Our team is ready to support your child's emotional well-being during their transition back to Nursery.
There are some things at home which could help prepare your child too for when the time comes
Talk to your child about what is happening and discuss any changes that may be taking place in Nursery. Some of these changes may feel daunting to hear so it is important to be calm and sound positive.
Simple honest explanations and solutions in how to keep them safe can help your child understand what they can do to help and give them a sense of feeling in control. For example washing their hands when they come home and talking their shoes off by the front door.
Give them time to think and talk through their thoughts and what they are feeling. Children are very sensitive to picking up on anxieties so role modelling optimism can be a great way to help children build their own resilience.
Sometimes transitional times can be triggers for emotional upsets or changes in behaviour. Children often feel secure through having routines, structure and consistency so establishing a simple routine at home which mirrors Nursery could ease them back into Nursery life.
It's also important to reflect on your child's bed time - has it changed during this period? Does it need need to be re altered to ensure they will have enough sleep and rest when they return to a Nursery day.
Let your child know that their teachers are there to keep them safe and look after them too whilst they are at Nursery.
There is a fantastic article here about building resilience in children during stressful or anxious times and how resilience can affect behaviour.
Anna Freud National Centre for children and families have shared some support for early years including 8 ways parents and carers can support the transition back to Nursery
Washing Hands
The Washing Hands poster we use shows children in simple steps how to wash their hands properly, it would be helpful if your child could start practising this at home too.
We encourage children to wet their hands first and then turn the tap off whilst they rub the soap into their hands and follow the instructions. They then wash off the soap, dry with a paper towel (at Nursery) and use the paper towel to turn the tap off.
Resources
Here are some great online story’s about the Coronavirus to help your child understand what is happening
“Hello I’m a virus” – is really simple to read and well illustrated. It's also in lots of different languages including Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Greek & Hungarian.
“Coronavirus a book for children” – Gives much more detail and is suitable for the older children (4-7 year olds) It has also been illustrated by Axel Scheffler!