Adjusting Your Child To Life In A Lakemba Child Care Centre
Separation and huge changes can be hard on little children. The onset of childcare is not only difficult for them but also their parents. This is understandable since your child’s brain is still developing and may not comprehend many differences in their environment.
You, therefore, need to prepare your child before they join a Lakemba childcare centre. Fail to do that and your child will wine and wail every time you drop them off and this will negatively affect their attitude towards learning.
Whether your child is a first-timer or is rejoining childcare after a break, we have discussed several approved ways through which you can ease the process and even make your child eager to board. They include:
Talk About Childcare With Your Child
Unlike you, your child does not understand the benefits of childcare. To them, is it a period when you leave them with a stranger in an unfamiliar environment for hours. This kind of thinking leaves them sad as they do not get the concept of learning with their peers.
You can however change your child’s perception of childcare by discussing it with them. Begin by telling them they will see you at the end of each day. Talk about how playing with other age-mates is fun and how many activities they can take part in during childcare.
Through such a discussion, your child will start seeing childcare as a fun place and not a prison where you drop them off.
Prepare A Checklist
Contrary to what many parents believe, childcare necessities do not end with the fees. Your child will need several other items for them to transition easily.
Remember you are taking them from the comfort of their home and family members to a new environment where there are lots of new faces. Lack of necessities can make this experience bad and make your child despise attending childcare for a long time.
To provide them with much-needed comfort, list down the things you feel they will need and purchase them in advance.
Depending on their age, your child might need diapers, cot sheets, and an extra change of clothes, a pacifier, a snack bag, their personal water bottle or even a comfort item such as their favourite toy.
Visit The Centre With Them
Instead of waiting until the first day to show your child their new part-time space, do prior visits with them. Take strolls as you talk about the amenities they will have access to and let them see the facility with you.
You can help them adjust faster by meeting and chatting with their soon-to-be caregivers to break the initial tension. Such visits show your child that daycare is not meant to imprison them as they can still go home after spending some time there.
Any great Lakemba child care centre will allow you to interact with the amenities during such visits to help your child familiarise themselves with the structure. You can tour the learning rooms with them, check the nap centre out and even give their outdoor games a try.
Plan A Playdate With Other Parents
Your child will settle in childcare faster if they find peers they met outside childcare on their reporting date. Other than dealing with new faces, your child will be excited to continue playing with friends they made outside childcare.
You can easily achieve this easy transition by working with parents whose children are already in the childcare facility you choose or those who intend to join. Playdates allow your child to meet others in areas they are familiar with such as your home or their favourite play park.
Have A Goodbye Ritual
It is always difficult to see your child off, especially if you have never let them out of your sight. Separation does not come easy, even when you know you will be seeing your child before the day ends. This makes it hard for you to say goodbye, even tempting you to stay a little longer and cuddle your child. But this is not the best way to go about that.
The longer you hang around their facility showing remorse, the harder it becomes for your child to move on. A better approach would be to come up with a short goodbye ritual that you practise before the actual day. This way, your child is mentally prepared to see you leave and will quickly adjust to the new environment.
With the help of these tips, your child will be ready to move on to their next big step. Instead of being sad to leave them behind, look on the bright side. They are finally grown to begin the adventurous learning journey. If you feel they are not ready or will take time adjusting, talk to your childcare provider in a Lakemba child care centre for more tips.
