Reply to First day of preschool did not go well :(

Forum Index » Preschool and Daycare Discussion

Reply to "First day of preschool did not go well :("

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is this her first experience with a preschool setting? Does she have experience being away from you for extended periods? If so, has she ever reacted this way to a separation before?[/quote]

OP here.  It's her first experience with a preschool setting.  She has been away from me for extended periods (I WOH full time).  She has always been taken care of by a family member (my sister) - she gets plenty of socialization on the weekends and weekdays but someone is usually around (either me, DH, grandma, aunt, etc.).  She has cried at separation before (when I would drop her off to my mom's) but would stop crying within a few minutes and begin playing.  I was expecting something akin to that today, but that did not happen. [/quote]

It sounds like she's having trouble transitioning to being without anyone she knows (and the playdates probably didn't provide enough comfort, which isn't a slight on you at all).

See if the program will allow her to bring in a comfort item from home (a stuffed animal or something). Otherwise I would give it time. I know it's incredibly difficult, but try to just talk up how much fun preschool is and hopefully she'll adjust soon. [/quote]

+1. She might also feel a little overwhelmed or uncomfortable being part of a bigger group rather than with someone available to give her their undivided attention.

Also, how did your departure go? For some kids, a parent sticking around and indulging "one more hug" over and over again just makes it worse, because it drags out the actual moment of separation longer than necessary and all of the reassurance can actually make some kids more anxious because then they worry that there's something scary about preschool they need to be reassured about. If there was any element of that in your drop-off, you might want to consider a shorter, simpler goodbye. Tell her on the way to school how it's going to happen (I'm going to walk you to your classroom, you'll put your bag and jacket in your cubby, we'll do a hug and a kiss on the nose, and then mommy will go to work you'll have a fun day at preschool). The stick to that plan, even if she seems upset and you want to give another hug.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics