Getting ready to send your toddler off to a nursery for the first time can be daunting. It’s normal to feel apprehensive about how it will all work out. Will they be comfortable? Safe? Happy?
It is a big adjustment and can be an emotional time for both parents and toddlers, but a bit of preparation will ensure a smooth first day!
Offering an established Holistic Development Programme at each of their thee London locations, Abacus Ark are on a mission to ensure that your child will become a well-rounded individual through their careful focus on cognitive, emotional, and physical skill training. Here, they look at 5 tips for starting your toddler at a new nursery.
1. Visit the setting – even if your little one isn’t shy; they may find it scary at first being around new people in a new place. Imagine starting a new job, it happens to us adults too. That’s why it’s a good idea to visit the nursery first and practise the journey to and from. Try and do this at a time when the other children are arriving or being picked up so that your child can see the happy faces.
2. Read stories about starting nursery – there are many books to choose from that cover this topic, written specifically to tackle the challenges both you and your child may be faced with at this time. Incorporate it into the bedtime story routine a few weeks before they start and talk about the exciting things they will do in your day-to-day conversation.
3. Brief the staff prior to your child’s start date -– have a good chat with the nursery staff so they understand a bit more about your child’s needs, likes and dislikes, what foods they enjoy to eat, nap times, anything that frightens them and how far through potty training they might be. The more information you give them, the better time your child will have.
4. Follow the recommended settling in programme the nursery advises – allow the time for your child to bond with the teachers and trust them with little interference. This will make it easier once you leave them for whole sessions.
5. Be strong when you say goodbye – be sure to say goodbye and explain you’ll be back to pick them up later. Try not to be drawn back by tears, which usually dry up as soon as you leave! Remember, children pick up on your cues, so keep smiling (even if your heart is breaking) and don’t hang around once you have said goodbye. You’ll both soon get very used to the new routine.
Visit abacusark.com for more info