So starting us off with a very interesting post is Tanja Cilia. You can read her wonderful bio here. Thank you Tanja for joining us today.

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“Are we very nearly almost there yet?” is the question that emanates from the back-seat of a car the minute we set off on a journey with the kids.

Tweaked somewhat, it becomes a mother’s plaintive cry about whether the long summer holidays are anywhere near over yet.

It is a moot point whether or not she asks this because she knows she’s going to miss the kids – or because she wants them out of her hair.

There is a poem called The Lesson, by Roger McGough, in which a teacher murders his pupils in order to “teach them a lesson” about behaviour and obedience. This poem is supposed to be funny – and contains such stanzas as;

Then sword in hand he hacked his way
between the chattering rows
“First come, first severed” he declared
“fingers, feet or toes”

and

He threw the sword at a latecomer
it struck with deadly aim
then pulling out a shotgun
he continued with his game…

To a child who has never been to a school, this prospect is not the stuff of nightmares.
He is in awe that that dreary, depressing, desolate place his older friends disappear into when the holidays are over.

And now it’s his turn. And the Fear of the Unknown raises its ugly head.

He does not know what to expect -although he may have heard his siblings grumble about their inordinate amounts of homework, followed by the fateful words “I hate school!”

Moreover, he may have heard you heave a sigh of relief the minute the school doors closed upon his sibling(s) and anyone else on your school run – so to him, this translates into the sentiment that “School is a juvenile prison where kids are kept while adults have peace and quiet, watch television or perhaps go shopping, and meet friends for coffee…”

There are, however, some things that may be done in order to counteract this outlook – beginning from the Boy Scout Movement’s “Be Prepared”. This includes, but is not limited to, role-play, where the child acts the teacher, and you are the pupil.

The Ten-Point Plan starts here:

1. Be Prepared. Before you utter one word against a teacher, a teaching method, a school, a textbook, or thea homework, of an older child, twist your head around as far as it will go, in both directions. Look under the beds and inside the cupboards. If there are no children in the room, give vent. If there is a toddler within earshot, hold your horses. But be lavish with praise about anything that is school-related.
2. Read with the child. It does not matter what you read – the name of a vehicle; the label on a bottle of water; the motto on a t-shirt; the street signs or posters for a play or a film; the headlines of a newspaper. The child will associate the squiggly signs with sounds, and may even begin to recognise some of them, especially if they “belong” to his name. For more information on reading, please read our Encouraging Reading series
3. Sing. Even if you cannot carry a tune in a bucket, you have you sing. This encourages the child to do likewise – and consequently builds her vocabulary and auditory capabilities.
4. Talk. Even when you can’t stand the combined chatter of a radio, a television set or two, and the dog’s irrational yelping, you have to talk to the child, and give him the confidence to reply. Do not accept monosyllabic answers.
5. Make it clear to the child that he lives within a community; this prepares him to share things with his peers, and also teaches him that the world does not revolve around him. Make sure he knows how to sit at one place for a period of time, since structured learning requires this.
6. Go for walks in your immediate neighbourhood, and ask him to lead you back home. Show him the homes of friends, and talk about them (nicely!) This, too, builds language and inter-personal skills.
7. Count. Apples in the crate, people in a queue, eggs in the basket, colours in the box, fingers and toes, ants on the garden wall – this is a fun introduction to numeracy.
8. Be messy. Playing with water, sand, or paints teaches dexterity and eye-to-hand co-ordination. It also gives a rudimentary sense of volume, length, and area.
9. Be creative. Talk about other uses for ordinary things (you can make a necklace out of pasta or cereal hoops), and encourage the child to use his imagination to create projects with as little help from you as possible. If a child knows how to use a paint brush, it will help him use a pencil and a fork better, later.
10. Make sure the child knows how to interact with peers as well as with the adults he’s so far used to, in his immediate circle. Being sociable is very different from being cheeky. A shy child may be teased or shunned in class, reinforcing the feeling that school is an unpleasant, lonely place to be.

Then, once the toddler is safely ensconced in class, you may guilelessly, gleefully and guiltlessly…watch television, go shopping, or stop by at your friend’s for coffee… or simply relish your new-found peace and quiet…. unless you have a baby in the house!

by Tanja Cilia

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