A winning morning routine for 7+ Assessment success!

The way your child starts their morning can make a huge difference in their focus, confidence, and performance. A rushed, chaotic start? Expect frustration and poor concentration. A structured, calm routine? That’s where success begins.

Pay attention to how your child starts their morning.

Here’s how I remember my mornings as a child.

They were usually very rushed as we didn’t wake up early enough to get the things done that we needed to get done. I remember breakfast being rushed and I remember hearing ‘We are going to be late!’ a lot! Then we would rush in the car for the school drop offs. I remember lots of traffic and lots of stress. Definitely not a good environment for calm, focus and clarity. I would spend at least one hour in the car every morning as my mum would drop my brother off to his school on the other side of town compared to mine and then drop me off.

How a child starts their morning is everything when it comes to how the rest of their day will go.

I see this all the time—parents tell me their child struggles to focus in lessons or they get overwhelmed with 7+ Assessment preparation. But when I ask about their morning routine, the problem becomes clear.

A strong morning routine sets the tone for productive, calm and effective learning. Here are 3 simple routines that make a huge difference:

1. Mindful Mornings: Instead of screens, start the day with 5 minutes of deep breathing or stretching. This helps children wake up calm and focused. I love to just sit and hold my son (currently nearly 3 and hug him close for as long as he wants) I ask him about how he slept and if he had any dreams. Then I ask him to tell me how he is feeling. Finally, I tell him what the day will look like. I really look forward to these 5 minutes of connection with him. If he does ask me for a screen first thing (which does happen), I gently tell him that we don’t have screens as soon as we wake up and give him several options of other things that he can do.

2. Brain Warm-Ups: A quick verbal reasoning game or mental maths challenge over breakfast gets their brain switched on for learning. Over breakfast is the best time for us to get ten minutes of learning completed. Usually it is on a screen and I’m okay with this. We usually read a story whilst we have our breakfast so lots of opportunity for questioning and conversation over breakfast together. Another thing we love to do over breakfast is my son’s Italian learning (we use dinolingo). If we are not doing those two things, we will be doing phonics singing or a maths game.

3. Independent Start: Encourage your child to dress themselves, make their bed, or pack their own school bag/bag for the day. Independence in daily tasks translates to confidence. My son is fiercely independent and always ask me if he can help me. He is in the early stages of dressing himself. He can put his own shoes on and can nearly take of his own t shirt! He can put on his shorts and is practising putting on his socks.

Small habits like these create big results in your child’s ability to focus, stay motivated, and perform well in their 7+ Assessments.

Which of these will you try tomorrow morning? Let me know! Need a structured approach to 7+ Assessment preparation?

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