Bhakti Paun Sharma
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Do you remember your first day at pre-school when you cried out loud because your parents left you alone? As a parent, your heart bleeds when you see your child go to her pre-school, weeping and throwing a tantrum. But you obviously need to send her to school. So, when is your child mentally ready to go to pre-school? Nitin Pandey, CEO and founder of Parentune.com, tells us.
A child could start with preschool when she is between 18 months to 24 months. There are several important factors you need to consider. The most important ones are-
1. The child should be able to speak and ask for water or food and should be able to use the washroom or ask for any other help.
2. The preschool should be safe and should have trained caregivers to take care of the child.
A child goes through what is called, separation anxiety when she steps into preschool, as this is the first time that the child is going to be away from the familiar home environment. It is going to take some time, at least a couple of weeks for the child to feel okay about this. Is sending your child to daycare a good idea? Carefully read up on this.
Here are a few tips to help parents
1. Prepare in advance - Prepare your child for preschool before they are about to start with one. Talk about the preschool, about how there are so many interesting things at the preschool and how your child is going to enjoy it.
2. Get picture books about preschool - Your child may love what she sees, visual references of a preschool and its various areas can build positive excitement about the preschool. Here are a few things you can do to spend quality time with kids.
3. Build familiarity - Get everyone in the house/friends/family to speak about how it is going to be awesome at the school. Also, plan a couple of trips to the preschool with your child a few weeks before your child begins her acacemic session. This will help create familiarity and comfort.
4. Partner with the teacher- Help your child to get friendly with her teacher during this initial period when your child is anxious.
5. Avoid over attachment - Ensure that your child learns to let go of you, even at home, and become less clingy. Too much attachment and a habit to be with the parents all the time can trigger separation anxiety. Here are some signs to check if your child is ready for preschool.
After school, I suggest parents talk to the child and ask for an account of the day in school. Sometimes the child may not be willing to talk about school, so parents can use indirect ways to ask about the same. For e.g. tell them about games they played in their school and ask if these are played in their school too. Or show an age-appropriate book with pictures of a playground, classroom and ask if their school has any of it. Read why pre-school kids must undergo annual vision screening.
The most important aspect here is time. Be patient with your child and everything will turn out well, suggests Pandey.
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