How
to prepare your kid for the first day at school /
10 Tips for preparing children for their playschool
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If
your child
is 2+ and if you are planning to send her to a playschool, here are
some useful tips for
their preparation to make their journey comfortable. School
is totally a new environment for kids as they meet new people
and
make new friends. Changing the atmosphere at home to resemble that at
playschool before they start going, will help children in adjusting
well in their first school. Getting used to school
depends upon the toddler’s nature too. Some take just one day and some
a
month’s time.
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1) Talk a lot about the school: toys, games,
children, teacher, outdoor games: Create an enthusiasm in
the kid for the
school by telling her about the playschool. Visit the school and make a
note of
all things that are going to amuse your kid. Let your kid know about
the toys,
colorful pictures, see-saw or slides that are available at the school.
2) Show her school
going kids: Introduce her to some elder kids who go to
school. You are
lucky if you know children going to the same playschool. Let them talk
to your
kid about the excitement they have at school.
3) Introduce
them
to books: Buy colorful board books and make them acquainted
with pictures
of animals, birds, vegetables, fruits and alphabets. They will be
interested to
find the same in playschool too.
4) Create a routine
and change their timings: Children should be made to change
their routine
at home according to school timings at least fifteen days before they
start
going to school. Wake them at a time suitable for going to school at
the right
time. Change their diet timings according to the lunch or snack timings
at
school. Sudden changes in timings of rest and food will add to their
initial
resistance to school.
5) Play CDs:
Children usually at playschools are taught rhymes etc by playing
different
animated CDs. As children love animations, play some CDs at home and
tell them
that they can have more of them at school.
6) Visit the school
a few times with your kid: Take her with you to the school a
few times
before her first day to school. Make her acquainted with the teachers,
so that she
does not find them as strangers on the first day.
7) Leave them at
someone’s place: Try to leave them at a friends’ or
relative’s place for a
few hours for a few days so that she gets used to staying without you.
She will
know that you will be back in school after sometime. This will decrease
separation anxiety.
8) Try different
food items: Make her taste different items and varieties and
see what she
likes best. In this way you can be prepared for making arrangements for
their
tiffin box.
9) Buy new items
for school: Take her for shopping and buy all new things like
bag, shoes,
tiffin box and water bottle and tell them they can use them on their
first day to
school.
10) Be with her on the first day: Many
playschools allow parents to stay with their kids on the first day. You
can
spend some time with her and show her the toys, outdoor games and
introduce her
to other kids in the school.
What ever
the preparation
may be, children do cry on their first day to school. After all, they
are being
left at a place full of strangers when only you mean the world to them.
It is a
common site to see mothers shedding tears after sending their child on
the
first day to playschool. This is all about “letting go” thing. Fine
with it, just
do not show your emotions to your kid. Remember that it is only a
temporary phase.
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