Preparing Your Child To Start Preschool | Preschool Education & Everything Preschool

Preparing Your Child To Start Preschool August 27

No parent is ever ready for the day that their child goes off to preschool. But that doesn’t mean that your preschooler can’t be ready. Even if you’re nervous about the separation, you should do your best to make sure that your child is prepared to head off to preschool when the time is right. You want to do well as a parent and part of this means giving your child the tools to go off on his own, even if it’s just for a few hours at preschool. And by preparing your child both educationally and emotionally for the preschool experience, you’ll help to quell your own fears about the situation.

Here are some of the things that you need to do when preparing your child to start preschool:

Get your child used to following directions by using them regularly in your home. Use simple one-step directions first (such as “brush your teeth”). Then incorporate a second step (such as “brush your teeth and then get in bed”). Over time, your preschooler will get used to following directions and this will make doing so in preschool easier.
Involve your child in a play group or other social activity. Your preschooler is going to need to learn to share items, take turns and otherwise interact with children so make sure that you’ve given him the skills to do so.

Know where your child should be academically. Your preschooler doesn’t have to be right on track or ahead of the game, but you should have some basic child development knowledge of where other kids of the same age are going to be. This varies depending on the age that your child enters preschool but can be figured out by checking out basic parenting books on development. Help your child reach an average academic place before sending him off to preschool so that he doesn’t start at a disadvantage.
Point out the ways in which your child is growing up and make it a point to say that preschool is a big kid thing. This way, your child will be proud and excited about preschool, not scared.
Purchase some special preschool items that your child gets to use only when going to preschool. A backpack, lunchbox, set of crayons … these small things that are for school only can help with the transition to preschool.
Use a schedule at home since your child will be on a schedule in preschool. Have a playtime, a nap time, a video time, and an outside time that are basically the same every day. The routine itself may be different in preschool but the process of getting used to a routine won’t be new.

And of course, the most important thing about preparing your child to start preschool is that you have to prepare yourself. Even parents who are eager to return to work feel a twinge of regret when it’s time to send kids to preschool. It’s a change that breeds fear. But if you are overly anxious about it, your child will pick up on that and the transition to preschool will be more difficult. Trust that you’ve prepared your child for preschool and rest easy in that knowledge.

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