Dear Restonmom,
"What preparations, if any, (and other than potty training) should you do with your kiddo who's getting ready to go to preschool? Thanks." - Leah
Dear Leah,
Thanks for your question - a great one! I'll be there's a bunch of moms wondering the same question as they look ahead to fall preschools. "Pre" school is really a big tutorial for what's to come...so don't worry to much about preparing a child to go and be preparing for school and other activities - that's kind of what it's all about. The best suggestions I can make are simply to talk to your child to reassure them in advance of such a big transition in their routine - talk about preschool, other kids who go, read books about it, etc. Keep reinforcing all the good manners, sharing, etc... that you are already working on, and begin to let them take on some bits of responsibility like getting dressed or helping to pack snacks/lunch so that they can feel excited about this new preschool thing that only "big kids" get to do and so that they feel a little bit empowered to handle life. I would teach the child the name of the teacher and make sure that they know they can talk to him/her. For example, my daughter Hope (who has been well potty trained for a long time) had a bit of an accident during class when she started ballet simply because she didn't realize that it was okay to ask the teacher to leave instruction to go use the bathroom. It seems obvious, but sometimes children are timid about things like that. And, make a special "good-bye" ritual to ease the separation anxiety - such as a special phrase, handshake or whatever. I hope these tips are helpful, but I especially help that some other moms who have been through this will offer some comments here since we aren't sending our daughter to preschool. Best wishes - preschool is an exciting time!
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