Primary general education

Correct daily routine for a first grader

A school teacher and a pediatric neurologist talk about excessive exercise, proper nutrition and the required amount of sleep.

A school teacher and a pediatric neurologist talk about excessive exercise, proper nutrition and the required amount of sleep.

“How to organize my first grader’s day?” - This is a question regularly asked by parents, teachers, doctors and other experts. Indeed, a properly structured daily routine is extremely important for a child to smoothly and comfortably enter the educational process and maintain his health. Often parents themselves formulate rules that are not always enforceable and are not always really needed by a first-grader.

To correct possible mistakes of parents, we decided to turn to two experts - a primary school teacher and an experienced pediatrician. Let their advice and observations help us form an objective picture of what the daily routine of a modern first-grader should be.

Alexey Igorevich Krapivkin, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Director of the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Child Psychoneurology

Daily routine: keep the kindergarten norm

When a child goes to school, his life changes a lot. But even in first grade, it is quite possible to maintain the daily routine that you had in kindergarten: with regular meals, afternoon rest and fairly active walks, albeit not so long.

Nutrition: variety is key

The body of a first-grader is in dire need of regular nutrition in order to replenish the lack of glucose in a timely manner. By the age of seven, a child should already have developed eating habits: a mandatory full breakfast, a hot lunch, proper snacks - second breakfast, afternoon snack.

My main advice to parents: feed your children a variety of foods. Any excess product can affect the child's condition, digestion, sleep and physical activity. Of course, it is better to avoid an abundance of sweet, fatty or spicy foods in a child’s diet - for the same reason.

At the same time, if the child does not have serious illnesses, then there should be no deliberate restrictions on food. Coming to a new children's group, the child reconsiders his nutritional norm: if everyone eats cookies, why should he completely refuse them? If everyone is snacking after third period, why can't he take a sandwich or an apple with him?

And one more piece of advice: in order not to risk your child’s well-being at night, try to feed him dinner about two hours before bedtime, no later. If you didn’t manage to have dinner on time, offer food that is as light and safe for the gastrointestinal tract as possible.

Sleep: the main thing is not to fight for performance

Not only a first-grader, but any person should sleep as much as his body requires. But sometimes parents put the child to bed at almost eight in the evening so that he sleeps as long as possible; this, in my opinion, is an unnecessary measure.

According to statistics, an adult needs at least 8 hours of sleep per day. A first grader needs a little more, but not 12 hours like an infant. The most important thing is that when putting your child to bed early, do not fight for his performance, but rather look at his condition. Is it easy for him to wake up in the morning? Do you have enough strength until the evening?

It is best to put your child to bed between 9 and 10 pm, preferably no later than 10 pm. At the same time, the child should have free time 1.5–2 hours before bedtime to carry out daily rituals: water procedures, reading at night, a glass of milk - and as little stress as possible, then the child will smoothly fall asleep and be able to fully rest.

As for daytime sleep, it seems to me that there is no reason to insist that the child sleep during the day. If he wants to go to bed after lunch, great; if not, don’t insist. The main thing is that daytime sleep should divide the day into two equal periods. Don't go to bed later than 4 pm: then your night's sleep may suffer.

Loads: achieve a state of reasonable fatigue

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about the fact that first-graders can barely withstand the exorbitant workload that the school and parents place on them with their clubs and sections. I like the idea that the level of exercise should be determined by tolerance. If your child has enough resources to practice the piano for two hours after school and enjoy going to the sports section in the evening, then why not? For parents, the main indicator of the level of stress should be the child’s condition in the evenings. If he falls off his feet, is capricious, cannot eat, he is so tired - you have clearly gone too far. If he is active and could do something enthusiastically for a couple more hours, it means that the daily load was not enough. But if his fatigue is not excessive, is natural, and does not cause him serious discomfort, then the volume of the load is sufficient.

Physical activity

It is important to remember here that for a seven-year-old child simply sitting at a desk for several hours in a row is a colossal burden. To remove it, it is more useful not to put the child to bed, but to let him run around properly, to release the tension.

