The New School Year"s Beginning
It's the beginning of a new school year.
The new students, some as young as two months of age, and their parents are arriving with enthusiasm and anxiety.
Which one has more depends on how old the child is.
For the most part, the infants exhibit little anxiety.
They will however react to the different noises and smells and they may change their eating and sleeping patterns as they adjust into the group living situation.
On the other hand, the young twos love the idea of having new friends and toys as long as mom or dad stay around.
Their transition will be a bit more difficult and take a while longer.
Those entering at age three most likely will have had at least some playground friends experience and they usually bubble with excitement.
Parental anxiety has many faces.
Parents of infants quickly realize their child can not talk or walk yet and so they will be working on developing a strong relationship with the staff.
Good news or bad news they just need to know they will be told the truth.
The twos teachers will be helping parents develop good-bye rituals with their children.
This helps both the child and the parent because it creates a beginning, middle, and end to the good-byes.
If you visit the three-year-olds class you probably won't get much attention.
Within minutes they are selecting activities and making friends.
Sometimes parents leave the classroom cring...
not because their child is unhappy but because the child was so happy he couldn't be bothered to say good-bye.
This time it is the parent who feels abandoned and it isn't a good feeling.
Often parents will talk about their greatest fears or joys in going to school.
They remember their first day, their first teacher, the bully in the classroom, or an insensitive remark made by a parent.
These are the ingredients that make up the recipe to each child's first day experience and sometimes they get passed down to the children.
Teachers and administrators can often acknowledge these feelings in parents and try to address their specific issues.
An example might be introducing parent and child to a ritual they can use to say good-bye.
It's comfortable, doesn't cost anything but thoughtfulness, and demonstrates to the parent that the teacher can really make a differenct in this back-to-school (or first-day-at-school) experience.
This is a time for teachers and parents to self-evaluate just why we are working with our children.
What are the goals for these young lives and how much of our past experiences, parents and teachers alike, are bringing to the present experiences?
The new students, some as young as two months of age, and their parents are arriving with enthusiasm and anxiety.
Which one has more depends on how old the child is.
For the most part, the infants exhibit little anxiety.
They will however react to the different noises and smells and they may change their eating and sleeping patterns as they adjust into the group living situation.
On the other hand, the young twos love the idea of having new friends and toys as long as mom or dad stay around.
Their transition will be a bit more difficult and take a while longer.
Those entering at age three most likely will have had at least some playground friends experience and they usually bubble with excitement.
Parental anxiety has many faces.
Parents of infants quickly realize their child can not talk or walk yet and so they will be working on developing a strong relationship with the staff.
Good news or bad news they just need to know they will be told the truth.
The twos teachers will be helping parents develop good-bye rituals with their children.
This helps both the child and the parent because it creates a beginning, middle, and end to the good-byes.
If you visit the three-year-olds class you probably won't get much attention.
Within minutes they are selecting activities and making friends.
Sometimes parents leave the classroom cring...
not because their child is unhappy but because the child was so happy he couldn't be bothered to say good-bye.
This time it is the parent who feels abandoned and it isn't a good feeling.
Often parents will talk about their greatest fears or joys in going to school.
They remember their first day, their first teacher, the bully in the classroom, or an insensitive remark made by a parent.
These are the ingredients that make up the recipe to each child's first day experience and sometimes they get passed down to the children.
Teachers and administrators can often acknowledge these feelings in parents and try to address their specific issues.
An example might be introducing parent and child to a ritual they can use to say good-bye.
It's comfortable, doesn't cost anything but thoughtfulness, and demonstrates to the parent that the teacher can really make a differenct in this back-to-school (or first-day-at-school) experience.
This is a time for teachers and parents to self-evaluate just why we are working with our children.
What are the goals for these young lives and how much of our past experiences, parents and teachers alike, are bringing to the present experiences?
