DD wil start school on Monday for the first time... What should I know?
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Anonymous
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We're not from this country and she's 2. She'll start a Montessori program.
How do we dress her? How is the let go? I know they come and take the kid from the carseat.. she'll freak out poor thing =[ No pacifiers are allowed so she'll definitely freak out since she uses her paci in the car to help with motion sickness. She's PT but can't get her clothes off on her own just yet. Please help me. I'm trying to keep calm for her. |
Anonymous
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Dress her in comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. A top and shorts, socks and sneakers. Or if she prefers a dress, then make sure she has shorts underneath.
Talk to her about having the teacher come to get her from the carseat. DON'T show her that you're scared, she will think there's something to be scared of. Big smile and "I love you!" and make it short and sweet. Do you have time to run out and get the book "The Kissing Hand"? It's a nice book about going to school. Even at this young age she can get the concept. |
Anonymous
| Can you walk her in on the first day? I think my kid would have had a total melt down with someone she had never met taking her out of her car seat. |
Anonymous
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Talk it up in excitement. Kids mirror your feelings, so if you're upset, nervous, scared, she will think she should be too.
Believe me when I say your teachers have seen it all before. There is nothing that your DD can do that they haven't seen before and handled successfully. If you screened the school and are confident in your choice, focus on those positive reasons and feelings for why you choose this school. My DS is in a montessori program and he has thrived. He knows all his letters, all his numbers, all his shapes (including "pentagon" and "oval.") He's beginning to sound out words at 3, but isn't quite "there" yet. But believe me, I'm very proud and I think it's a great curriculum for children. |
Anonymous
| Why can't she have a paci? |
Anonymous
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Can you go visit the school ahead of time? Either through a formal orientation or just visiting and looking at the playground/peering through the windows at her classroom? Anything so that it's not a strange person taking her into a strange place. Also, I'd make sure that you are the one taking away the pacifier, not the teacher.
Is this school developmentally appropriate in other ways? I'd be worried about a school that doesnt understand that 2 year olds might be scared of going to a strange place with a stranger without parent. |
Anonymous
| Honestly, I would park and walk my toddler in. I'm not at ALL a helicopter mom or one who coddles but for them to be taken out of the car seat by a stranger? Hell no. |
Anonymous
They say pacies and lovies should be left in the car because they can't keep track of it all. 
We're going to the open house on Sunday to meet her teacher and all but I wanted to be prepared. I bet I won't remember to ask everything LOL I was a Montessori kid too and I'm super excited for her. It's just this transition that is making me a bit nervous. She was never a fan of being dropped off anywhere. We always had more luck with sitters and playmates coming to our house. I hope the open house and seeing the class will help her to understand the change. She just turned 2. I will look for the book. Thanks a lot! |
Anonymous
| No hell way am I handing off a two year old to go to school for the first time and not walking her in. |
Anonymous
This is such a great idea! There's a HS across the street I'll just park there and walk DD to her school and talk to her on the way instead. There's just a few parking spots in the school lot itself (4 if I remember correctly) so I don't want to mess up the drop off line with my helicoptering 
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Anonymous
OP here. Thank you so much for this. I was trying to figure out if I was being paranoid not being comfortable with this drop off method in the beginning, I guess my feelings are legit then... Phew! LOL I don't mind later on and I've picked up friends' kids from schools that do this kind of drop off and I don't mind it but in the first few weeks I would prefer to hand DD of to them. |
Anonymous
Try to get her excited about school. Library books about school, new school outfit, etc. Walk her in the first day, telling her how much fun she's going to have and how you can't wait to hear about all the great things she does at school. When you say goodbye, remind her that you'll see her later and then LEAVE. Don't linger at all; a teacher will handle her and help her transition into engagement with the classroom. You can look back, smile, and wave but keep walking away. She will stop crying within 5-10 minutes. The first few weeks may be tough, but you have to put on a strong face for her and keep emphasizing the good things about school. Good luck to you both! It's hard. 
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Anonymous
You're welcome. You're not being paranoid at all. You're teaching her to not go off with strangers, yet she's supposed to let one take her out of her carseat and away from her mom into a strange building with strange people? Hell no. I'd ask one of the teachers that she takes a shine to during the day if they could walk you to your car at the end of the day and help you put her in her carseat, and if she could be the one to take her out the next morning. Then at least it'd be somebody she's gotten to know. Also, I'd offer to wait while they get all the other kids out so they're not losing a teacher for five minutes while she walks you and your kid out of the building at pick-up. |
Anonymous
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Hi there - we changed my 2 year old to a new daycare/preschool a few months ago. It was a tough transition for 3 weeks or so, and now he's a happy, sociable kid.
What helped: My kid loves Elmo's song "Ocean Emotion" so I made up a funny song using that tune (Amigos! Amigos! Amigos at our schhoooool! It is SO MUCH FUN, playing with our Amigos!") And we were chipper as all get out. Now, he sings the song himself and is jazzed to go be with his buddies. |
Anonymous
| See if they're ok with you taking some pictures of the empty classroom, her cubby, the toilet, tables, etc. And then print those out at cvs asap and look at them a lot with her this weekend. Get her all excited about looking at the cool big girl stuff she'll get to use at school on Monday. Maybe the teacher will even be ok with a picture. |