The child’s need for movement is natural and physiological. Be sure to give him the opportunity to jump, climb, and run properly after school, and if necessary, also in the evening.

Be sure to remind your child to do small warm-ups after sitting for a long time at lessons: basic gymnastics will be enough. And send your child to a sports section: two or three times a week.

Elena Aleksandrovna Chulikhina, primary school teacher at the MBOU "Malodubenskaya Secondary School"

Daily routine: on weekends as on weekdays

There’s nothing to talk about here; every first-grader needs a full-fledged daily routine. It’s best if he doesn’t get lost on weekends, otherwise it will be difficult to adjust to the start of the work week.

Food: hot is better than cookies

Now almost all parents are very afraid that their children will go to school hungry. They are given sweets, cookies, buns, waffles and other “dry snacks” with them - despite the fact that the school has a canteen, where you can always eat a hot breakfast and have a good lunch. Naturally, having eaten enough sweets, the children in the cafeteria refuse a full hot meal. Therefore, I want to give parents advice: teach them better to go to the canteen, eat porridge or omelet in the morning, and have good hot soup for lunch in the afternoon, not candy. I am not against you giving your children treats, but in moderation, and not in such a way that it interrupts their appetite.

Sleep: don’t nod off in class!

I’ll tell you honestly, it’s very unpleasant when children in your class nod off during the first lesson. Therefore, please put your children to bed on time, at best around nine in the evening. There is no need to hope that you will get fifteen minutes of sleep in the morning: this is where morning delays begin, and this also does not really help children concentrate.

Daytime naps are a useful thing, especially since children themselves, as a rule, require an afternoon rest: they come home from school and immediately go to bed. This means that they need it, which means that parents need to take this need into account when creating a daily routine.

Loads

Now, due to the introduction of the Federal State Educational Standard, first-graders are entitled to up to 10 hours of extracurricular activities per week. They usually start in the afternoon and last up to two academic hours a day - this is in addition to the normal school load. In addition, almost every child attends various clubs, some of them are very serious and are located on the other side of the city. It turns out that first-graders are very busy on weekdays, even if they don’t have homework assignments in first grade.

Here I have no right to give parents any advice: they decide for themselves how, what and how much to load their children with, what achievements to require, etc. But I would insist that at least on weekends the children should be free to study doing your own thing, playing, going for a walk, spending an evening with your family. This is the best support we can give them.

Physical activity

We make sure that the children do warm-ups between lessons, can run around, and unload properly. It is important that parents care about the same. Be sure to let your children go for walks and exercise a lot. It's best when they walk home from school rather than driving.

Chief specialist of the Moscow Department of Health on hygiene of children and adolescents, professor, head of the Department of Pediatrics and School Medicine of the Faculty of Additional Professional Education of the Russian National Research Medical University named after. N.I. Pirogova

Pankov Dmitry Dmitrievich,chief specialist of the Moscow Department of Health for hygiene of children and adolescents, professor, s Head of the Department of Pediatrics and School Medicine, Faculty of Additional Professional Education, Russian National Research Medical University named after. N.I. Pirogova.

Why is your daily routine so important?

This is the very basis that allows a child to adapt to school without compromising his health. A clear routine disciplines, makes it easier to get used to new conditions and avoid nervous overload.

As a rule, a seven-year-old child cannot yet manage his own time, but you can teach him now: very soon this skill will come in handy. It has been proven in practice that adherence to a daily routine helps a student become independent and organized, and special studies conducted in primary school have shown that excellent students have a firmly established time for preparing lessons and constantly adhere to it. So, good grades are the result not only of ability and perseverance, but also of hard work and the habit of systematic work at a certain time.

The concept of “daily routine” includes:

good sleep;

alternating loads and rest;

balanced diet;

physical activity;

time to maintain personal hygiene;

psycho-emotional comfort

How much sleep should a first grader sleep?

We start with sleep, because sleep is the main factor that affects the physical and mental activity of a child. Children 6-8 years old are recommended to sleep at least 10 hours. Experience shows that first-graders who sleep on a schedule fall asleep faster and easier.

The ideal bedtime is 21.00, wake-up time is around 7.00.

