No matter how old you are, or what they entail, transitions are hard. As a child, these can be even more difficult to understand and deal with.
You’ve seen your kid grow up. It’s difficult, but exciting, to see children enter their school years. Children may be excited to meet new friends and play, but they might struggle with homesickness and getting used to a new routine.
You don’t need to stress. You can help prepare your child for these transitions. Read on to learn more.
Child care to preschool
If your child has already been in child care, the transition might be a bit easier, but it still requires a different type of preparation.
At child care centers, the main objective is to take care of children and keep them active; preschool, on the other hand, is focused on the child’s education and development.
Children might be used to being around other kids—but there’s bound to be more structure in pre-K.
They might be familiar with being in an unfamiliar space—but they might expect more one-on-one attention.
They might be used to free play—but they might not be able to follow structured activities.
While the below tips are focused on the transition to kindergarten, you can modify them in order to better suit your soon-to-be preschooler. In this case, communication and developing social skills may be the most important work to do at home.
Preschool to kindergarten
Kindergarten is meant as a transition grade to get children used to the routine of school. It’s also meant to maintain and maximize the gains made in preschool. You can help by gradually preparing your child for a new routine. Visiting the school and meeting the teacher in advance can help make your child more comfortable.
Ready for school: preparing academic and social readiness
According to the National Education Association, school readiness “refers to the academic knowledge, independence, communication, and social skills children need to do well in school.”
In an academic sense, it’s important to establish a foundation on which teachers can build upon. To prepare your child, start basic educational activities early. This can entail simply reading to your child, singing rhyming songs, visiting the library, and letting them explore and learn on their own.
Helping your child learn some key social skills will also benefit them in their first year. Things like following directions and taking turns go a long way. To set your child in the right direction, create rules and consequences for breaking them; have regular routines; encourage your child to play and share with others; have your child express how they feel and consider the feelings of others.
Independence
Fostering independence in your child is incredibly important for growth and development. Entering kindergarten is an important milestone that ensures children are paving their own path, but the first school day may be your child’s first prolonged time without you. Help your child have ownership over small things at home to encourage independence.
It can be as small as buying clothes and shoes that easily buckle, zip, and fasten, or giving your child simple chores around the house like setting the table or cleaning up toys.
Communication skills
One of the goals of kindergarten is to learn how to identify letters and their sounds and how they come together to form words. They also learn how to print letters, both capital and lowercase. One way you can prepare your child is to speak regularly with them and encourage them to listen and respond. Children who have had one book read to them a day will hear about 290,000 more words by the age of five than those who weren’t read to regularly. This shows just how important a parent’s role is before children enter their years of formal education.
Off to kindergarten: Prepare yourself too!
Your child will look to you to model behavior. It’s normal to have some anxieties about leaving them, but you don’t want to add unnecessary stress to your child’s first day. Keep the goodbye short and sweet, and save any tears for the car after drop-off.
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