Can you believe that the first day of school has arrived? Wow-what a moment. In this article, we tell you the best way to make this a positive experience, instead of a howling emotional one.
Separation anxiety is a normal stage in a child’s development. This anxiety will actually help your child understand relationships and master their environment.
A new survey from KIDDIE ACADEMY, an educational child care centre, found that when all members of the family are polled, 63 percent say it’s Mum who has the hardest time with the first day of school.
For this reason, I feel that it is important to leave your child with caregivers for small amounts of time from an early age so that both you and your child can prepare for the first day of School.
Here are five tips on how to ease the separation anxiety.
- Introduce the teacher to your child telling the teacher one thing your child loves so that their Teacher has a starting point for conversations. ie. This is Sophie and she has a Big Brother and loves Barbies.
- Show them the palm of their hand and tell them that if they feel sad they can just press the middle of their hand and then you will know they need a pretend hug and then you can press the middle of your hand and pretend to hug them back. This will create a moment of reassurance. You can even draw a heart, however, be sure to tell them that if the heart rubs off, everything is OK.
- When it’s time to go, make sure to say goodbye to your child. The reason this is suggested is that if you do a runner, your child will simply be even more clingy tomorrow because if they let go you will leave them in haste. Be mindful and say goodbye with love, care and commitment.
- Once you say goodbye, please leave promptly. If you drag your departure out, this is mean and also misleading.
- Express your ease with leaving and tell your child/children you will meet them at 3 pm. Even if you feel like to are about to burst into tears, this is the moment to outshine Julia Roberts acting skills. Put on a brave face and hold it together.
- I love the idea of a reward system in the first Month. A simple stamp on a chart you made together at home is a nice idea.
Your role, as a parent is to prepare your child for the big wide world around them. Congratulations on successfully teaching your child the independence they need to be a Kindy or School Kid.
Now…. what to do with this spare time? Please don’t say clean the house on day one. If you have the chance, do something for yourself.
