The first day of school or childcare can inspire anxiety anxiety and fear in parents and children. There are many things families can do together to prepare for a successful start together.
Before the first day...
You have chosen the right centre for you and your child but you may not have included your child on your tour. Consider taking a visit together for a short exploration of the place to help an overly anxious child who feels anxious about the unknown.
Read books about starting preschool such as The Kissing Hand, Wemberly Worried and Starting School.
Talk about the first day positively and directly with statements such as, "You're going to learn, play, and make friends!" and avoid discussing it in a way that feeds anxiety or fear.
Pretend play can help children work out their fears and anxieties so consider doing a circle time, an art time or a snack time together as if you are new friends on the first day of preschool.
Build confident through independence
Practice putting on the clothing, jacket, socks, shoes and backpack. Getting some or all of these things on independently builds confidence and makes children feel capable and ready for their day.
We assist families in toilet training but if your child is already trained work on independent toileting and building healthy hand washing habits.
Practice asking for help from a teacher and social phrases such as thank you, you are welcome, excuse me, etc.
Feelings and Emotions
Acknowledge all the kinds of feelings that may show up weeks before to the day of and share that all of these feelings are normal.
Creating a Routine
Children thrive in routine and structure so consider adjusting bedtime and wake-up times a few weeks before your first day and practice a set morning routine of brushing teeth and getting dressed to ensure you aren't rushing them out of the door when it's time.
...in the first few weeks
You can expect some ups and downs from a perfectly seamless first day to regression that includes tears, clinginess and acting younger than usual. Throughout, its important to keep to your morning rituals and routines and providing confident and warm goodbyes without lingering.
Tips
At your parent-teacher meeting before the first day, share as much information as you can with the teacher including your child's interests, comfort objects, and any anxiety triggers. This will support the teacher in building a relationship with you child.
Work together to come up with a secret drop off ritual like a special handshake, kiss or hug and work on keeping this as consistent as you can.
Teach them their new teachers names.
Make an effort to keep to a regular pick up time to build trust with your child.
Children usually place things in their own cubbies but sometimes things are placed elsewhere... label everything including clothing.
Allow your child to choose their backpack to build excitement and ownership.
Talk about how your day went when you were away from them to encourage your child to share their day with you. Ask questions like, "What made you laugh today?"
It's normal for children to take anywhere from a day to weeks to settle and even after settling in, they may have an off day and you may feel like you are starting from scratch all over again. Don't be afraid to ask the teachers for help or assistance and ask teachers to let you know if they see a genuine struggle beyond a normal adjustment period.
