I think there is a sweet difference that distinguishes September from other months. In one way or another, it is a month in which there are more changes in the existing roles of most people. We are talking about a month when the summer holidays are over and the children's student days come, parents are now more in the role of teachers, and orientation weeks, which we call the adaptation process, are applied not only to schools but also to homes.
My first experience of working with preschool groups dates back to September. I experienced a short-term shock when it arrived. Children crying, parents not sure what to do, teachers trying to persuade children, today we see that these processes are minimized with the right practices. With the opening of schools, the group I am most pleased to work with are preschool children and their parents. In this process, we try to resolve the families' confusion and the children's feelings of difficulty in understanding what is happening in a therapeutic way. Especially thanks to the guidance units of the schools and the psychologists on duty, parents are made aware of how they can act.
Trust in the School and the Teacher
A parent's I think trusting your intuition is often the best decision. I see that parents pay attention to and question many factors when researching schools for their child. I also think this attitude is correct. Parents need to examine every aspect of the institution where their child will spend more time than their family when the time comes. In the first stage, the school is decided based on communication with the school principal and other features; In the second stage, meeting with the teacher takes place. Most parents state that the energy they receive from the teacher in the first place is very decisive in the relationship between them throughout the year. Building trust is quite challenging at first for both families and teachers. However, once this trust is built through mutual understanding and healthy communication channels, a very enjoyable relationship emerges.
Advice to parents: Trust your intuition about the school and the teacher, and remember that your child will feel the same way you feel. cry! What is your child's facial expression when he comes home from school? You will be able to understand how your child spends his time at school, as he will imitate his teacher's behavior, words and even tone of voice.
Family Members
You, your child Even if you think it is necessary for him to go to school, sometimes your family members do not agree with you. It is very important to clarify the issue of whether or not to go to school, which can sometimes cause disagreements between parents. During the adaptation process, we know from the speech content and tone of voice of the people around the child what kind of behavior he has in terms of whether he goes to school or not. The most frequently heard; If expressions like "he doesn't want to go to school anyway...", "okay, don't force the child...", "he's still young anyway...", "I don't want him to go..." are on the child's eye and hearing radar and the adaptation process is a bit painful, then things start to get more difficult.
Advice for parents: Do you think it is necessary for your child to start school when you consider his developmental characteristics from every aspect? You, as parents, decide first and then explain the situation to your own parents. It would be useful to talk about the things that need to be taken into consideration with the child against any negativities that may occur during the process.
Farewell Phase
The preparation before this farewell phase. I want to talk a little bit about that part. Many children are very excited about starting school. He can't wait to start saying "I'm going to school too" like the kids around him. At this point, school preparation shopping is done and the child enjoys showing off what he bought to everyone who comes to his house. Especially at these stages, the child does not know exactly what he will experience. Yes, I will go to school... He often says this, but since he has difficulty making sense of the abstract, he cannot fully understand what will actually happen. I suggest playing games to concretize this issue.
It is essential not to be directive in games played with the child. However, from time to time, we shape the game a little in the types of games we call preparatory games. For example, parents are advised to create toys with legos and miniature people at home for children who are just starting school. I suggest they do some digging. The school building, teachers, children and toys you build are all included in the game. We can portray everything in the game, from the preparation part of the child waking up in his own bed in the morning, to the part of going to school with the bus with his parents, to the farewell ritual at the school gate and the way he returns home after eating two meals. After you do it a few times, you will see that your child will set up the structure and organize the content on his own. In this way, the mind is prepared.
Another issue is visiting the school. Generally, the school is visited only during the registration phase, but if possible, it is also nice to be able to visit with your parents from time to time, although the suitability of the school is important. The child spends some time with the toys in his classroom, goes to the sink, washes his hands, browses the books, and then goes home, observing his parent's conversation with the teacher or school principal. It may seem like an extreme request, but I think many schools do not allow such a thing. The model of children coming to school with their parents in the evening, which we have seen a great effect on, also gives very positive results. Namely, we want the child, for whom we observe difficulties and adaptation problems in the first week, to go home with his/her parents two hours later, provided that he/she comes to school every day. Then, it may be close to school dismissal time or after school dismissal completely (we decide this issue differently for each child), he comes to school with his parents and spends about half an hour in the classroom and other areas of the school. Meanwhile, his teacher accompanies him.
The most important threshold for the child who prepares for the process with similar preliminary preparations is the school gate. Likewise for his parents. The separation part may or may not happen as you practiced beforehand. Sometimes we may encounter unexpected surprises. While remaining calm and determined, try to be sensitive to your child's needs. I hope that you will have a healthy school adaptation process, partly with your own intuition and partly with the skills of the teachers. If the school has a guidance department, you can ask for preliminary information and get support from your teachers.
Advice for parents: You may experience problems during the adaptation week and please remember that you are not the first! Necessary preliminary preparations Even if you have made a mark, the moment you say "everything is okay, he will get used to it", the opposite may also happen. In order to manage the process, get support from teachers and psychologists, provided that they are not with your child.
A LITTLE EMPATHY:
Your child's Please remember that the school you will attend will be rich in every aspect! We must remember that there may be cultural differences, socio-economic differences, cognitive, emotional and physical differences among children, as well as children with disabilities. In the first few months, it should be taken as a basis that all children meeting in a classroom will be studied for both their individual and in-class group harmony, and our children should be supported to experience all the richness of differences.
The other child should also be supported. It could have been your child!!!
Read: 0
