How to Prepare Your Child for Elementary School: Building Skills for Success

Elementary school is a huge step in your child’s educational journey. It’s not just about learning to read, write, and do math; it’s also about developing confidence, building social skills, and learning responsibility.

As a Christian parent, you have the unique privilege of preparing your child both academically and spiritually for this new season.

Here are 5 key ways to prepare your child for elementary school and set them up for success:

1. Build a Consistent Morning & Evening Routine
Elementary students thrive when their days start and end with structure.

• Set a regular bedtime to ensure your child gets enough sleep.
• Create a calm, screen-free morning routine that allows time for breakfast, prayer, and getting ready without stress.
• Involve your child in packing their own backpack to teach responsibility.

2. Encourage Reading & Curiosity
Strong literacy skills are the foundation of learning in elementary school.

• Read together daily and ask open-ended questions about the story.
• Visit the library and let your child choose books on topics that interest them.
• Use real-life moments—like cooking or shopping—to build math and problem-solving skills.

3. Strengthen Social & Emotional Skills
Your child will meet many new classmates, so social readiness is key.

• Role-play introductions, sharing, and resolving conflicts.
• Teach them phrases like “Can I join you?” or “That hurt my feelings” to help them express themselves.
• Encourage kindness and empathy as daily habits.

4. Cover Them in Prayer
Elementary school years are formative, and your prayers can shape their path.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." – Proverbs 22:6

Pray for:

• A love for learning
• Godly friendships
• Safety and protection
• A teachable spirit

5. Partner With Teachers

• Introduce yourself to your child’s teacher early in the year.
• Ask how you can support learning at home.
• Keep open communication for both celebrations and concerns.

? Bonus Tip:
Create a “Back-to-School Blessing” tradition—pray over your child the night before school starts, speaking life and scripture over them.

Get our 31 Bold Prayers for Back to School guide, plus printable prayer cards and scripture memory verses for kids, to cover your child’s school year in faith and confidence.

? Get Your Back-to-School Prayer Guide Here:
? familiesarising.org/backtoschool