Parenting
Is Everyone Ready For Prep? - WHEN OLDER SIBLINGS START SCHOOL The first week of term one across Australia, thousands of new preppies burst into classrooms, ready for prep with their crisp uniforms, fresh packed lunches, and big smiles. They have benefited from orientation opportunities and been read books such as “The Kissing Hand” and “Amelia Bedelia’s First Day at School” to help prepare them. Parents are likely equally keen to see the school year start; their cognitive loads brimming with having organised uniforms, downloaded the Tuck Shop App, and attended ample parent information evenings.
Is everyone ready for prep? Everyone ready?! Let’s go …… oh …. wait … maybe there’s someone in your family who wasn’t so ready for the start of school? Your beautiful preppie’s little brother or sister, who may have been overlooked in the organisational rush, might not be as ready for the sudden absence of their big sister or big brother after all? It’s a big change in their life too, when older siblings start school. I had anticipated that my sons would miss each other in response to the Prep start, but if you’ve had a similar first week to me, I was caught off guard by the magnitude of loss my boys appeared to experience. One in Kindy, the other at Prep; the first day saw them rush to hug each other as if they’d been separated for years. Collaborative play replaced their normal WWE antics, and suddenly Kindy-on-his-own brought unexpected bottom lip quivers. I realised that I had spent almost all my time preparing my older son and myself for the start of school without spending enough time making sure his little brother was equally prepared.
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Your Local Families Magazine February / March 2020 www.familiesmagazine.com.au