Help kids find their own way

Whenever there's any adversity, like they can't find their favourite socks, instead of fixing it for them, teach them how to sort it out themselves.

Then next time they’ll know how to solve their own problem.

“If they don't get the chance to have that experience, then they're not going to get it and the older they get the harder it becomes,” Greater Shepparton City Council’s early years manager Sally Rose said.

“Make it fun. Being a parent is the hardest thing you'll ever do, but it's the best thing you'll ever do,” she said.

“Make it as much fun as possible in whatever you're doing. So that you're supporting that development.”

Sally said it wasn’t just about preparing them academically. It’s about giving them the opportunities for children to think for themselves.

And the best way to help them get prepared for school is to teach a child how to behave properly in a social environment.

“Don't expect them to be able to share or or take turns every single time yet — they're really not ready for that yet. But give them opportunities to do that,” Sally said.

“Give them choices. Rather than insisting on ‘you must do this’ say ‘would you like the apple or the orange?’.

“Helping children to make good choices about their behaviour — ‘are those helping hands or hurting hands’, or ‘use your words, tell me what you want without stamping or shouting’.

“They’re all developmental stages and with the more practice a child can get, the better they’re going to cope with whatever it is that happens to come towards them.

“It's kind of the journey not the end result of preparation.”