How to Survive... Moving to Big Kid School

Moving your little one (or not so little one) up to a larger school can be nerve wracking for both kids and parents! There may be a whole new set of rules to follow, new schedules to learn and many more pressures to deal with! But as you move your nursery child to primary, primary to junior, or junior to high school there is no doubt you will face some challenges. Here are some ways to survive transitioning your kid to the next step in their education.

1) Be excited! 

Kids love enthusiasm and if you’re acting like this transition will be the most exciting thing to happen to your kid since you first took them to Disneyland, then they will likely buy it!

Focusing on the excitement of a new start can help them gain confidence over any anxieties they may be facing. Some parents make transitioning grades an event by buying their child a special toy or taking them to buy some special new clothes. We recommend showing your enthusiasm by creating a big visual countdown clock that counts down to the first minute of school starting. 

2) Make them feel prepared. 

No kid wants to feel as if they don’t have all the right tools on the first day of school. Gone are the days of cool matching backpacks with awesome pencil cases equipped with fancy pencil sharpeners, now it’s all about what tech they’re carrying. If your junior kid is the only one still sporting a glittery unicorn pencil case when everyone else is fisting iPhones you better be prepared.

That being said, not every child is gifted with thousands of RMB worth of technology the minute they move up to big kid school. This is the best opportunity to trade off your old, cracked, works when it wants to iPhone 6 on them while you go out and buy the latest and greatest! Obviously for the improved camera so that you can take pics of your wonderful new junior kid on their first day of school. 

3) Help them to be more independent. 

In junior schools the timetables are largely dictated by teachers or by the parents. But when they move up to high school that responsibility now is theirs. This can be quite hard for expat kids who very often have very little to do with themselves when it comes to chores or getting from one place to another. So, prepare them in advance for added responsibility by giving them more to do for themselves at home. 

No matter how confident your child looks on the outside, moving to the next step in schooling is always something that brings along worries or anxieties. The best you can do is to keep encouraging your child that they got this and that they’re going to be great all while remembering to choke down your own memories of high school bullies and faking sick every other week to get out of that class you hated. Know that you’ll both make it through this together. School is fun and a stepping stone through life. And when all else fails, there will always be therapy to help them erase whatever happens in 8th grade. 

No matter how confident your child looks on the outside, moving to the next step in schooling is always something that brings along worries or anxieties.