How to prepare for evening sleep?

Make every effort to ensure that an hour before bedtime the child does not have any urgent matters, lessons, or responsibilities. All this will excite him before bed and will not allow him to relax and calmly observe all the rituals of going to bed.

Before bedtime, do not allow your child to play outdoor games or look at the computer for a long time.

About an hour before bedtime, take your child for a short walk or simply ventilate the room where the child will sleep well.

Before going to bed, it’s good for your child to take a warm shower and drink a glass of milk (you can have it with cookies or a spoonful of honey). You can read aloud to your child, tell him a fairy tale.

Going to bed should be very calm: do not start conversations before bed about the problems and difficulties of the past day, do not remind about the child’s failures and mistakes. All this should remain in the passing day and not disturb his sleep.

It often happens that during the day a child comes home from school lethargic and tired, and by the evening he seems to have a second wind. He is cheerful and cheerful, ready to do anything to avoid going to bed. Just don't think he's not tired - in fact, he's just overexcited. There is one useful “recipe” for such a child: invite him to lie down after lunch, and immediately after dinner, be sure to take a short walk: it will help relieve the stress accumulated during the day.

Should a first grader sleep during the day? The need for daytime sleep is individual, but after lunch rest is indicated for every child. Children come home from school at a decline in their performance, so in no case should they be immediately seated for lessons. Even a child who has long stopped sleeping during the day, when he comes home from school, can lie down and fall asleep - and it is better to give him this opportunity, otherwise he will “wear out” in the evening.

Nutrition and diet

It’s sad, but the first place among all chronic diseases in primary school children is occupied by diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, meals for a schoolchild, and a first-grader in particular, should be timely and regular, best of all five meals a day.

Remember that your student not only experiences mental stress at school that is prohibitive for his age, but he also continues to develop and grow. His diet must satisfy all needs for proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and microelements.

Don't send your child to school without breakfast. You can give your child cottage cheese with sour cream, hot porridge, yogurt or omelet, a sandwich with cheese, corn flakes with milk. If your baby has absolutely no appetite in the morning, do not force him to eat: give him tea with milk, cocoa, fruit - whatever he can eat without problems.

Don't miss out on hot meals at school: First-graders are required to be fed during the big break at about 10 o’clock in the morning. Even if a child ate something at home in the morning, by ten o’clock he has every right to be hungry.

Under no circumstances should you eat in a hurry, under constant shouts of “Faster!”, “You’ll be late!” If your child takes a long time to breakfast in the morning, it is better to wake him up half an hour earlier, but do not try to feed him using a stopwatch. There is nothing worse for a child's physical and mental health than the stress that is created by time constraints.

Dinner. If a child has lunch at home, it is best to offer him a light soup for starters (strong meat broths are not good for children). When preparing the second meal, remember that spicy, fried, spices, mayonnaise, and ketchup are not recommended not only for kids, but also for primary schoolchildren, and indeed for all members of your family.

Afternoon snack- this is the time when you can give your child foods rich in carbohydrates: pancakes, pancakes, cereals.

Dinner should be satisfying, but light - do not try to give your child enough to eat in the evening for the whole day. If you expect that your first grader should go to bed at 21.00, then you should have dinner no later than 19.00, 2 hours before bedtime.

Food must be diverse, and not only in terms of the composition of the products, but also in the form in which these products are given to the child. Take care of a beautiful table setting, try to sit at the table with him: eating with your family is more pleasant. In catering, a positive emotional attitude is no less important than in all other areas of a first-grader’s life.

Be sure to include fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily menu. For lunch, for example, it is good to give your child a vegetable salad, and for breakfast and afternoon snack – a whole fresh fruit.

Intellectual loads

How to do homework. The main expenditure of intellectual and nervous energy in a child occurs at school, during lessons. It is important to observe the condition in which the child returns home. Here, parents are faced with the task of honestly and soberly weighing the severity of his “residual energy” with extracurricular intellectual load, including the amount of homework.

The optimal time for preparing lessons is from 15 to 16 hours for children (at this time of day there is another surge in performance) and from 15 to 18 hours for other schoolchildren.

