How did starting school affect your child & your life?

[MoonLove]

My daughter starts school in September this year and as she is an August baby, she'll be one of the youngest in her year. I'm happy with it and don't think I could deal with another year of nursery whilst also having my baby son to care for too!

It seems that so far, all I know are negatives about her starting;

The school is a 25 min walk from my house, that's an hours walk, twice a day. It'll be impossibly impractical so I'm hurrying myself to learn to drive in time for her starting!!

I hear that kids are tired all the time once they start school, tired and ratty trying to adjust to such new busy days, five days a week. My daughter will have only been four for one month when she starts so it'll be pretty tough on her!

I am excited for her to make that change to school, I'm excited for her to move on from nursery and get into a new routine, but I'm so so nervous. I feel a slave to her three hour nursery slots in the week, there's so little time to do anything before she is home again, and I'm excited for her to have a proper routine that fills up her day and gives me a bit more freedom (freedom to look after other baby haha)

I'd really like to hear your positions experiences with your kids starting school, how did it change yours and their lives? I'm just pondering on this, really interested to know what sorts of things to expect come Sept

 

[Cattia]

I was totally dreading Abigail starting school, I got so worked up about it and I used to cry just thinking about it last summer. It was a far smoother transition that I thought. The tiredness has not been as bad as everyone said. She settled in really quickly, although she does struggle with the academic side of it (I don't think she's behind others, she just doesn't like reading or writing) so that's been the biggest issue really. I work four days a week so the logistics have been hard, she has to be with the childminder at 7.30am three days a week and after school club one day which she sometimes struggles with.

She has made friends easily and her teacher is really nice. Her school is very small and the older girls in year 5 and 6 really look after the little ones. She did miss pre school at first and she still says she misses it sometimes as her teacher there was amazing. I think the thing I find hard is that I had quite a close relationship with her pre school teacher and was always calling for a chat to see how she was doing. At school there is far less feedback so they will only really talk to you if there is a problem so you don't really know what they do all day or how they are really getting on. We have parents' evening this week and I'm nervous about that.

One of her friends is an August baby and has struggled a lot with tiredness so her mum has kept her in half days for a lot longer than the other children, which is an option if you feel like she isn't coping with the long days.

 

[Pearls18]

My DS has been in some form of childcare (all be it part time) since he was 1, he's a September baby and I'm not at all worried about him settling in, tiredness, coping or anything like that, I think he would be fine with school now tbh he talks about it a lot (a lot of his nursery friends left last year to go). It's the school hours I'm dreading and school holidays, also the settling in half days, I have no idea how working parents with no family around are supposed to deal with half days. Nursery is so much easier covering working hours and school holidays I woujd rather pay, we might be moving in the summer so I can't really start planning to easey trepidation. Also dreading the school run as my hubby is able to do the nursery run atm as its at his work, so if we move I will be contending with a nursery run for my youngest and school run.

I am looking forward to him having a uniform though lol, will be cheaper in the long run.

 

[aimee-lou]

It took some adjustment but I feel like we're getting there slowly now. I've accepted that it's got to be done lol. Mornings are ok - we just get on and out after breakfast. When my younger 2 were younger it took longer but now they're both toddlers they can do their own breakfast etc and once they're dressed I sling them in the pushchair lol. We don't usually come straight home, preferring to go the shops, or to the park, or something else to wear them out a little lol. Afternoons are the imposition and I confess I sometimes use the car, especially on days when DS2 has been at his childminders as he's shattered and it's easier to throw him in the car than to get him to sit nicely in the pushchair for an hour. We get in and get straight on with dinner - because my 2 younger ones still need to eat quite early we all eat early. As they get older that will change and hopefully give us more playtime after school.

I don't think there's been a particularly negative impact on us since Earl started school. We don't seem to have as much time together as I'd like and we're spending time doing homework and school reading instead of reading for pleasure for example. Earl enjoys school but he does miss being at home which breaks my heart as he misses us going to the park, or going to the library. Really simple things that used to be part of our preschool routine that now are so much harder to squeeze into our schedule. It's such a shame in a way - I feel like he's being forced to grow up. I'm glad I made the most of the time he was home though - and I know that once the weather warms up and the longer holidays start (we've had a 13 weeks term, 2 weeks off, another 5 weeks, a week off, now another 5 weeks........it's a long old slog for a little person!) and we get some bank holidays and things, we'll start to do more things together and that he enjoys.

Got to say though - my younger 2 do enjoy the fact that they get more of me during the school day, especially DS2. DS3 still naps so 3 days a week when he's not at the CM he gets me all to himself.

 

[RachA]

My son is an Aug birthday too (10th Aug).

I personally wouldn't put pressure on yourself to learn to drive just do you can drive to school. A 25 min walk each way is definitely doable. I usually leave home around 8.15, get them to school by 8.40 and am home again for about 9am. My son has always cycled to school which makes it much easier.

In terms of tiredness-yes she probably will be. Even if they have been in preschool before starting school it is much more tiring as they are having to think so much.
Be prepared for the tiredness. I did to push my son to do anything once we got home. He had homework and books to read but honestly it's no fun if they don't want to do it so dont feel that you need to.
Communicate with the school-if you tell them your daughter is too tired to read then they won't push you to do it.

You wanted positives once my son got over the initial tiredness he calmed down a lot. I also really really appreciate the holidays now. We love being off school

 

[lovelylaura]

I wouldn't even worry about the walk. I do 25ish minute walk 3x a week for Poppy's nursery and it's not that bad ,6 hours is a long time!

