Helpful Tips on Preparing your Child for Nursery School

What is the appropriate age of a child to start for nursery school? How young is the child to start schooling? These questions are  the typical questions that most parents ask and wonder when they have little children that are nearly on the way for schooling. This year I decided to enroll my three-year old son who is turning four this October in a nearby learning center for nursery. Let me share my experience and the reason what makes us decide to enroll him at that age.

Filipino toddler in learning center

Every child grows at different size and levels but what I have noticed in today’s children; they are so advanced and different especially their behavior compared in my childhood times. Let’s face it, nowadays the world is changing so fast and advanced. Being advanced, I regard these as a way to teach my child early and help him learn the first teachings in school.

My husband and I decided to enroll my son in a learning center because we think that it is best to introduce him to small group first. His pediatrician also recommended that it is best for small group first so that he will not be overwhelm with too many children and to avoid getting sick easily.

With the new K-12 educational program by the Philippine Department of Education, additional two years are added before a student can graduate from High school. This will lengthen the education of the students so some say that preparing your child early for school will be a great help. In my experience with the enrollment of my son for nursery school, most of the students enrolled there were about three to four years old.

Helpful Tips on Preparing your Child for Nursery School

• Expose your child to a playgroup. This way a child can start to make friends, play with his playgroup and start to observe discipline. You can enroll him in a toddler’s playgroup or you can simply invite his playmates in your house to play with him. There are many ways to form a playgroup. You can try to form a small playgroup in your community or in the event. Introducing them to a playgroup may help them to be independent in school to avoid crying when you are not around.
• Play Nursery Rhymes and Videos. Children loves music and these will help them easily remember letters, words, objects and phrases. You can do this at home at least two to three times a week. These encourages the child’s enthusiasm to participate singing or dancing in school.
• Teach them the fun way with Alphabet and Numbers. You can post colorful alphabets and numbers on the wall of your bedroom then read while you play or rest with your child. Educational toys such as alphabet blocks or number train is helpful too. If your child can identify letters or numbers, another fun way is to introduce him to puzzle word/ object games.
• Collect different children story books and read it with your child. Children loves to hear stories and with reading, it will help them increase their vocabulary and can learn good lesson from the story.
• Train your child to eat and finish breakfast before anything else. With good breakfast, it will help them to be energize in school with good mood.
• Before the start of the class, visit the classroom or learning center with your child. While inside the room, tell him good things about the room and the things that he can expect. It will give the child an idea or familiarity of the place when he is about to start in school.
• Introduce your child to his teacher and classmates. Children always obey parents. When we personally introduce our child to his teacher and some classmates, he will remember that and may help them get along easily.

The list above are the Helpful Tips on Preparing your Child for Nursery School that I found effective based on my experience. Now the next important thing that I should work on with my child is his behavior in school. I am still on discovery period for the behavioral patterns that my son is showing in school so it is too early to act.