How to teach a child to kindergarten

"Mom, take me away from here!!!" — this is how the morning begins for most moms who recently brought their kids to kindergarten. The teacher takes the sobbing child by the hand, takes him to the group and after a couple of minutes he actively plays with his peers and completely forgets about his recent sufferings. There is another situation when it is not possible to calm down a beginner and the educators, having given up, call the mother to take the "non-Sadikov child" home. Why do children react so much to kindergarten, how should parents behave in this case and how to teach a child to kindergarten?Difficulties of adaptation: why children cry

There are several reasons why children cry in the first days of kindergarten: 

✓ Psychological connection with mom.

Up to 2-3 years old, the baby constantly stays with her mother. They are at home together, walking, visiting, shopping. And then mom leaves, abandons, other people's women and children remain nearby. The kids still have no concept of time, for them the departure of their mother is equated with her loss forever. The older the child, the less painfully he perceives separation, because he understands the meaning of time intervals. That is, it can already be explained to him that his mother will return for him in a few hours.

Also read: A capricious child: how to cope with it✓ Abrupt regime change.

On maternity leave, women arrange a schedule of sleep, meals, activities and classes that is convenient for themselves and the child. In the garden, you will have to retrain, and instead of watching cartoons in the morning, you need to go to exercise, have lunch or sculpt on a tablet. For a child, such a drastic change in the daily routine is a huge stress.

✓ New people, new rules. In the first days of visiting the garden, the baby is disoriented. He does not understand why it is necessary to obey some rules, listen to strangers (educators). Previously, the rules in the house were set by parents, but now all strangers are around, and do you really need to listen to them? Kids with a rebellious character can not just cry, but also play tricks, act out of spite, disrupt discipline in the group. 

✓ Noisy children's collective. The most difficult adaptation period is endured by introverted children, with phlegmatic character traits, individualists. If the child has not communicated with other children on a regular basis before this time, he has no brothers / sisters, he has not attended clubs, then one of the unfavorable factors of adaptation will be the collective. There are usually a lot of children in the group. Each of them wants to do something different, can demand attention from peers, make noise, run, etc. Some kids may simply be shocked by this behavior. 

✓ Unsuitable conditions. It happens that the group is too warm or, conversely, cold. Caregivers are too demanding or inexperienced in terms of establishing contact with children. The food may be tasteless, and the walks are too long. All these are objective factors that are unlikely to be influenced. It's easier to change the group or try to get into another preschool. 3 mistakes of parents

In fact, there are much more of them, but we will consider typical situations in which parents unknowingly prevent a child from quickly adapting to kindergarten.

 Mistake #1. Overprotection.

When a caregiver takes a sobbing child to a group, the best solution is to go home quietly and do your own business. However, some moms prefer to sit in the locker room for hours, listening to the slightest rustle in the group. Or stand guard at the window, waiting for their child to come into view. They give a snack with them so that the baby does not get hungry in between meals. They are wrapped in a hundred clothes, which are then difficult to take off / put on without the help of a teacher. In general, overprotection of parents almost always negatively affects the child's habituation to the garden. 

Mistake #2. Step back. Sometimes morning tantrums can last for weeks or even months. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that the child is already used to whining about "I don't want to go to the garden" in the morning — one of the obligatory rituals. Parents can't stand it and instead of weaning the child to cry, they just take him out of the garden for a while. This is a mistake, because then you will have to go through everything again, and it's not a fact that it will be easier. 

Mistake #3. Wrong choice of garden. If your child has developmental or health characteristics (for example, speech therapy problems or gastrointestinal disorders), it is necessary to register him in a special preschool institution or in a special group at a regular kindergarten. There are conditions created specifically for such children: dietary nutrition, additional classes with speech therapists, adjusted physical activity. In normal groups, it will be much more difficult to achieve special conditions for an individual child. If you are wondering how to quickly teach a child to kindergarten, then choosing a suitable institution is one of the key moments. 

