Image taken from csminitor.com
Good morning everyone, how is this beautiful day treating you so far? I hope that everyone is doing ok. Well today it’s no school for my kids as it is I think a Jewish Holiday so all public schools in NYC are closed.
I just wanted to do a short to give a little advice to any parent that is having some trouble with their little one going not wanting to go to school. Now this can either be a pre-schooler, a third grader, or any grade in between or above. I know that some days it may seem really terrifying when you’re dropping your kids off at school and they are crying, screaming, or latching on to you for dear life because they do not want you to leave. It really just breaks your heart, but then sometimes it can be very frustrating to the parent.
You see I have two young boys, one is in kindergarten and the other is in third grade. Now let me tell you that the first week of school was the worst when it came to dropping them off. My kindergartener cried for an hour the first day, so I basically sat in the class room on the floor next to him trying to get him to stop crying so that he could enjoy his first day of school. I am pretty sure that the only reason I didn’t take him back home with me was because his teacher was very comforting and let me know that he would be ok if I left. She also took him and reassured him that I would be back to pick him up very soon.
Now my third grader had days when he would just break down in tears to a point where he broke out in a fever for a few days because he didn’t want to go to school. I completely understood why he was so unhappy about going to school, seeing that he was just transferred and it was a completely now school to him. New teachers, new classmates, no friends yet, it was very daunting for him and he was not afraid to let me know. I was just stomped at what to do to help my two boys feel comfortable leaving me and going to school, and actually liking it.
What did I do you ask???
Well I realized that I needed to do a lot more communicating with my kids, so I came up with a little strategy:
1. I started talking to them the night before school about how nice their teacher was, how awesome their classroom looked and how many cool things they are going to learn at their new school.
2. I let them know what time we would be leaving for school each day and what time I would be at the door of their classroom to pick them up.
3. I reassured them that it would only be a few hours of school and then I would be right there to bring them home.
4. I also would let them know what we would do when we got home, like play with their favorite toy as soon as we got home, or I would let them know which of their favorite books I was going to read to them at bed time. If I was taking them to the park after school, I would let them know that as well so that they have something to look forward to keep their minds off of being sad.
5. I would repeat steps 1-4 in the morning while we are on our way to school. This just adds double comfort and by consistently reassuring them of what to expect and how great things are going to be in school and after school, after a while they know what to expect and school doesn’t seem like such a big and scary place far away from mommy/daddy anymore.
I have been doing this with my kids for the past two weeks, and though at first it may seem like a lot, if you stick to it you will see great results. My kids love going to school right now and It is just such a joy to know that they are happy and that we have a good line of communication going.
I hope that this post can be of some help to any parent who are having the same issue I had. Let me know if you are having this problem and how you are handling it..???
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Literacy For A Lifetime 