April 16, 2024

The Checklist: What every child needs in preparation for Primary 1

Is your child about to enter primary school? Congratulations, that’s quite a milestone! 

As with all milestones, you’re probably feeling some nerves about it, though – and that’s all right. The first step into formal education is a big one for your child. You would be remiss not to have some worries about it!

Fortunately, preparing for Primary 1 or P1 isn’t that difficult. To prove it, we’ll show you how to prepare your child for Primary 1 using a checklist prepared by our own early childhood educators at My Little Campus.

1. The fundamentals of literacy and numeracy

In Primary 1, children will start taking on specific subjects like English, Maths, and Chinese or Mother Tongue. To do that, they need a good base from which to work – one that’s founded on their ability to read, write, and do numbers. 

That’s why our academically based curriculum at My Little Campus is so effective at preparing children for Primary 1, in fact. We lay solid foundations for children’s literacy and numeracy so they can move on to P1 with confidence.

2. The ability to focus 

The primary classroom setting is different from the preschool one. In most cases, student-teacher ratios will be much higher, which means teachers will be able to provide less individualised attention.

As such, your child needs the ability to understand and follow instructions independently, as teachers will do less hand-holding at this stage. With longer classes, your child will also need to sustain his focus for longer periods of time than before. 

A good way to build this ability at home is to give your child small tasks with detailed instructions. Give him/her a puzzle toy to solve, perhaps, or a simple chore like organising his toys. Start off by guiding him/her through each task until he/she follows through, then start letting him/her complete the tasks on his/her own over time. 

This trains children to work independently as well as keep their attention on a task until it’s done, which will serve them well in Primary 1. 

3. Training and readiness for new routines

Your child will have a lot of new routines in primary school. From packing his/her own belongings to buying his/her own food, this represents a lot of changes – and children don’t always do well with those.

There are ways to prepare your child, though. First, try to get him/her mentally ready for it. Talk to him/her about what the school day will be like, to start familiarising him/her with what will happen.

Most schools will actually help by assigning a buddy to your child. However, some children may still feel overwhelmed and lost, so it’s best to prepare them for the new routines as much as possible.

You can even try simulating the routines at home. Let your child pack his/her own bags several weeks before the first day of P1, for example. You can also try letting him/her buy food at a food court the next time you go out to eat, which is similar to what he/she will do in school.

4. Social and emotional preparedness

You should also make sure that your child is socially and emotionally equipped for primary school. This change will bring new social opportunities as well as challenges. 

To that end, try talking to your child early on about the possibilities. Explain that he/she will meet new people, make new friends, and even discover people who disagree with him/her on many things. Talk about how to handle each of these in a healthy way.

Above all, impress on him/her that you’ll always be there for support. Let him/her know that if he/she experiences big feelings due to the transition, you’ll be happy to listen or help him/her deal with those too.

5. The actual school paraphernalia

And of course, we can’t forget this. Your child needs gear! 

Your primary school will usually help with this by giving you a book list and checklist of requirements. You can use those to guide your shopping, which should generally include these:

• Notebooks
• A pencil case with stationery such as pencils, eraser, ruler, etc
• A school bag
• A labeller (to make labelling your child’s items easier)
• A lunchbox for snacks 
• Emergency contact cards with protective sleeves (for safety)

Take your child with you to shop for these items too! It’s a good way to get him/her excited about this next stage in his/her educational journey.

We can help you prepare your child for P1 early on

On the whole, holistic preparation is important for the transition to primary school. That means you shouldn’t just think about the material items but also your child’s emotional, psychological, and social readiness for what’s next. 

If you want more help preparing your child for the change, it’s best to start as early as possible. Enrol your child in our programmes at My Little Campus and we can work on all of the fundamentals he/she needs early on – from his/her academic readiness to his/her independence.

Learn more about our curriculum and how we get children ready for their P1 journeys. Enquire about My Little Campus’s programmes today!