7 Play Based Learning Activities to Do With Your ChildThe first day can be hard on both parents and children. For many, it’s the first time that they will have been away from each other for such an extended period of time. Even though many kids will be excited for their first day of preschool, it is important to know that new experiences can bring some apprehensions.

Approaching them the right way will allow both children and parents to feel comfortable with the transition into preschool. Here are a few tips to prepare for the first day of preschool.

  1.  Provide Expectations
    Before the first day, explain social concepts such as waiting in line, teach body parts and count objects in your environment. This knowledge will give your child more confidence for the first day
  2.  Set on Schedule
    Practice wake-up time the week before. Setting the alarm for when your child will need to wake for preschool before will help them get used to the new schedule. If the time is much earlier than normal, your preschooler may need bedtime adjusted earlier as well.
  3.  Visualize the Day
    Thinking about what might come next for school will help your child to feel more empowered and less likely to be upset by surprises on the first day.
  4.  Be Early
    Drop off your preschooler a few minutes early, to allow for one-on-one time with the teacher and time to get acquainted with the room when it’s still calm and quiet, says Adair.
  5.  Communicate
    After the first day has gone by, prepare kids for the next one by asking your child to report back to you after the first day.
  6.  Plan the Night Before
    Rather than rushing in the morning to pack lunches and pick out clothes, have your preschooler help you with these tasks the night before.
  7.  Take a Field Trip
    Get them as familiar with their new school as possible by scheduling a tour or any other options the school may offer. Maybe attend special events that the preschool is holding or schedule a play date with a fellow student who lives nearby.

We want to hear from you. Set up an appointment today and see how much your children will love Premier Academy!

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Is your child ready for preschool?

Children and Technology: Parenting Tips for the Digital AgeMost preschools will start accepting children at around age of 2, but that doesn’t mean your child is ready for preschool when they reach this age. Readiness for preschool has more to do with where your child is developmentally.

A few questions to ask yourself:

Is your child social, emotional, ready to participate in structured programs and do they work well with other children?  At Premier Academy, we understand this is a tough decision.  We have put together a list of questions to ask yourself.  We also recommend speaking with others outside of the home such at your pediatrician, caregivers and family members.

Daily Schedule: 

Preschools usually follow a predictable routine. Children tend to feel comfortable and in control when the same things happen at the same time each day.   If your child doesn’t keep to a schedule and each day is different from the last, it can help to standardize their day a bit before starting preschool Omaha, Nebraska.  This can include meals at a regular time, learning and reading and play time.  Sticking to a standard bath time, nap time and bedtime is also helpful.

Group Activities:

Many preschool activities, like learning time, require that all the children in a class participate at the same time. Listening to story time, looking at shapes and colors and learning numbers require your child to listen and sit still.  This can be very difficult for kids under 3 who enjoy exploring.  If your child isn’t used to group activities, you can start introducing them yourself.  We suggest structured classes such as tee ball, tumbling or even story time at your local library.

Independence:

Preschool requires children to have certain basic skills; most will want your child to be potty trained, for instance. Your child should also be able to take care of some other basic needs, like washing his hands after painting, eating lunch without assistance, and sleeping alone.

Stamina for preschool:

Most preschools offer half-day or full-day programs.  There are art projects to do, field trips to take, and playgrounds to explore. Considering your child’s nap time is extremely important.  Because preschool is structured and nap time is set at a specific time each day, if your child takes a mid-morning nap, it may not be the best time to start school.  Building stamina can be an easy process.  If your schedule is flexible, starting half-day may be the answer.  Gradually increasing the length of their day sometimes helps build their tolerance of moving from activity to activity without being drowsy or cranky.

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