The experience of leaving your children somewhere else is hard enough as a parent, and the same will go for your child when you need them to go to preschool. It can be difficult for both, so here are some tips to prepare your child for preschool that will hopefully make the whole experience a little easier.
Do A Visit With Your Child To The Preschool
The best way to prepare yourself and your child is to take a trip to the preschool before you start. That way, your child can become more familiar with its surroundings, rather than having to step into the room for the first time, and it is completely alien to them. Not to mention, you’re leaving them there with strangers that they won’t know. For a small child, all that can be overwhelming, so try to do a few visits to the preschool if it’s possible. There will likely be the possibility to do a few visits where you can see everything for the first time and then maybe one or two occasions where the child can stay there for an hour or two, just so they get used to being away from you.
Read Some Books
Sometimes visual learning can come from reading books that relate to being left alone or a character similar to that of your child, having to go to school. Children will often find comfort in storytime so they might actually relate their experience of going to preschool, with the book. That comforting feeling is something you want your child to have when they’re going somewhere new. For you, as a parent, it’s difficult to detach yourself because it’s the first step to them becoming independent. So you need these books as much as they need them too!
Adapt Your Schedule
Taking your child to and from preschool isn’t going to be easy when you’ve got a schedule that may not initially fit it. However, we all have the ability to adapt, and this is something that you definitely want to do. Work with your partner or those who can help you to manage this extra thing in your daily life. You might also need to think about how freely available you can become because there’s always the chance of emergencies that might happen through school and into high school.
Encourage Bravery
Both you and your child need to be brave for this next chapter of your child’s life. So it’s good as a parent to encourage bravery. Of course, it’s ok to be scared, and it’s also ok to get upset. However, you want them to know that they’re being a big boy or girl by going to preschool. Giving them that confidence will make all the difference in their independence and their ability to adapt to this new way of life.
Preparing your child for preschool is never easy but it’s a new stage in their life where you can watch them grow, to learn more and to discover the world around them.
