March 17, 2025

How to Help Your Child Transition from Preschool to Primary School

The preschool to primary school transition is a big one. Exciting, yes, but also potentially daunting for parents. You likely have a ton of questions!

Will your child adapt to a more structured environment? Follow the academic curriculum? Thrive with the increased independence and socialisation in a bigger setting?

Don’t worry – you can ensure your child is ready and prepared for it in advance. With our tips, your child can handle the transition to primary school – and possibly even find it a fun experience!

Before anything else: understand the change 

To prepare your child for the step up, you should understand it yourself. Specifically, you should know what’s changing with the K2 to P1 transition.

Primary school has differently structured days compared to preschool. The classroom setting is more formal, and lessons are more regimented. 

Time spent in formal classroom settings in primary school is also longer than in preschool, where children would have a mix of indoor and outdoor activities, as well as multiple sessions of games and free play sessions. Your child will need to sustain focus and attention for longer periods of time after the move up.

P1 also introduces unsupervised free time with recess. You should give your child an idea of what this means, as he/she will have to manage his/her meals and socialisation there.

The same goes for your child’s belongings and schoolwork. Children typically handle these themselves upon entering P1. This will eventually transition into doing their own homework independently and managing preparation for assessments later on in the year!

Tip 1: Build independence and good habits

Your child will navigate the first day of primary school and the new physical environment without you. That’s why you need to work on preparing him/her for it ahead of time. 

Encourage your child to begin doing things on his/her own, to start with. It can be as small as having your child pack his/her own school bag. Here are other ideas that you can try: 

• Have children organise their belongings at home. It’s a great way to practise tidiness while also encouraging independence.
• Teach children how to buy their own food. Bring them to stalls or shops and guide them through the steps in ordering food, paying for it, and collecting their change. This will build their confidence for their first attempts in P1! 
• Ask children to help with clean-up after meals. This is another good way to build the responsibility and independence they’ll need at recess.

Tip 2: Develop your child’s social skills

Socialisation in a bigger setting is a key change for the transition to primary school. You can help your child manage it better by building his/her social skills in advance. 

Start exposing your child to larger-but-curated social groups. Guide him/her in recognising social cues in them and how to interact with others appropriately. 

Schedule playdates with more new friends as well. It’s a good way to take the anxiety out of new meetings or acquaintances. 

The same goes for playdates in new places. You can take the fear out of new environments by exposing your child to more of them early on.

Collaborative activities are options as well. Here at My Little Campus, we provide K2 children in particular with more group activities to build teamwork and collaboration. This shows them how to work together with others towards a shared goal. It also offers various opportunities for our children to strengthen their social skills.

Don’t forget to act as a role model too. Use friendly and polite phrases with others, introduce yourself to people, and ask for others’ permission when appropriate. Showing this to your child will shape his/her own behaviour.

Tip 3: Explain the concept of rules and instructions

Rules and instructions probably aren’t new to your child by this age. At My Little Campus, for example, we introduce the concept of classroom rules in our learning environment to our preschoolers.

However, primary school will give your child more rules than ever. Remembering and following these can be a challenge in itself for some children, but it helps if your child understands what’s expected. Try explaining to him/her how the classroom setting works and what the standard instructions are.

You can also help your child by giving him/her instructions to follow at home. This helps him/her with following guidelines, whether for chores or daily routines. 

For example, you can have your child clean up the play area before going to bed. Or you can ask him/her to help you with setting the table during dinner time. All of this gets a child used to routines and rules.

Tip 4: Build literacy and numeracy

This is going to be a core part of your child’s primary education. That’s why you should build a foundation in literacy and numeracy early – it can make a big difference in your child’s academics!

Some easy ways to do this include encouraging children to read or do word puzzles. For numeracy, there are also numeric games and number-based activities. 

At My Little Campus, we use various academic activities to prepare our children for the Primary 1 curriculum. We even add bilingual literacy to the range of skills we build early on.

Tip 5: Get your child excited about P1

A large part of making the preschool to primary school transition​ successful has to do with your child’s attitude going into it. What does he/she expect?

Luckily, you can shape that. Share positive info or your own good primary school experiences with your child to encourage excitement. Here are some things to talk about:

• How you made friends with classmates
• How you enjoyed playing games with your friends at recess
• Your favourite teachers in primary school
• The fun new subjects you were introduced to
• Entertaining activities and projects you took part in

This is good emotional preparation for your little learner. Your child will start looking forward to primary school as a milestone worth experiencing!

Tip 6: Introduce the new environment in advance

This is another thing worth doing ahead of time to prevent anxiety about the change. Bring your child to the school’s open house! 

This will show your child the actual school environment and grounds. It’s a chance to introduce the different areas like the courtyard and canteen too. 

You can even prep your child for the school commute. Take him/her along for a drive to the school to simulate the drop-off and pick-up. Or you can also plot out the expected school bus route together in advance!

Tip 7: Set consistent routines

One to two months before the start of primary school, give your child a regular routine to get used to. This includes regular bedtime and wake-up times. 

Try setting up a sustainable routine of getting dressed and eating breakfast early. Don’t forget to packing your child’s school bag into the routine too. 

The idea is to help your child acclimate to the coming P1 routine well in advance. It becomes less of a shock or disruption that way. By the time the first day of primary school arrives, it will feel like second nature to him/her.

Let us help you and your child prepare for P1

The transition to primary school is an exciting time for you and your child. The right preschool teachers and curriculum can be of great help to you here. 

If you want a preschool that supports you in the transition, consider My Little Campus. We have programmes that build children’s skills not just academically but also socially.

Enquire with us to learn more about our programmes today. We may have just what your child needs to prepare for primary school effectively.