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By Sarah Peterman and Heather Bragg
The First Day of School
Summer is slowly coming to an end. You know what that means? The first day of school.
For veteran school kids, this means excitedly shopping for colorful school supplies, anticipating new teachers and getting reacquainted with classmates. But for former kindergartners, it means spending an entire day with strangers in an unfamiliar setting — away from mom.
The best way to combat the first-day-of-school jitters is to make an unfamiliar situation more familiar. Take advantage of the school’s open house. Take your new big kid for a visit, find the classroom, bathrooms and cafeteria.
Meeting the teacher is another way to calm anxiety. While your child will be surrounded with strange faces the first day of school, knowing who the teacher is will give your new student at least one familiar face.
Shopping for school supplies together is a great way to help children get excited about the coming school year. The more involved they are with this process, the less likely it is that they will be nervous. Picking out fun pencils, new folders and a cool lunch box will help to prepare your child before school has even started.
Developing a schedule similar to the one your child will have at school is another way to help begin the adjustment process. If they wake up, eat and go to bed around the same time, they will during the school year, too. It’s one less “new” thing.
Most importantly, parents, stay calm. If you seem nervous, your child will sense that and be nervous, too. Have all of the supplies, clothes and everything laid out the night before. Take lots of pictures and remind your child that it’s going to be a grand adventure.
First-Day Jitters
Most likely, parents will be more afraid of the first day of school than their children. To help them get ready for their big adventure, let them pick out their school supplies, talk to them about what to expect and tour the school.
SOURCES: www.wikihow.com, www.ehow.com
DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES
Newborn-6 months:
- From 1-3 months: Lifts head when lying on stomach, responds to sound, oohs and aahs, smiles and laughs, holds head at 45-degree angle and rolls over from stomach to back.
- From 4-6 months: Can bear weight on legs, smiles and laughs, grasps a toy, imitates sounds, recognizes own name, ready for solid food, crawling and jabbers.
7-9 months:
- From 7-9 months: Sits without support, jabbers or combines syllables, says “mama” and “dada,” waves goodbye, crawls with belly off the ground, stands alone for a couple of seconds, understands “no,” and stoops from standing position.
13-18 months:
- From 13-15 months: Uses two words skillfully (i.e. “hi” and “bye”), eats with fingers, points to one body part when asked, walks backward, scribbles with a crayon and says “no” a lot.
- From 16-18 months: Turns pages of a book, throws tantrums, switches from two naps to one, uses six words regularly, speaks more clearly, throws a ball overhand and shows signs of toilet training readiness.
19-24 months:
- From 19-21 months: Uses a spoon and fork, runs, understands as many as 200 words, feeds doll, can walk upstairs, names several body parts, kicks ball forward and can walk downstairs.
- From 22-24 months: Follows two-step requests, does simple puzzles, puts on loosefitting clothing, might be ready for a big bed, uses up to 70 words, opens doors, asks “why.”
2 years:
- Walks alone
- Pulls toys behind while walking
- Carries large toy or several toys while walking
- Begins to run
- Stands on tiptoe
- Kicks a ball
- Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
- Walks up and down stairs holding on to support
- Points to object or picture when it’s named for him
- Recognizes names of familiar people, objects and body parts
- Uses two- to four-word sentences
- Repeats words overheard in conversation
3 to 4 years:
- Hops and stands on one foot up to 5 seconds
- Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
- Kicks ball forward
- Throws ball overhand
- Copies square shapes
- Draws a person with body parts
- Uses scissors
- Begins to copy some capital letters
- Understands the concepts of “same” and “different”
3 to 4 years:
Every child develops differently, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when or how he or she will perfect a given skill. Alert your pediatrician, however, if your child displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range.
- Cannot throw a ball overhand
- Cannot jump in place
- Cannot ride a tricycle
- Cannot grasp a crayon between thumb and fingers
- Has difficulty scribbling
- Cannot stack four blocks
- Still clings or cries whenever his parents leave him
- Shows no interest in interactive games
- Ignores other children
- Doesn’t respond to people outside the family
- Doesn’t engage in fantasy play
- Resists dressing, sleeping, using the toilet
- Lashes out without any self-control when angry or upset
- Cannot copy a circle
- Doesn’t use sentences of more than three words
- Doesn’t use “me” and “you” appropriately
SOURCES: BABYCENTER.COM AND AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
