As the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer come to an end, your countdown to school begins. With last minute trips to Red Rock Canyon and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, you may want to start preparing your little one for the transition back to preschool. Here are 11 back to school tips for preschool parents to help with the transition.

Adjust Your Alarm Clock

The start of preschool brings a return to early rising. A week or two before their first day, try setting the alarm clock fifteen minutes earlier each day. This lets you gradually adapt yourselves to an earlier wake up call.

Adjust Your Routine

Of all back to school ideas for parents, gradually shifting your daily routine to the preschool schedule may be the most helpful. Get your child into the habit of changing into a daytime outfit as soon as they get out of bed in the morning. Do the same with teeth brushing and other good self-care habits.

Read Books About Preschool

Children’s books can provide helpful tips for preschool students in story form. For example, the book Llama Llama Misses Mama teaches children how to cope with a new teacher, new toys, and lots of noise. Pick up a few books that tackle the subject of preschool from different angles. Read these books with your child. Then take the opportunity to answer any questions or concerns the books bring up for your child.

Use Your Words

You and your preschooler may experience big emotions during the return to school. Practice naming those emotions with your child, to avoid acting out in unhealthy ways. For example, if your child can tell her teacher she feels afraid, it will be easier to address that fear. If she expresses that fear by biting a peer or throwing a tantrum, things may get more complicated.

Get the Lay of the Land

Visit your child’s preschool and meet his teacher before the first day of school. Even at a trustworthy preschool in Colorado Springs, it can be difficult for teachers to get acquainted with your child’s specific needs. As well as areas of gifting unless they can chat with you apart from the hectic drop-off and pick-up times at school. ????

Practice Independence

You will not be able to hold your child’s hand throughout the day at preschool. Increase age-appropriate independence during the final days of summer. Teach your child to clean up after themselves. Also, practice simple conflict resolution and how to dress themselves.

Shop Smart

Take your preschooler with you to shop for these preschool essentials:

• Lunchbox
• Folder
• Blanket/Pillow for Naptime

Buy items your child will be proud to bring to school each day. Also, buy items in multiples to avoid meltdowns if a favorite school item should happen to get lost.

Be Consistent

Arrive on time for drop-off and pick-up each day at school. This will give your child one less thing to worry about during the day.  Consistency will also make you a favorite to your child’s preschool teacher.

Volunteer

Volunteer from time to time at your child’s school. Parent volunteers are in high demand at preschools, so it should be easy to spend a few hours at your child’s school each week. This will reduce separation anxiety for your child.

Spend Quality Time

Preschool will reduce the amount of quality time you get to spend with your preschooler each day. Make sure to have at least fifteen uninterrupted minutes per day with your child. This is to keep your bond strong. Quality time will build your child’s confidence at school, and empower them to be their very best. Back to school tips for preschool parents should make your relationship with your preschooler stronger.

Get Excited!

As you learn how to get ready for school after a break, don’t forget to show your enthusiasm for your child’s preschool program! Ask your child to share her favorite moments from school each day. The more your child gets reinforced in her love for school, the easier it will be to spend time there each day.

Do you sometimes feel like “time out” just isn’t working? You keep putting your child in time out, and she keeps doing the same thing over and over.

Wondering what you can do instead of “time out” to teach your child the differences between right and wrong? There are alternatives!

Here are some you can utilize during your next meltdown!

Describing Feelings. Sometimes just helping her describe her feelings helps. Children act out and do things they shouldn’t because they are frustrated and unable to describe what they are feeling. Acknowledging their feelings and giving them a name for their feelings can help them to feel less frustrated. Instead of jumping in and telling them they need to apologize and yelling at them that they can’t do that, stop and acknowledge that they are frustrated, angry or sad and explain to them that it is okay to feel that way that they just can’t behave in that way. This helps them to understand their feelings.

Express Feelings in a New Way. Teaching her a different way to express her feelings is another way to help her. Once you’ve helped your child describe her feelings it’s time to help her deal with them in a more constructive manner. If your child is hitting because she is angry that someone has taken her toy away, acknowledge that she is angry and give an alternative to hitting you or someone else. Tell her, “I know you are angry that your toy was taken away from you, but I can’t let you hit someone. Try hitting this pillow instead.” Make sure you let your child know that you still love them and that she hasn’t lost your approval. There are more acceptable ways to express your anger than hitting someone.

Tune into Feelings. Teaching a child to tune into their feelings instead of just offering praise when they do something good is another alternative to time out. Prevent the behavior before it begins. “How did it feel when you helped pick up your toys?” This helps her to start thinking about her feelings and stay in touch with those feelings. If children are more in touch with their feelings they are less likely to act out.

Stay and Listen. Stay and listen to them when they are really upset. When a child is very upset they are not going to understand or listen to reasons they shouldn’t behave a certain way. They are not going to understand why they are in time out. They just know that they are upset. Let them know that you are there. Rub their back, if they don’t mind the touch, and just sit and listen to them. Do not push them and expect them to get over it quickly, just sit with them until they are calm. This will let them know that you are there for them no matter what and that you love them always. It also lets them know that you can handle their emotions.

Redirection. Redirection is also a great way to keep them from doing something that they shouldn’t be doing. If your child is doing something unsafe you certainly want to teach them that it is unsafe but making a big scene isn’t going to get the message across that it isn’t okay. For example if your child is climbing near the stove you can calmly tell them, “You’re a great climber, but you can get a big boo-boo if you climb there.” Then you can take them to a safe place to practice climbing like the couch or a pile of pillows. “If you want to climb here is a safe place to do that.”

Many times children misbehave because they don’t understand their feelings or ways to express those feelings. Helping them understand their feelings and way to express them safely is a great alternative to time outs and prevents the bad behavior in the long run.

So I encourage you to try out the new tactics and just see how they do!
Thanks for reading, hope this helps!

-Ms. Cheryl
Literacy Leader
Totally Awesome Toddler Teacher