If you are considering enrolling your child in preschool in South Riding, you may be worried that the time away from you may somehow damage your growing relationship. However, there are many steps that you can take at home and when you drop your child off at preschool that can help to make your relationship strong. In fact, the preschool years are some of the most important for establishing the bonds that will keep you and your child close as they continue to grow and develop.
One of the most important reasons to establish a strong bond with your child throughout the preschool years is that it is the strength of the connection between the two of you that will cause your child to want to cooperate with your and to trust that you really do want what’s best for them. Connection rather than correction is what matters most to your child, so frequent hugs are important. Hug your child in the morning and at night, of course, but also throughout the day – especially when dropping off and picking up from preschool. It is those hugs that help your child to feel connected even when you are not around.
Transitions are difficult for preschool age children, so be sure to provide plenty of time to transition from one thing to another. Wake your child up five minutes earlier to provide for snuggle time before making the transition to getting dressed, eating breakfast, and brushing teeth. You’ll find that your child is more cooperative and your mornings will go much more smoothly. Allow for sufficient time when taking your child to preschool. Your child is much less likely to balk at being left at preschool if the drop off is not hurried and frantic.
Even though you may suffer from some guilt feelings at enrolling your child in preschool and not being available 24/7, what matters to your child is that when you are together, you are truly together. Turn off the TV, put down the cell phone, sit on the floor and spend some real time with your preschool age child. Even if it is only for 15 minutes a day, your child will feel the connection and value that is communicated in your willingness to just be with your child with no agenda and no structure.
If you enroll your child in a preschool program in South Riding, it is not as though you have sent your preschooler off to boarding school in some foreign country. You still have plenty of opportunities to interact in quality ways with your child. Take advantage of them and let your child know that the time you are spending and the connections your are shaping with your child are important to you.
At Sparkles! Preschool in South Riding, we know that parents are a child’s greatest educators. Our approach rests on the concepts that love and respect for the individual and the sanctity of family life are paramount to the children entrusted to our care. We will work in concert with you to help your child to succeed in preschool and beyond. If you are in the South Riding area, visit us online today at www.sparkleschildcare.com or call us at 1.877.SPARKY6.
