Transition Time at School/Daycare

Today we are going to discuss transitions within daycare and school.

What exactly is transition? 

It can mean ending one activity and starting another. Or it could be aiding the anxious child in understanding that her teacher is going on holiday but will return.

Some children have a more difficult time with transition than do others. The reality is even adults experience transition and have to adapt themselves.

What can you do to make it easier?

Know the personality of the child that you are dealing with. Some children are perfectly fine, switching from one thing to the next, while others are not. For the child who has difficulty in these times, you can try the following tried and true strategies:

 

• 5 minute warning
• Visual schedule/first then board
• Familiar music as a warning
• Flash the lights off and on
• Rhythmic clapping

Changing schools/teachers:

 

• Take pictures of the new school/classroom.teacher.
• Ask if you can visit to familiarize yourself and your child to the new surroundings. bathroom, classroom and playground.
• Ask for a class list so that you can arrange playdates with children in the new class.
• Put stickers on the calendar for the days in which you will be away, and a different one for the day in which you will return.
  
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