 

[aimee-lou]

Forgot to say that even if you use the car to do a school run, when you have to put smallies in a pushchair I find it's probably quicker and certainly less stress than packing everyone into the car, driving there, finding somewhere to park, unpacking everyone including pushchair, doing drop off, re-loading everyone including pushchair then driving home and unloading. I too have a 20-25 minute journey each way....I walk it I would say 8 times out of the 10 per week, like I say I use the car a couple of afternoons a week max.

 

[Pearls18]

I dread the thought of the school run in a car because it looks so dog eat dog trying to find a car parking spot!!!

 

[Cattia]

Forgot to say that even if you use the car to do a school run, when you have to put smallies in a pushchair I find it's probably quicker and certainly less stress than packing everyone into the car, driving there, finding somewhere to park, unpacking everyone including pushchair, doing drop off, re-loading everyone including pushchair then driving home and unloading. I too have a 20-25 minute journey each way....I walk it I would say 8 times out of the 10 per week, like I say I use the car a couple of afternoons a week max.

Parking at our school is a nightmare! You have to be there 15 minutes early to get a space, then DS gets bored and fed up waiting all that time in the car. Now that I am on maternity leave I'm going to start walking I think.

 

[aimee-lou]

It is a nightmare at Earl's school - there's also a nursery and a pre-school all really close, not to mention the junior school around the corner (literally in the same grounds, just have different entrances). I have a 'secret spot' that I use, but it's a 4-5 minutes walk from the spot to the school gates lol. I remember seeing 2 shunts within the first week of Earl starting at the pre-school - it put me off driving up there totally. I rarely drive in the morning if ever, it's only ever afternoons and I get there early and go to the park with the LO's (which is also next door to the school) or take snacks lol.

 

[RachA]

I will drive part way to school-we walk the last 5 min or so. There is always a space where I park because everyone considers it too far to walk.
When DD was in a buggy it was definitely easier to walk the whole way-she would kick off when I transferred her from car to buggy and the kick off again when I tried to put her back in the car. The only reason I'm driving part way at the moment is because DD makes the 20min walk take over 30min and I too of her refusing to eat and get dressed I end up getting stressed and DS ends up in school late.

 

[dani_tinks]

School run parking is a total nightmare, if I could walk it I would, seriously!! School mums in cars are terrifying . I much prefer to park a little walk away from the school than wrestle other Mums for a parking space.

My son settled in relatively smoothly. It was a shock to him when he realised he had to go every week day and he was totally knackered the first few terms. However he loves it. He loves his friends, his teachers. He's even beginning to love the school dinners .

 

[mummylove]

I love it that my daughter is at school. She started last september so coming to a end in reception (going so quick)

Peace all week lol. I get to get some house jobs done and get to go do my thing in the day. Lucas does 3 days a week at nursery. So only 3 days a week to myself

 

[mummylove]

School run parking is a total nightmare, if I could walk it I would, seriously!! School mums in cars are terrifying . I much prefer to park a little walk away from the school than wrestle other Mums for a parking space.

My son settled in relatively smoothly. It was a shock to him when he realised he had to go every week day and he was totally knackered the first few terms. However he loves it. He loves his friends, his teachers. He's even beginning to love the school dinners .

Some of them are so impatient. Last term i sew this car that just wouldnt wait scrap another car that was parked up. She just wouldnt wait for the the car on other side to drive past

 

[Jchihuahua]

Daisy was very tired the first half term but after that was fine. She found it a shock going from being one of the big girls at a small pre-school to being one of the youngest in a big school. She has a nice teacher and the children and mums are generally really nice too although she really misses her keyworker from pre-school (it doesn't help that her old keyworker is now her little brother's key worker!) and she misses her friends from pre-school. She has always been very, very sensitive and emotional and doesn't like change and she was really overhwelmed the first few days and still goes through periods where her teacher says she is very emotional. She is extremely able in an academic sense and loves the challenge of the work. The teacher wanted her to go to Year 1 for maths and phonics but I wasn't happy with that as I knew she'd dislike the change to routine.

 

[Smille24]

My DD turned 5 in June and started school in Aug. She was use to napping in preschool so that was the biggest adjustment. At the beginning of the year she would fall asleep on the bus on the way home but she's also the last one off. So we adjusted her bedtime and now she's fine. She is doing great academically but she is a chatterbox. Her teacher said it's normal but we are trying to break her of it.

 

[hattiehippo]

The biggest change for us was me changing my hours at work so I can drop off and pick up Tom most days. This means some days we have to drive even though it's only a 7 min walk. I park a 5 min walk away which is fine and it just makes it easier for me to then get to work.

Tom was tired for the first couple of weeks but has been fine since the end of September. He went to nursery 3 full days a week before so doing 5 days and having dinner at home every day was a shock to him but it didn't take long to get used to.

Overall he really enjoys school and has made lots of new friends. It's also really lovely seeing him with friends in the older classes - it's a small school and the older kids really look after the younger ones.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

i hate the whole permission to take my kids out for a day thing. That bugs me.

 

[stephx]

Ava's a August baby too. She was in full time nursery before school though, so actually did less hours in childcare when she started school.

Our school is a 15 min walk/ 4 minute drive. I prefer to walk tbh. Parking is rediculous and I find that LO wakes up properly on the walk, so it's easier to drop her off as she's not tired and clingy x