School

Children of five to seven years will start to gain some independence. As they now go to school you will no longer be the only influence in their lives. Their teacher and their friends will be important to them too. You may find they develop ‘school child behaviour’ copied from their friends, and you may not always like it!

Starting school can be an exciting time and many children adapt well, although even the most adaptable will find it exhausting to start with! You may find that the effort of following all the new rules at school means that when they get home they let rip!

Be consistent and try to have a tight routine for after school which your child understands. Don't allow your important house rules to be broken, pretending you haven't noticed some silly behaviour is a good way of keeping control of the situation.

Homework

Bear in mind that your five to seven year old child will be tired and don't make too much of an issue of doing homework/reading unless your child enjoys it (there is no point at all in allowing homework to get in the way of your attempts at a harmonious evening - there is plenty of time later for that when your child is older).

Holidays

The first year of school can be very difficult for some children, and the holidays can be worse! Everyone is excited when a holiday starts, and expectations are high.

Once again, stick to a routine. Try to include a fun activity for the children each day, but remember holidays are for the grown ups too! You need to encourage your children to play by themselves at times as well. Bribe them with the fun activity, explaining that they must play quietly in the morning so that Daddy is rested enough to take them swimming in the afternoon!

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