Child enter Primary 1 - what to prepare and expect

When my son starts his grade one, I thought it won't make any huge difference as he was with the same school for pre-primary and upgrading a level will be more or less same. But I was wrong. Going grade one means bigger challenges, for  both parents and children's.

So there are few things I need prepare for our children and some mental preparation for ourself.

Firstly, we must bear in mind that our children is still small. 5 years old is still tender and mostly a playing age, and for them to monitor their stuff is a big no-no. To ease the monitoring, thought of labeling his stuff would help and yes it did.

 

Basically he needs to bring few text, activity books, files  and note books. Apart from it, full stationery and color pencil set. The large one is meant for files and books and the small ones are for all loose stationeries. Furthermore, the books looks more presentable compare to handwritten as mommy has a bad handwriting 😛

 

 

 I noticed that choosing books according to timetable is also an issue as my everyday my husband or myself has to help in picking the correct book for the next day. Later I print out the label with different color for different subject, and thank got later it ease him to fetch the books himself. More independent but of course, I will do the final checking not to miss the important books or papers.

During his pre-primary stage, there were little homeworks or next to nil parents interest needed, but for stage 1 is quite different. During the 2nd week of schooling, teachers have started to distribute courseworks. It is more or less like teen's assignment. 5 years old doing assignment? Obviously it's the parents duty to make sure they did, hence the coaching, guiding and planning all take into place. These assignment carry 30% marks and exam will carry 70%. 

English coursework is about butterflies 🦋need to make one using paper and wood spoon and elobrate the facts about them. Geography coursework is about four seasons ~ max 10 pages of scrapbook. Science coursework is about animals living in sea, Antarctica, tropical area, and savannah. Need to choose any of their habitats, draw and elobrate on facts about them. Bahasa melayu coursework is about local fruits. Finally math coursework is about some calculations. 

His school practice coupon type of currency to buy lunch, hence I have to give daily RM8 in school currency. Just in case if I forgot to insert the money which I always worried off, I just keep a small packet of money as a emergency kit. 

 

Later I'll write about the assignments that we have made together. 😉