My infant became a Junior..

My second born, Daisy our first daughter has always seemed so much younger than her older brother. Partly because she’s so petite, a bit less confident than him, and partly because we haven’t rushed her through every milestone in the way we did with our first born. I was really quite sad to see her enter Year 3 and the realisation that she was going to be exposed to the next stage of primary school.

As we are now nearing the end of term and her first year in juniors (year 3) I’m reflecting on the transition from infants, year 2 to year 3.

There is reportedly quite a dip in some year 3 pupils progress as some parents take it that their children can be more independent and they can offer less home support. At the age of 7-8 they start to develop more of an attitude and can also associate negativity towards learning, whilst also forming a relationship with learning and developing educational tools to succeed. Therefore this stage is a real crucial age to be involved via communication with your child and school.

They’re certainly more aware of each other’s abilities and learning groups at this stage, and exposed to more grown up behaviour from older peers in the playground. Yes I know this is all part of a natural process of building their characters, however I would prefer to be aware of what’s going on or what they’re privy to in their day.

It makes a difference if your child’s teachers make a year 2-3 transition smoother with more communication and connections between the year groups, and also if parents support the child through school work and keeping an eye on their social interaction with peers. It is also important to still support them at this time with gentle reminders of what they need to do daily: chores, packing bag etc.

There are many highlights and positives to moving up – mine have always enjoyed  more science lessons, experimenting with musical instruments and more independent art lessons.  They also get to go be more involved with extra curricular activities such as choir trips, art exhibitions etc. This is really lovely to see as you get an insight on where their talents lie and what excites them. Daisy loves to sing, and hearing her practice her songs she’s learnt from school makes me smile as she looks so happy belting a tune out! She’s really developing and changing at a fast rate at the moment and I feel if I stop asking how she is or don’t monitor her progress I could easily lose a sense of who she is.

It’s emotional being a parent and seeing them grow bigger but I keep reminding myself to try and embrace the next stage as it could be just as fun.