"Or maybe, well, him?"At the beginning of the article we mentioned the term "non-Sadikov child".

These are not the inventions of lazy educators or parents who sin with overprotection. Indeed, there are children who simply do not need kindergarten. They feel comfortable at home, in the circle of loved ones, and the daily need to stay in a team brings them stress. 

If parents have the opportunity to stay at home with their child, then why these sacrifices? After all, according to statistics, only a third of the children who attended kindergarten adapt to school without problems. The rest are experiencing some difficulties at first. Therefore, it is impossible to say unequivocally that after kindergarten there will be no problems with getting used to school. 

Another reason why you should not forcibly take a child to kindergarten is frequent illnesses. Rare appearances in the group will bring stress, like the first time. And after a couple of weeks — another acute respiratory viral infection and again stay at home for a month to be treated. For kids who easily catch viruses, even pediatricians may not recommend visiting children's groups. Therefore, it is better to take the child out of the garden than to take him there once for two months.

How to teach a child to kindergarten: psychologist's adviceIf you have firmly decided that you cannot do without a kindergarten, you have chosen the right group and found contact with educators, listen to the recommendations on how to prepare a child for kindergarten and simplify adaptation. 

Give it to the garden after 3 yearsThis, of course, is ideal.

If you need to go to work earlier, and there is no one to sit with the baby, the nursery has been accepting pupils since the age of one and a half. However, the age of psychological readiness for regular visits to the children's collective is 3 years. Often sick children can be sent to kindergarten a year before school. This will be an excellent preparation for study, school regime, and collective life. 

The adaptation period is different for everyoneThe standard period of adaptation of a child in kindergarten lasts 2 weeks.

Someone gets used to it in 3 days, and for someone a month is not enough. Understand and accept the individual characteristics of your child and try not to adjust it to any standards. Give him enough time to get used to the changes. 

Start smallAcquaintance with the tutors and the garden can take place during a group walk.

It will take about 15-20 minutes. The next day, bring the baby and leave for an hour. Another day later — for two hours. Then before lunch, after an afternoon walk and, eventually, before dinner. The more smoothly you increase the child's time in the garden, the less traumatic these changes will be for him. Take a vacation for the period of adaptation or arrange with your loved ones to pick up the baby at the right time. 

Your positive attitude is important Be firm in your decision and do not give up an inch of the "captured territory".

That is, if you already take the baby for 3 hours a day, then you should not pick him up early. Let him get the required time, and in a couple of days — increase the length of stay. 

Adhere to the internal rules of the kindergartenDo not teach the baby to break the established schedule: to be late for classes, not to eat, not to fold his clothes after changing clothes, etc.

Most likely, there will be no sanctions for these violations, but then, at school, the inability to follow the schedule will play a bad service.

Get up earlyChildren are often creepy dormitories, and the reason for a bad mood may not be so much kindergarten as the need to wake up early.

Try to go to bed on time on weekdays and get up early so that the child has time for unhurried preparations for the garden, a light breakfast, watching his favorite cartoon. Then further morning events will be perceived much more positively.

Leave a reminder about yourselfGive your baby your handkerchief or other small thing, let him hide it in his pocket and take it out when he misses his mother.

Your thing will remind him that you are somewhere nearby, love him and will come soon. It is extremely important for kids to feel the presence of their parents even when they are not physically nearby. 

Teach your child independenceYes, the nursery group accepts children in diapers who cannot eat with a spoon, etc.

But if your child is older than 3 years old, he can already go to the potty, eat on his own, get dressed. Try to instill these skills in him to simplify his stay in the garden. 

*****

According to statistics, only 10% of lego children experience the adaptation process when entering kindergarten. Most of them (70%) undergo adaptation with average difficulty. That is, with morning tears at parting. The remaining 20% of children have a hard time getting used to the garden.

It is unknown exactly how your baby will react to such a significant event in his life, but we hope that our advice will help ease this ordeal not only for the child, but also for you. Good luck!