The Scrapbook

All you want is for your child to start school with confidence so you’re not left wondering how you can be there FOR them when you can’t be there WITH them. That's why we’re sharing these 7 things you can start now to help your child start school as a courageous schoolkid.

Watch Suzy Cato read Ready for School on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Watch Fergie – Sarah, Duchess of York read Ready for School on her show, Storytime with Fergie and Friends.

Read '10 Tips for Handling School Drop-off Anxiety' by Hannah Davison in Tots to Teens magazine.

Read '10 Tips for Handling School Drop-off Anxiety' by Hannah Davison in Tots to Teens magazine.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, on Radio New Zealand talking about getting ready for school with Kathryn Ryan.

At new entrant level, there’s no expectation of academic ability, but there are signs you can look for as an indication of your child's readiness to start school, as well as things you can do to help them prepare to become a confident schoolkid. Three experts give their practical tips.

It’s a total mystery for me how one morning I can run a tight ship and the next morning, it’s a pirate ship. The timings are the same, the conditions vary only a little ... why is it a total scramble one morning and not on others? 

It seems like there may never be a sense of ‘getting back to normal’, but there are things we can do to create a sense of predictability, consistency and continuity for our kids, even in an unpredictable world that seems to be changing all the time. 

How do you know if your child is really ready to start school? Here are 5 questions you can think about to help figure out if your child can handle the practical and social demands of joining the school environment. 

If you're thinking about your child starting school, getting back to school after lockdown, moving schools, or just handling separation anxiety, making a 'Smile Stone' can be a helpful and easy thing you can do that empowers kids with a sense of control over the situation they’re in.

When our little boys turn up in the world as a newborn, the neurological delay that took place during the first trimester as their gender developed, means their brain is slightly behind that of a newborn girl baby.