Written tasks are difficult for children aged six to eight years old. They have not yet developed the small muscles of the hand, and their coordination is imperfect. During work, the child's blood pressure may increase and the heart rate may increase. At first, a first grader should continuously engage in writing for no longer than 3 minutes. Later, when the child “gets involved” in his studies, you can extend the lesson to 8-10 minutes.

With continuous reading, children get tired even faster. While reading and writing, take short breaks for physical activity: you can do exercises, get up from the table and stretch, or walk around the room.

After completing one lesson, take a ten-minute break and then move on to the next subject.

Why is there no point in studying lessons until night? The fact is that after 19.00 the performance of a first-grader sharply decreases. Everything he reads or writes will not be deposited in his head.

In order to complete all the lessons in a couple of hours, use gaming techniques. For example, if your child doesn’t understand math well, use his favorite toys as an example. Instead of reading, organize a small one-man show - this way the child will remember the images better, and the text will be easy for him.

Additional activities for first graders

Is it worth including additional loads in the first-grader mode? Physiologists do not recommend combining the start of school with the start of studies in a music or art school. If you want to develop your child comprehensively, it is better to start a year before school, or from the second grade, when the child gets used to school. In first class, additional loads should be minimal.

It also happens: before school, a child takes part in both music and sports, but in first grade something has to be sacrificed because the child’s strength is not enough. You can postpone some of the activities for a year, but be sure to listen to the child’s choice: those additional activities that remain must be liked by the child and emotionally nourish him. Additional activities should be no more than 1 hour per day. And at the very beginning of the school year, it is better to completely exclude classes in clubs.

How many and which circles to choose? First, let's agree: mugs aren't the point. It is much more important that the child survive the period of adaptation to new living conditions with the least possible losses. When choosing additional activities for your child, pay attention to how he comes home from school:

If, upon arriving home, a student looks tired, it means that the school load is quite enough for him. Make sure he is well rested. It is best to choose an active holiday - a sports section or dance classes are suitable, where the student can take a break from lessons.

If your child returns from school too excited, then you need to choose additional activities that will help him calm down and get distracted. A drawing club or chess section is suitable for an overly excitable student.

If the child does not look tired, he will probably be able to handle one more activity in the afternoon. He can be sent to a language or music school, depending on his abilities and interests.

Please note: fatigue or excitability is not a sentence or a diagnosis. You just need to adapt to such manifestations of the child’s psyche: choose the optimal time for classes, motivate correctly, do not put pressure and do not try to “squeeze” all the strength out of the child.

Physical activity

Walks. The child needs to spend at least 3 hours in the air - in any weather and every day, and it is advisable to move actively: this improves well-being and increases performance. It is best for a child to walk with peers, fulfilling the need for free communication.

How to organize a child's day to provide him with walks?

To and from school - on foot. If you have the opportunity to walk down the street before class, take it. This is much more useful than driving to school and home.

A walk after school. Try to arrange a schedule so that your child does not have to rush home from school. Running in the fresh air after school for at least half an hour is a great opportunity to relieve stress. try to combine a trip to a club or studio with a walk.

Before going to bed, go outside. This is a great tradition that helps promote better sleep. Forty minutes is enough to soak up oxygen before bed.

Physical activity. Don't let your child sit at his desk for long periods of time. From time to time, remind you that it’s time to switch gears, move around, do exercises, or do pull-ups on the wall bars.

It is very useful for a first-grader to engage in moderate sports and go to the pool in his free time. Give preference to these types of activities if there is a choice between “sedentary” and “active” activities.

If you choose between an active walk and watching TV, feel free to choose a walk. This does not mean that the child should be completely banned from TV and computer games. Make sure your child does these activities no more than 30-40 minutes a day. The distance to the TV screen should be more than 3 meters, and the computer monitor screen should be no closer than the distance of the child’s outstretched arm.

How to recognize that a child is overtired?

Overfatigue is a condition that occurs when a child lacks rest for a long time. Usually occurs against a background of fatigue that lasts for a long time. It can lead to decreased immunity and the occurrence of psychosomatic disorders.

