New year, new school, new opportunities for growth! Read our article as we share some tried and true tips for parents and children in the lead up to the first day of primary school.
A Whole New World Awaits
New classmates, new teachers, new school environment — your child’s tiny world is about to get a lot bigger. With these changes come opportunities for personal, social and cognitive growth.
The Countdown And Preparation Begins
In these weeks as you count down to your child’s first day of school, you may be wondering, “What will school be like for my child? Will my child be able to cope in the new environment?”
Parents can help by being proactive — research from professionals at Duke University suggests that establishing a strong communication channel with your child’s teachers helps and so does monitoring changes in your child's behaviour or mood when he or she first starts school.
Whether at home or in school, we’ve got some great tips for every stage of preparation that will help you (and your child) pave a smooth journey towards the new school term in January.
1. Create A Routine That Works
Studies have shown that routines help children feel safe and secure. Set up a routine that works for your child — whether it’s a shower before dinner or an afternoon snack before naptime, it’s important that your child gets into a routine that he or she is comfortable with.
2. Identify Friendly Figures In School
Helping your child identify teachers or staff he or she can go to for assistance is important. When your child recognises trustworthy figures of authority, he or she will feel more secure in the new environment.
Related Article: Gear Up For Primary 1
3. Prepare An 'Emergency' Fund
You may want to consider setting aside an “emergency fund” for your child. Placing extra money in a separate wallet or purse to be kept in his or her school bag means that your child will still have access to money if he or she misplaces pocket money. However, you should set some strict rules about when this money can be used.
4. Test Out That Transport Route
It may be a good idea to have a few dry runs of your child’s journey to and from school to help your child familiarise himself or herself with the route. Help your child identify key landmarks and remember the specific place where he or she will be dropped off or picked up from everyday.
Related Article: Raising A Responsible Child
5. Set Mini Goals To Achieve Together
Help to make the experience seem less daunting by setting mini goals for the first day of school. Start with small tasks like “Leave the house on time” or “Remember to bring my water bottle home” or “Meet one new friend in class today”. These mini goals give your child something to look forward to on his or her first day of school!
Download Our Special Guide To Surviving And Thriving In Primary 1
The Learning Lab would like to extend our help as you and your child are preparing for Primary 1 and the new adventures that lie ahead. Download our fun and informative guide filled with 25 great tips to help your child survive and thrive in Primary 1!
Writing is an art. And like other forms of self-expression such as architecture, painting, music and film, a well-written composition must evoke the emotions intended by the artist.
As students assess the style, cohesiveness, grammar and vocabulary of their writing compositions, one factor is often overlooked in the process: punctuation.
A shortfall in — or overuse of — punctuation marks can change the meaning of a sentence entirely. To avoid confusion and hilarity towards an otherwise serious statement, teach your child to pay attention to the finer details.
We look at some humorous examples of how missing commas, misplaced dots and curious choice of punctuation marks can send the wrong message.
To prevent your child from making the same mistakes over and over again, you can ask him or her the following questions when assessing the quality of his or her writing.
1. What are you trying to emphasise?
There is a story that has been making rounds on the internet about an English professor who apparently wrote on the chalkboard: “A woman without her man is nothing” and then asked his students to punctuate the sentence.
His male students wrote: “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
His female students wrote: “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
Even though both statements mean completely different things, either is correct because the statement is a matter of perspective. Punctuations can put weight on words and your child can learn where to place punctuations wisely in order to emphasise an idea.
2. How would you say the sentence verbally?
The comma (,) is used as a pause in a sentence. To help your child understand the correct use of commas, try this exercise.
Ask your child to say a sentence out loud. Now ask your child to write out that same sentence and assign the commas where he or she paused as the sentence was recited.
Don’t let your young learner make the same mistake as the author of this unfortunate sign.
The phonetic transcription could be corrected to the following versions:
Attention! [This] toilet [is] only for [the] disabled, elderly, pregnant and children. Thank you for shopping with us.
Attention: [This] toilet [is] only for [the] disabled, elderly, pregnant, and children. Thank you for shopping with us.
The Oxford comma is the final comma in a list of three or more items, usually placed before the word “and” or “or”. It is not always required but it does help create distinction between items.
3. Is it a statement, a command, a question or an exclamation?
Punctuations set the mood in a sentence. To ensure that your child uses the correct punctuation, ask if he or she is making a statement, a question, a command or an exclamation.
Statement
A statement mentions something matter-of-factly; an FYI (for your information). A telling sentence usually ends with a full-stop (.) or a period.
Command
A command gives instructions. Like a statement, it may end with a full-stop. If the message is forceful, an exclamation point (!) may be used.
Exclamation
An exclamation shows excitement, urgency, or other heightened emotions; also marked with an exclamation point.
Question
A question asks. A probing sentence usually ends with a question mark (?), especially if it is a direct question, such as "Can you accompany me?"
These signage below, devoid of punctuation marks or the incorrect placement of them, confuses their readers.
Use them as an exercise. Show your child these signages and ask him or her to improve the text on it by using correct punctuation.
The best ways to punctuate them would be:
(First) Packed with taste. Less sugar.
(Second) Please, no dogs. We're afraid. — The goats
4. Is that punctuation mark necessary?
Quotation marks (“ ”) are used to attribute a statement made by a person. They come in pairs, one to open a statement and another to close it.
For example: “I wonder if I will see the full moon tonight,” Amy silently thought to herself.
Quote marks are also used to highlight sarcasm — the use of irony to mock.
For example: My “best friend” told my mom my secret that she promised to keep.
However, many people tend to use quotation marks unnecessarily, like the examples below.
With reference to the first example, by enclosing the word security in quotation marks, the instruction makes a mockery of itself. As for the second example, one does wonder if the sushi they serve is in fact real sushi.
5. Is that punctuation mark placed in the right location?
The apostrophe (’) is used for possessive nouns or to indicate possession. Some examples include:
Children’s toys
Mr. Smith’s bow tie
Sally’s notebook
The apostrophe is also used when shortening a word. Some examples include:
won’t as a shortcut for “will not”
they’re for “they are”
it’s for “it is”
The images below demonstrate the wrong placement of the apostrophe.
The first signage should be written as “Amy’s Nails”, and the second image’s punctuation mistake lies in its tagline which should be written as “great taste on its way”.
Fun and Interactive Learning
To reinforce the correct use of punctuation marks, you can encourage your child to read good books and be more observant toward punctuation. You could make it a playful game to spot funny examples such as the ones we’ve shown here.
Our English teachers usually find fun and engaging examples such as this to impart proper usage of the English language to our students. We believe fun learning increases our student’s interest for the subject and ability to retain more attention.
Find out more about our English programmes here.
The Learning Lab is now at 9 locations. Find a location that suits your needs.
If you have any questions about our programmes, please email us at enquiry@thelearninglab.com.sg or call us at 6733 8711 and we will be happy to assist you.