It's Time For Children To Enter School Environments, What Should Parents Think?

Illustration of children studying at school (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The new school year has opened. It's time for parents to register their children to school. Both kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and high school. For children who are just about to walk to the gate of formal education, what should parents prepare?

Clinical psychologist for children and adolescents graduated from Padjajaran University Michelle Brigitta Shanny M.Psi Psychologists said that in addition to age, many parents need to pay attention to to preparing their children to enter the school environment.

Michelle said that building a consistent routine, starting from waking up to children's independence to taking care of themselves, must be a concern for parents when entering children into an academic environment.

"Moreover, it has started to enter elementary school where the teacher is already not only taking care of one child, but many children in one class," said Michelle, quoted by Daro ANTARA.

He said, when children start entering elementary school, they have to be more independent, for example in terms of eating, they need to go to the toilet and can start talking to their teachers, wear their own shoes, and can tidy up their bags or their own goods.

The psychologist at Vajra Gandaria said that social skills are also a basic thing that parents need to pay attention to, whether children can establish good interactions or communication with their peers, wait for their turn to play and whether they can overcome simple conflicts while playing.

Children's interactions with teachers also need to be considered when children ask for help politely or how to greet their peers. In addition, it is also important to see how children regulate their emotions when there are things that are uncomfortable in their environment.

"Is he immediately crying, immediately angry or immediately attacks his friends aggressively when things don't match his wishes, so hopefully he can learn to convey his feelings, emotions, needs, desires with words no longer with aggressiveness, for example by seeking help from more mature people," he explained.

Michelle said social capabilities also include seeing the ability to understand instructions (receptives) and the ability to convey functional expressive needs or abilities.

This is important because later children can talk to friends, teachers, and can communicate daily and answer teacher or friend's questions.

With receptive and expressive capabilities, it is hoped that children can also have two-way conversations, listen and can ask for help verbally well.