What are the symptoms of fatigue?

Subjective:

General discomfort, headaches, slowed speech, facial expressions and movements;

Apathy, lethargy, absent-mindedness, irritability;

Poor appetite, weight loss, drowsiness.

Objective (you can identify them at a doctor’s appointment):

Increased heart rate;

Decreased blood pressure;

Heart murmurs;

Increased respiratory activity;

The child begins to easily become ill with viral infections.

Which doctor should I contact? The main doctor for our children is a pediatrician. But an approach to solving problems associated with disruption of the daily routine and fatigue may require a comprehensive assessment of the condition with the involvement of specialists from various fields: a neurologist, a gastroenterologist, an ophthalmologist.

The most important thing that can help an overtired child is the care of parents. Surround your baby with attention, care and kindness, do not expect high achievements from him, do not demand too much.

Will it be necessary to treat fatigue with medication? Such a need may arise in the event of decompensation of the child’s condition or other medical complications. Please note: even if someone you know with similar symptoms has been prescribed certain medications, under no circumstances should you start giving them to your child without permission.

The need for drug treatment can only be determined by a doctor after carrying out the necessary diagnostic measures. It often turns out that you can get by with physical therapy, physiotherapy, proper diet and correction of the child’s lifestyle.

Sample daily routine for a first grader

7.00 – rise.

7.30-8.00 – morning exercises, hygiene procedures, breakfast.

For a first grader it plays a special role. After all, the workload increases significantly, and new responsibilities require greater composure. The regime disciplines, helps to get used to new living conditions.

Doctors insist on strict adherence, emphasizing that this can protect the student from overexcitability and irritability. Only with its help will you maintain your child’s normal working capacity not just during the day, but throughout the entire school year. The daily routine that we offer is also suitable for younger schoolchildren of other grades - our schedule is designed taking into account the time required to complete homework.

According to scientific research, it is possible to distinguish two peaks of working capacity during the day. The first is 8-11 a.m., when the child is at school. After this time, the quality indicators of performance in the body decrease. The second peak is 16-18 pm. This is followed by an intense decline.

Vitaly Stepnov, pediatrician: “We cannot ignore the peaks of a child’s working capacity. Parents often wonder why, after all the clubs and sections, the child takes so long to do his homework, although just recently he was cheerful. Yes, because he gets tired in the evening! The body’s peak performance has already passed, and now it’s time for it to rest, despite the fact that the child can play happily or run around the apartment.”

Basic rules of the daily routine for a first grader

A first grader should sleep at least 10 hours, plus - daytime sleep, to which the body is accustomed. Therefore, try to ensure that he goes to bed no later than 9 pm and gets up at 7 am.

Immediately after school, take a walk with your child for at least 40 minutes. Only then go to lunch - let him work up an appetite. In addition, primary schoolchildren must walk for 3 hours a day.

Lunch should be at 13.30-14.00. After this, give your fidget a good rest. There is no need to immediately sit him down for lessons - now he has a decline in performance, so anyway nothing good will come of this idea.

Even if the child no longer sleeps during the day, he may come home and fall asleep immediately. This means that the body is exhausted. Give your child a chance to rest.

Only when the child has eaten and rested can he sit down for his lessons. Homework has been canceled in first grade, but when your child moves on to the next grade in junior school, remember that 30-60 minutes is the maximum allotted for this activity. The optimal time is 16.00-17.00.

Valentina Filenko, child psychologist: “When it’s time for homework, don’t force your child to quickly throw away his toys and sit down for homework. Wait until he puts down one toy and picks up the second. If you interrupt the game process, the need to do homework will take on a negative connotation.”

After preparing homework, the child can go to a section or circle. The road there can be combined with a walk. Don't forget that you need to be in the fresh air for at least three hours a day.

No homework in the evening! Don't have time for the club? It is better to postpone one lesson than to move classes to the evening.

Overexcitement that has accumulated during the day should be relieved with a walk. Do not think that evening dancing and unprecedented activity indicate that the child is not tired. To relieve stress, take your child for a walk before bed. If we go to bed at 21.00, then we should start walking no later than 19.30, immediately after dinner.

