What You Should Include in Your Child’s Backpack

Now that the school year is well underway, you’ve probably packed your child’s backpack a number of times before sending them on their way to school. However, do you know if you’re including the right items in their bag? When your child comes home from school, take a look in their knapsack and make sure you’re stocking it with the essentials.

Healthy Snacks

It’s no secret that kids love munching throughout the day, so give them plenty of healthy snacks to choose from. Non-refrigerated items such as granola bars, organic fruit roll-ups, and raisins are all great options for a nutritious, mid-day snack.

Just make sure you don’t include any snacks with peanuts without letting your child’s teacher know. You never know if your child will try to share their snack with another classmate with allergies.

Tissues

The earlier you can teach your child to wipe their nose with a tissue instead of their sleeve, the better. Include a small to-go pack of tissues in their backpack for easy-to-reach runny nose relief.

Glasses Case

If your child wears glasses, it’s important to keep the case in their backpack. If your kid takes his or her glasses off for nap time or when they go on the playground, the glasses will be much safer in their case rather than just thrown into your child’s bag.

A Change of Clothes

Whether it be because they didn’t make it to the bathroom quick enough or arts and crafts got a bit messier than planned, it’s always wise to have a change of clothes handy. Not only will this help keep your child clean and comfortable, but it’ll save you the time of driving a new set of clothes over to their school if an accident happens.

At Miss Sue’s Nursery School, our prime educational goal is the development of the whole child — socially, emotionally, physically and educationally. A multi-sensory, holistic approach to learning is provided through play, art, music and physical activities. To learn more about the school and give your child the best pre-k experience, give us a call at 516-938-0894.

Helping Your Child Make New Friends At School

The beginning of the school year is always filled with excitement, anticipation, and just a little bit of nerves. But if your child is starting out at a new school or it's his or her first year, they may be a little nervous about not having many friends to play with. Not to worry! You can help your child make new friends at school by working on a few simple lessons at home.

Encourage Smiles

A smile is the best way to show other people that your child is friendly and eager to be social. Help your child learn to smile when they first approach a classmate so that they create a welcoming presence.

Practice Introductions

Smiles are great, but conversation is better! At home, practice introducing yourself with your child and help them craft their own way to say “hello” to the other children at school. Simple phrases like “Hi, my name is Ryan. What’s yours?” and “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sophia,” can help start a larger conversation with soon-to-be friends.

Emphasize Manners

“Politeness is an expensive way of making friends” and “manners matter” are statements that ring true for everyone — including children. Teaching your kids to use words like “please” and “thank you” and to not interrupt other classmates when speaking can make a world of difference in their effort to make friends.

Teach Good Conversation

Help your children understand that good conversation helps friendships grow and that they should ask questions to get to know their other classmates. “What do you do for fun?” “Do you have a favorite movie?” “What is your favorite food?” These are all questions that can help build bonds between your children and their new friends.

At Miss Sue’s Nursery School, our prime educational goal is the development of the whole child — socially, emotionally, physically and educationally. A multi-sensory, holistic approach to learning is provided through play, art, music and physical activities. To learn more about the school and give your child the best pre-k experience, give us a call at 516-938-0894.