How can you support transition from home?
What can you do at home to prepare for the transition to Year 1?
As a parent, the prospect of settling your child into their new class is probably a lot less daunting than it was getting ready for their first day of school. But for some children, the transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to year 1 (Y1) can be trickier than starting school was in the first place.
When it comes to preparing your child for the transition from Reception to Year 1, here are a few simple steps we recommend you to take to help;
Talk about the changes. Explain to your child that they will be moving to a new classroom, learning new things and having a new teacher. Ask them if they have any questions about starting their first year of school and give them some reassuring answers.
Try some games and activities that can help them develop skills they need for Year 1, such as writing, counting, and reading.
- Working on telling the time (o'clock and half past)
- Beginning to encourage your child to count in twos, fives and 10s, and talking to them about concepts like ‘more than’ and ‘less than’.
- Practising handwriting and pencil control.
- Encouraging them to keep up with reading to you on a regular basis, for example by going to the library once a week and choosing new books.
The EYFS is the current statutory curriculum for all children under five in England and Wales. It outlines the standards for care, learning and development; ensuring that all early years settings are following the same values and principles for young children’s education. Therefore, your child’s pre-school learning experiences, whether that be with a nursery, pre-school or childminder, were probably very similar to the kinds of activities and learning that took place throughout their time in Reception.
In contrast, the learning in Y1 is split up into subjects, such as English, maths, science and art. The learning is more adult-led and the routines of the day are often more structured in order to fit all the subjects in, so the children have less choice about what they can do.
For lots of children, the biggest challenge is that they are expected to spend considerably more time sitting still and paying attention. You might find that your child appears more tired at the end of the school day, their sleep may be disrupted, they might not want to go to school, they might need more time to run around and ‘let off steam’, or homework tasks could become more of a struggle.