You can watch TV no longer than 45 minutes a day, but it’s better to do without it altogether. You cannot watch it lying down, only sitting and at a distance of 2-2.5 m from the screen. And after an evening walk, it’s better not to sit in front of the screen, but to take a warm shower, drink a glass of warm milk and go to bed.

Going to bed should be calm, without talking about the day's difficulties and without reminders of annoying mistakes or failures of the past day.

First-grader's daily routine: sample

• 7.00 climb
• 7.00-7.30 water procedures, exercises
• 7.30-7.50 breakfast
• 7.50-8.20 way to school
• 8.30-12.30 school lessons
• 11.00 lunch
• 12.30-13.00 way home (preferably in fresh air)
• 13.00-13.30 dinner
• 13.30-14.30 afternoon rest, or better yet sleep
• 14.30-15.00 afternoon tea
• 15.00-16.00 walk, games, sports
• 16.00-17.00 hometasks
• 17.00-19.00 walk
• 19.00-20.00 dinner and free activities (reading, helping mom around the house, playing, etc.)
• 20.00-20.30 Preparation for sleep
• 20.30-7.00 dream

First-grader's diet

1. A first-grader should have five meals a day: breakfast at home, second breakfast at school, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.
2. A hot breakfast for a child is required. Hot porridge is the best, but we know that kids are much more happy to eat cereal. Make sure the cereal is whole grain and the milk is warm. You can pamper your child with cheesecakes, pancakes, omelettes - a variety of food is also very important.
3. Breakfast should be calm and measured. No “Hurry up, we're late!” It’s better to wake up your child half an hour earlier than you have to rush him later. There is nothing worse for health (both physical and psychological) than the stress that is created by time constraints.
4. For lunch, your child should be offered light soup.(no need to cook strong meat broth - it is not useful for a growing body). The second course should not be spicy, fried, or fatty. Do not serve mayonnaise or ketchup (unless natural, without additives). Add plenty of vegetables to your lunch, such as a large salad.
5. For an afternoon snack, fresh fruit, pancakes or pancakes are perfect. Additionally, please your baby with fresh cocoa.
6. Dinner should be light but filling. The child should not eat enough all day. If he goes to bed at 21.00, then we sit down for dinner at 18.00-19.00, no later.
7. Food should be varied. We mean not just the composition of the products, but also. After all, children are more willing to eat if the plate is decorated with funny faces, or if food of several colors lies beautifully on it.

Clubs and sections in the daily routine of a first-grader

Physiologists do not recommend starting school while learning the basics of dance steps or the first strikes of kung fu. It is better to do this a year before school or already in second grade. In the first class, loads should be minimal.

If you see that your child is having a hard time coping with his studies, combining it with the club he started a year ago, it is better to postpone classes for a year. But be sure to listen to the opinion of your student: if he really likes additional classes, leave one section and “pause” the second.

Remember that at this time the child really needs our support. There is no need to constantly tell him what to do, focus on school difficulties, demand excellent results and scold him for sloppy notebooks.

You must be one team: let the child feel that he has protection, that his parents are on his side. And comply. Good luck to you and your little schoolboy!

Adaptation to school is a complex process, and most importantly, a long one. For first-graders it lasts 6-8 weeks. Maintaining a daily routine is the golden rule for a family that has a schoolchild.

A first grade student should get at least 10 hours of sleep, so do your best to ensure that he goes to bed at 9 pm and gets up at 7 am. If you pick up your child from school immediately after school, it is better to first take a walk before lunch for about 40 minutes. Primary schoolchildren should walk 3 hours a day. We have lunch at 13.30-14.00. After lunch - mandatory rest. Children come home from school at a decline in their performance, so in no case should they be immediately seated for lessons. Even a child who has long stopped sleeping during the day, coming home from school, can fall and fall asleep. Of course, we need to give him this opportunity to rest.

