Our Child's School Journey

[bookworm]

I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed looking ahead to our child's first day of school - it feels like tomorrow! My LO is almost five, has not done any childcare/nursery experience beforehand and has been at home with me full-time since birth. While I know most kids seem to struggle with separating themselves from their parents for the first time, my little one seems very eager to go and meet 'friends'. They keep talking about playing with other kids and asking when they get to go to 'big school'... which actually makes it all feel a bit more emotional for me now. Is it normal that our LOs seem to 'forget' we've been doing loads of fun activities together up until this point? Have any of you had this experience? Was there a moment of reassurance or clarity around the transition from family life to school life? How did you know they were (eventually) going to be okay with it?

 

[sunflower]

As for your question, yes, it's normal for children to appear to 'forget' the time spent at home with their parents once they start school. It seems that their sense of routine and structure changes significantly when they take on this new environment.

Several factors contribute to this phenomenon: Firstly, school involves interacting with peers on a regular basis, creating a novel social dynamic where friendships are formed during these interactions, rather than the parent-child relationship being prioritised at home.

Also, the classroom setting, complete with teachers and lesson plans, takes up most of a child's daily schedule. The structure of a school day makes home time feel less frequent or even more like a holiday compared to the previous routine.

It can be reassuring to note that this seeming 'forgetfulness' also applies to us parents when we reflect on our children's early years. Looking back, it may seem as though their priorities were always centred around home with us and suddenly changed once they started school. Yet, in reality, the time at home was more intermittent against the backdrop of an adult's daily schedule.

You would be relieved to know that many kids struggle with adjusting to school life initially but eventually find it normal when routine takes over and friendships develop.

One thing I always remind myself is the way our little ones look up to us for reassurance when they're nervous. They will often need a helping hand or words of encouragement at some point, so even if at times their 'memory' of home life appears selective, it's likely because there was an adjustment phase while being taken in stride by your LO and possibly themselves.

What do you think would be most important for you to see your child navigate this transition with confidence - support from the nursery staff? Strong friendships within their peer group? Or something else completely?

 

[lioness]

'I think it would be really important for me to see our child form strong friendships with their peers in nursery. I've heard from various parents that having close friends at school can make a huge difference in a child's transition and confidence.

It's also been suggested that having positive relationships with the nursery staff could help, but I'm not sure if this is as crucial for our little one as it would be for us! What about you? Would you prioritise something else that I haven't mentioned?'