Like many parents, Anita was hassled about her toddler’s first week at preschool. Will he think she’s abandoning him? Will he cry ? Will he be scarred for life? Every parent is excited and anxious at the same time while enrolling their child at a preschool. Sometimes we let our separation anxiety affect the child, who otherwise would be happy to explore a new place. Parents can follow some tips like being consistent, avoiding comparisons between your child to others, understanding the preschool’s onboarding process.

ProEves spoke to some preschools on how they smoothen the onboarding process for children and here’s what they have to say –

At Sandbox there is a small brief that they share with parents on separation anxiety, post that they allow them to be there with the child for the first few days. Puja, Co-founder mentions that ”We slowly try making the child independent by reducing the parent presence from an hour to 30 mins. And slowly steadily keep extending the independent stay purely depending on how child is responding.”

At Cosmikids, onboarding a child is done by gradually easing a child into the school, by starting with one hour a day for a week, this time is spent in allowing the child to explore the premises and observe the staff, and includes free play and encouraging children to follow basic instructions. They then move to 2 hours the following week. Namrata, COO at CosmiKids states that “The time that the child spends with us gradually increases. This allows children to build trust gradually.”

First and foremost it is important to plan and build gradual familiarity with the space. Ipsaa allows parents and children to visit the school on & off before actually starting formally. This helps the kids to get familiar with the place, mentors, nannies, guard, etc. They insist on on-time pick up as late pick up sets in a sense of insecurity —Waiting makes a child miserable initially.

At The Learning Curve activities are planned to ensure that the process is perfect and smooth for both parent and child. They allow the kids to settle in toys that appeal to them and have music playing in the background. Each child is offered takeaways at the end. The hours of preschooling are increased gradually and extra staff is appointed to help kids settle faster. Parents have separate waiting area with a parenting talk to keep them preoccupied.

Ms. Shalini Jaiswal, Director – Academic, Training & Teacher Education, Maple Bear South Asia says “A good night’s sleep is a must for any start in life, preschool included. Therefore, we make it a point to counsel parents to start practicing a bedtime routine with their children at least ten days prior to when they’re supposed to start school.” Initial few days, the children are accompanied by parents in the classroom for when children see their parents interact with teachers, they also begin to start trusting and bonding with their teachers& hours are shorter gradually extending to full hours.

Selecting a preschool that is a good fit for your child can be both exciting and confusing. But don’t worry. Get all your queries answered from our experts. Register Here