After lunch and rest we sit down for homework. In first grade, they should not take more than half an hour. The optimal time for preparing them is between 15 and 17 hours. Then the child can go to additional classes - to a circle, section, studio. You can combine the road to class with a walk. Under no circumstances should you do or finish homework in the evening. It often happens that during the day a child comes home from school lethargic and tired, and by the evening he seems to have a second wind. He is cheerful and cheerful, ready to do anything to avoid going to bed. Don't think that he's not tired and doesn't want to sleep - in fact, he's just overexcited.

To relieve the stress that has accumulated during the day, it is useful to take a walk before bed. If we assume that we need to go to bed at 21.00, then the best time for a walk will be 19.30, right after dinner. At home we take a warm shower, drink a glass of milk with a spoon of honey (if there are no allergies) - and go to bed. Going to bed should be very calm, without talking about the problems and difficulties of the past day, especially without reminders of failures and annoying mistakes.

One of the most important components of the daily routine is diet. A primary school student should have five meals a day: breakfast at home, second breakfast at school, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner. A hot breakfast at home is a must. Ideally, this is hot porridge, but you can also offer dry cereal doused with warm milk. Of course, there are many options - it could be an omelet, cottage cheese, cheesecakes or pancakes. Under no circumstances should you have breakfast in a hurry, under constant shouts of “Faster!”, “You’ll be late!” It is better to wake up your child half an hour earlier than to rush him. There is nothing worse for a child's physical and mental health than the stress that is created by time constraints.

If the child is not in after-school care, he usually has lunch at home. For starters, it is best to offer him a light soup (strong meat broths are not good for children). When preparing the second meal, you should remember that spicy, fried, spices, mayonnaise, and ketchup are not recommended not only for children, but also for younger schoolchildren. Fruits and vegetables are required in the daily menu. It's good to have a vegetable salad for lunch. Afternoon snack is the time to eat buns, pancakes, pancakes. Fresh fruit is also good for an afternoon snack. Dinner should be hearty, but light. If you expect your child to go to bed at 21:00, then you should have dinner no later than 19:00, 2 hours before bedtime. Nutrition should be varied, not only in the composition of the products, but also in the form in which these products are given to the child. It is important to him how the food lies on the plate and how it is decorated. In catering, a positive emotional attitude is no less important than in all other areas of a first-grader’s life.

Physiologists do not recommend combining the start of schooling with the start of studies at a music school, art studio, or additional foreign language classes. If you want to develop your child comprehensively, it is better to start a year before school or from the second grade. In first class, additional loads should be minimal.

It also happens: before school, a child takes part in both music and sports, but in the first grade something has to be sacrificed, because there is not enough time for everything. You can postpone some of the activities for a year, but be sure to listen to the child’s choice: those additional activities that remain must definitely please him and nourish him emotionally. From the point of view of physiologists, if you have to choose between English and swimming, then the answer is clear: swimming. But, for example, with dancing, not everything is so simple: dancing is such a finely coordinated and complex action that for most children it turns out to be hard work. But even here you should rely on the child’s choice.

Unfortunately, parents often try to schedule their child’s time minute by minute. And it turns out that children do not have the opportunity to be alone with themselves, and they really miss this. A student comes home from school - “Sit down for lunch.” Had lunch - “Sit down for your homework.” You need to let him be alone, leave him alone in the room. Maybe he will take his favorite toy - this helps many children relieve tension and relax. At this age, the child still has a great need to play. If many teachers do not allow you to bring toys to school, then at home you can allow your child to do homework with her and put her to bed with her. It is very difficult for the child at this time, and anything that helps him go through the adaptation period more easily will be beneficial.

But the most important thing is that children really need our support during this period. You shouldn’t focus too much on school difficulties, demand excellent results, scold them for grades or sloppy notebooks. The health of the child and a good relationship with him are more important. He must be sure that he has protection at home, that his parents are on his side.

The first period of adaptation to school - the “physiological storm” - lasts 2-3 weeks. All systems of the body work with great tension at this time. It is very important to understand that the child is faced with extreme stress. Therefore, in the first 2-3 weeks he may sleep poorly, be irritable, and start crying, seemingly for no reason. Parents have no choice but to treat all this as calmly as possible, with understanding, and to be patient.