How Parents and Teachers can Help Keiki Adjust to the New School Year

The start of the school year stirs up many new emotions and questions. Is your child starting at a new school this year? Is your kindergartener unsure of what to expect? What can we do to help our keiki adjust to their new school environment?

The good people at Reading is Fundamental provide useful tips for parents and teachers to help out keiki adjust to the start of the school year.

Helping Kids Adjust to School: Useful Tips for Parents and Educators 

(Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children.)

Transitions are exciting opportunities for children to learn and grow. Parents and early childhood professionals share a role in making children feel safe and secure as they move to new educational settings. Of course, such milestones in children's lives can cause anxiety, too. Strengthening the ties between educational professionals and families will help create smooth transitions for both adults and children.

How parents can help:

• Be enthusiastic about the upcoming change. If you are excited and confident, your child will be, too.
• Prepare yourself. Take note of how your child reacts to separation. If possible, visit the new setting together. Introduce your child to the new teacher or early childhood professional in advance.
• Arrange a play date with another child from the program, preferably one-on-one, so that your child will see a familiar face.
• Start daily routines that will add continuity. Let your child become involved with packing lunch or laying out clothes. Also, begin an earlier bedtime several weeks before.
• Put aside extra time, particularly on the first day of school, for chatting and communing together. But remember not to prolong the goodbye. If your child whines or clings, staying will only make it harder.
• Always say goodbye to your child. Be firm but friendly about separating. Never ridicule a child for crying. Instead, make supportive statements like, "It's hard to say goodbye."
• At the end of the workday, put aside your concerns about your career and focus on being a parent.

How teachers or early childhood professionals can help:

• Make sure activities are developmentally appropriate for children. Activities that are interesting, challenging, and doable will help children feel comfortable in their new setting.
• Make an effort to get to know each individual child as quickly as possible. Parents can provide information about children's likes, dislikes, and special interests.
• Welcome suggestions from families, particularly those of children with special needs. Parents can offer specific suggestions they have found useful for their child and advise on classroom setup and modifications.
• Hold an orientation for children and parents. Small groups encourage children to get to know each other.
• Show children around the new school or program, introducing them to other adults who are there to help them become acclimated.
• Create partnerships between preschools and elementary schools in the community. Focus meetings on sharing ideas and concerns.
• Set up an area for photos of parents and family members that children may "visit" throughout the day. Also, include items that reflect the cultural experiences of the children to help promote a sense of mutual respect and understanding. Children, just like adults, need time to adjust to new people and situations.
• Experience helps to ease transitions but change can still be stressful. Patience and understanding on the part of parents, caregivers, and teachers help children learn how to approach new situations with confidence—a skill that helps them make successful transitions throughout their lives.

One of the Five Protective Factors is the Knowledge of Parenting and of Child and Youth Development. 

Photo: aturkus

“...Parents who understand how children grow and develop can provide an environment where children can live up to their potential. Child abuse and neglect are often associated with a lack of understanding of basic child development - or an inability to put that knowledge into action. Timely mentoring, coaching, advice, and practice may be more useful to parents than information alone.” Assuring children are able to adjust to their new school environment will make the transition to the school year a happy and positive experience for everyone. When parents are informed and confident, their children feel supported and equipped to reach their full potential.

“Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don't begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten.” - Robert. L. Ehrlich