Three Things You Should Do To Prepare Your Child For School

Sending your kid out in the big wide world is a nerve wracking experience for any parent. The best you can do is to prepare them as much as you can for what they might face. Schools are generally very good at introducing your child to academic pursuits as well allowing them to expand their social horizons. However, they can be hard to transition into for young children. Luckily there are a lot of things you can do to help ease this move and ensure they are safe as they go to school on their first day.

Skin Prick Testing

For those unfamiliar with the term skin prick testing is something that any local dermatologist can perform. It may sound painful but in reality there is almost no pain at all in skin prick testing. It is used to check if your child has any of the most common allergies. The skin will be lightly pricked (barely even noticeable) and an allergen placed on the exposed skin. If the skin reacts then specific tests can be performed to see if your kid is allergic to that allergen or if it was a false positive. Skin prick testing ensures that your child doesn't enter school with an undiagnosed allergy that could frighten them quite a bit if they encounter it for the first time away from you.

Preschool 

Preschool is the perfect way to transition your child from unstructured supervision to more rigid structures that they will encounter in school. Of course this "rigid structure" is still very relaxed and your child wont be stressed at the workload. It is just good to teach them the principles about learning, how to interact with other kids their age and some of the procedures common at schools that aren't present at daycares or home. Preschool typically only lasts for a year before the start of your child's school career so it is not a long term commitment either.

Reading

The first few years of school for children is most geared around refining their basic skills such as reading, writing and simple mathematics. By giving your child a leg up through teaching them how to read at a younger age you allow them to start one step ahead of the curriculum and put them on the front foot. It doesn't take long to do either and many children love the idea of learning to read. After all, stories are such an important part of their lives so why wouldn't they want to learn how to read? Try it slowly and give them a lot of encouragement as they progress.

For more information, contact a trusted dermatologist, such as Darwin Dermatology.