How much screen time will your child will watching/playing over the holidays this year?
School starts back in 5-weeks time and for many children that first day back may be the first time in almost 6 weeks they will use pencil and paper. This article highlights the importance of continuing to practice drawing, writing, colouring in and basic note taking for older students over holiday periods and below are 5 tips to help your child maintain their skills now so they are ready for Term 1, 2017 to begin...
ARTICLE - iPad generation needs to come to grips with pens
31st August 2014 - The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
Back to School TIPS -
1. Use interesting pictures and graphics when colouring in or copying. Kids are more likely to participate if you're asking them to look at their favourate character or designs.
2. To build with better posture for sitting at a desk all day - do some drawing while standing at an easel or window/wall or the fridge. Standing while drawing will build muscles in your child's shoulder (especially when you encourage them to hold their drawing up high).
3. Ask your child to help with novel writing opportunities - birthday cards, Christmas cards, a message for Mum or Dad to find in their work bag and even a simple shopping lists.
4. Focus on one thing at a time - With all the new learning your child will do during the first few weeks of term try to limit the changes to one or two. Choose with changing pencil grip while reducing the time/difficulty of the activity OR ignoring poor pencil grip (for now) and encouraging your child to sit for longer to concentrate on the completing activity.
5. Be interested in their stories about the fun things they did during the day and become engaged with their classroom teacher to discuss the strategies that work well for your child and the observations their teacher has made in the first few weeks.
Allow time for your child to settle into school but please be proactive if there are things your child is struggling to complete during the school day.
Our team are running handwriting, classroom mastery, and school success programs in the weeks before school starts back in 2017. Call our Team today if you'd like to discuss additional strategies or register your interest in these groups.
We value providing education and are happy to chat with
you about specific strategies over the phone
.