First time pre-schoolers may face a jitters for the first few days, weeks or even months, depending on each child’s ability to cope. The good news is that over time, it will get easier for them as they get used to school life.
There are some things we can do to ease their kindergarten jitters. If you child is one of them who’s still jittery at kindie, here are some suggestions. Hope they work for you.
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Teach the child a coping skill
Teach your child how to cope with feelings of anxiety whenever they come up while they’re at school. For example, teach them to take deep breaths to calm themselves down if they feel anxious. Or teach them to comfort themselves with some positive self-talk.
If they are too young to be able to do such mind work, perhaps you can give them a little object that they can keep them during school as a reminder that they are brave. For example, find a small pebble and you may even write encouraging words like “You are brave,” or something comforting like “See you soon!”
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Help your child make a friend of two
Not just asking them to make friends by themselves, but to take an active role to help your child do so. Needless to say we would need to pick someone whom the child is comfortable with. So pay a little attention to other kids around your child and find a good fit for your child.
You would know your child best, whether they like to be in a group environment or a one-to-one. Help make a friend or a group of friends according to your child’s social preference and comfort level.
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Help your child with his lessons and school work
To start with, a new kid in school may feel overwhelmed not just socially but also with lessons and school work given. Find out if your child understands what’s going on in class and whether he or she is coping well with work given. Be gentle in your enquiry, lest we frighten them even more!
Where he or she is having trouble, help them through it. At least this will dissolve their fears of not knowing what to do or not understanding the lessons.
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Have a cheerful goodbye routine
If your child has separation anxiety, all the more there needs to be a cheerful goodbye routine that helps to put him or her at ease. Say positive and affirmative things and give your child something to look forward to.
Our words are important. Instead of saying “Don’t be scared in school,” or “Don’t cry in school,” try to drop the “don’ts” because they are normally followed by negative connotations. Instead, emphasise on the positive side of things. For example, we can reword them into, “Go and have a fun day in school,” or “You’ll be fine and teach will take care of you.”
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Start the day with a morning routine
Some children find it difficult to be woken up earlier than their usual time. Wake them up gently to create a happy start for them. Granted, we also need to have patience with them, as the struggle to get out of bed is real for many.
It helps to put them in a better frame of mind to go to school when we establish a morning routine for them. It makes it easier to handle all the preparations of the morning all the way until they get ushered out the door to school without stress on you and the child.
A good morning begins the night before – these pre-schoolers need between 10 to 13 hours of sleep, and rest thus it’s also important to establish a bed time for them.
Happy Mummy, Happy Child
Here’s hoping your child is well adjusted with your help for them to succeed in school. It is a big relief to mummies once the child is settled and a new phase of life begins for them. New things to learn, and new things to experience from here on.
If your child takes a longer time to adjust, don’t despair. Everyone has their own timing, so it won’t help comparing one child to another in this aspect. This is the time to deploy lots of patience and calm.
When we exude calmness around our children, it also helps them to stay calm and not kick up a fury. So let’s start with ourselves, as we are in better control of our emotions and thoughts. Only then we can help our child with their kindie jitters better.