Are you the parent of a small child? Do you want to send them to preschool, but you're not quite sure how to get them ready for the experience? Preschool can be a fun and exciting experience for your child, but it can also be a little scary at first. Follow these tips to help your child make the most of his or her preschool experience:
Start packing a lunch now: While many preschool programs offer lunches and snacks for your child, you can provide some consistency by packing favorites for him or her. Get your child used to the idea of a bagged lunch by starting to make lunch in the morning, even before he or she starts attending preschool. Depending on your child, you may even want to make it a game. Let him or her guess what's inside, like whether he or she gets cookies or a fruit cup for dessert. As lunch time rolls around, he or she will be very excited to find out what's inside. Doing this will introduce the concept of regularly eating a pre-packed lunch to your child in a fun and non-threatening way. Once he or she starts to actually attend preschool, the excitement will continue to carry over.
Practice preschool activities: Do you regularly read to your child? Is it mainly before naps or other bedtimes? If so, you may want to start reading to them during the day, even when it's not nap time. Most preschool programs will have daily reading time. If your child expects a nap afterwards, but instead the teacher says that it's time for something else, your child could end up confused. You should also practice things like putting on coats and overshoes. Right now, you probably do most or all of the work for your child when it's time to go outdoors, but because a teacher has to care for multiple students, your child is likely to have less help while at preschool. Even if your child can't quite button his or her coat or fasten his or her shoes, knowing how to at least put them on correctly will go a long way towards helping his or her preschool teacher get the entire class outside for playtime.
Visit the school: Many preschool programs are year-round, but not all of them are. If the program is year round, make sure to take your child to the school once or twice before he or she starts to attend. Let him or her meet his or her new teacher and see where different things are located. If the preschool is only open for a few months of the year, find out if you can bring your child to the school before it opens. For example, you may want to bring him or her to play on the playground for one or two weekends before the school opens. Once the preschool program starts, your child will be excited to find out that he or she will be playing on the same playground again.
Contact a preschool, such as the Advantage Learning Center, for more tips on preparing your child for school.
Share16 February 2016
Hello, my name is Melony. Welcome. I am here to talk to you about child development. As a young adult, I studied child development in my elective courses. I wanted to learn about the factors that help kids grow into functional adults. I studied all of the different ways this process can go wrong. Although I cannot use this info for my career, I am glad I studied this topic in great detail while in school. I will use this site to help others learn all they can about healthy child development. Please feel free to visit my site anytime to learn more.
