BACK TO SCHOOL MADE EASIER FOR EVERYONE, WITH YOTO

It was a long hot summer and here we are again – time to get ready for the Back To School  routine. Thankfully, Yoto, the audio platform for kids behind the critically acclaimed and  award-winning, screen-free Yoto Player, and Yoto Mini, is here to help. 

YOTO HELPS KIDS PREPARE FOR THE CLASSROOM

Kids enjoy the all-too-rare freedom to choose what they want to do. And true ownership of a  device makes them feel “grown up” and valued. Yoto helps kids feel more confident by  developing their vocabulary, autonomy, and independence. And there’s hundreds of hours of  great content for Reception Starters. These audiobooks are aimed at children aged four and  up, for family listening and learning and development for young minds: 

Yoto Originals Phonics: Letters & Sounds: Phase 1. £24.99. Yoto Daily's very own Jake  Harris gives youngsters the tools to decode written and spoken language and  understand the big wide world around them. Letters & Sounds: Phase 1 is the first in  Yoto's Phonics series and features 7 interactive audio cards based on the UK National  Curriculum. Through a range of fun interactive exercises, kids from age 3+ learn to  associate letters and words with speech, to speak more confidently and with greater  expression, hear and repeat musical patterns, and to identify sounds from their daily  lives.

Ladybird ‘I’m Ready for Big School’. £9.99. Discover the world of school and all that  goes along with it in this fun collection of stories. The stories in this collection include  'My Teacher Is an Alien', 'World Book Day', 'The Secret Door', 'The Escapades of the  Escaping Hamster' and 'Sick Bay'. Aimed at children aged four and up, this is perfect  for family listening and learning and as development for young minds.

Row Your Boat and other Pre-School Songs. £7.99. Row, row, row your boat and  get on the bus for this collection of timeless children's songs perfect for little ones  starting at Reception. Includes The Wheels on the Bus, London Bridge is Falling  Down, Jack and Jill, Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes and many more. 

For older children, the content gets even more exciting for supporting learning for going  back to Big School: 

Yoto Originals, The Human Body. £24.99 for the collection, or £7.99 each. Explore  the human body from the inside out! Meet the BrainBots: Nellie, Buzz and Gibbs!  Their goal? To find out as much as they can about the Human Body and all the cool stuff it can do and upload their findings to the BrainBank - a big cloud where all that  information is stored and shared to kids. Watch out for nostril hair, pizza and poop!

Horrible Histories: Vile Victorians. £7.99. Explore the Vile Victorians in this  horrifically hilarious series packed full of the facts they don't teach at school! Discover all the foul facts about the Vile Victorians, including the murderers who  wouldn't hang, the flushing of the first public loo and stag hunting in Paddington  Station. These bestselling titles are sure to be a huge hit with yet another  generation of Terry Deary fans.

Ladybird, My First Words in French. £9.99. Bonjour! We're off to France! Pack your  bags for an audio adventure - the perfect intro to learning French. Get your  passport and suitcase ready, because we are going on an adventure! This  interactive adventure is written to help young children confidently learn new  language skills, while having some fun along the way. During this action-packed hour  children will learn simple greetings, directions and a range of helpful French  phrases.

YOTO HELPS PARENTS WITH THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL ROUTINE

Yoto supports both morning and bedtime routines, making it easier for parents to get kids up  and out first thing and then back in bed on time in the evening. Use Yoto to both ease and  enhance the daily rhythms of school life;

The NEW Alarm functionality launching late September on all Yoto Players, and Yoto  Minis should make waking up on time a breeze. Children can choose from a pre-set  list of six alarm sounds designed in-house taking into account scientific research, to  wake up gently and independently. 

There’s even more newness from the App to help parents whizz through the must-dos  before the school run. Free Timer tracks for brushing teeth for example will make  morning tasks that bit more fun!

Over your morning Weetabix or whilst travelling into school, tune in to Jake’s Yoto  Daily podcast episode for fun and informative facts about the day, as well as games  and chat, all for free, freshly delivered to your Yoto Player every single day.

Come bedtime, the child-friendly moon/sun display will help children know when it’s  time for bed, and the Yoto Player’s Night light functionality and the endless Story  library and Sleep Radio will help children drift off to sleep, fuss-free. Ready to start  all over again tomorrow!

Back to School Tips from Jake, Yoto Daily podcast host and Audio Producer at Yoto: “The  thought of summer’s end and ‘real’ life starting again can be difficult for children to grapple  with, especially children who can’t picture what lies ahead. For them school can still feel like  an abstract concept, outside of their small world. We can help our little ones feel more  prepared, more relaxed and ultimately, excited to enter the classroom. There are no perfect  answers - all our children are different - but read on for some practical tips on how to  prepare them for their big adventure  

Talk 

● Communication is key. Talk to your little one about the name of the school, the  uniform, the teachers - discussing the practical aspects of their new school can  begin to help them process the change 

● Talk about your own experiences of school - what was it like when you first started  school, what was your uniform like, who was your teacher, what did you learn. To  know that you had a similar experience can be comforting  

Practice 

● Walk, cycle, scoot or drive the school run. However you are going to get to school,  practise the route; familiarise yourselves with the journey you will be taking every  day for the next few years 

● Try on the uniform, encouraging your little one to do it as independently as possible.  Same goes for those new school shoes (mmmm, new shoes). The more they can do  themselves the better, but don’t worry if they haven’t quite mastered all the buttons  and clips and zips - they will get there 

Share 

● Remember your little one is sharing this experience with 30 other children - it’s  good to help them prepare to share 

● Play games together, make puzzles, build Lego - with an emphasis on taking turns  and sharing  

Prepare 

● Start to get your child familiar with how their name looks written down. If they can  recognise their name then they will be more prepared to navigate the classroom - finding their peg or their own drawer 

● Prepare everything you need for the first day the night before, uniform, bag, lunch  etc. Try and make the morning routine as relaxed as possible; early preparation is  key to this 

Yoto Player and Yoto Mini are available to purchase for £89.99 and £59.99 respectively.  For more information please visit www.yotoplay.com. The free Yoto parental app is  available to download for free on iOS and Android.