Faced with so much news, your child, who is starting to go to school for the first time, may feel afraid and cry. These tips can make that time less difficult.
The first day of school is a very special occasion for parents, but we are also saddened to see how they grow up and we must separate ourselves from them, so we must help make it a pleasant experience.
How to help children on the first day of school
When he arrives at his class, the other children interest him and attract him, but the community also scares him. In the midst of that large and unknown space that is the school, the playground, the dining room, and in the face of all those faces that he has never seen, he is afraid of “dissolving”, of losing his individuality.
For this reason, in Early Childhood Education, great importance is given to the identification signs of children: each one has a photo, a drawing, or a symbol on their hanger; and everyone has their place in the dining room, their bed to take a nap or their “stuffed animal from school”.
The discovery of this totally new world has to be progressive and respectful of the rhythm of each one. Ideally, in the month of June prior to the start of school, we take the child to visit the school and, eventually, to his teacher.
Some kindergartens tend to take children to the nearest school so that future schoolchildren become familiar with the school environment. And there are also schools that organize a staggering beginning of the course, throughout the month of September, and with entry at different times, so that the little ones can adapt without being disturbed by the older ones.
But despite all these precautions, there is no first day of school without crying, and that moment is painful for some children … and for some mothers!
What to do to mitigate the pain of the first day of school? “It is time to take an object, toy, or stuffed animal that reminds you of home from your bag. The child will keep it in his pocket and will be able to touch it throughout the day.
We can also reassure the child by helping him project into the future, saying: “I will come to pick you up later, we will go together to buy a snack and then we will come home.”
Or tell him that Mom and Dad, when they were little, also went to school. And if it is the mother who on the eve of her first day of school feels that she is not going to hold out, she has to delegate. With Dad, the matter is usually less dramatic.
