Kindergarten after school care: Before & After School Programs for Grades K-6

After-school care lacking in California’s ambitious expansion of transitional kindergarten

Sara LaPietra and her husband Vince thought they’d won the childcare equivalent of the lottery. Their four-year-old son Teddy got a spot in their local school’s transitional kindergarten, or TK, class.

That meant they could stop paying $2,000 a month for his preschool, and the speech and occupational therapy Teddy receives would be on site at McKinley Elementary near Balboa Park.

Right now, the LaPietras must take time from their work day to pick up Teddy at preschool, drive him to therapy classes and then back to the preschool.

Unfortunately, the lottery ticket turned out to be a dud. While Teddy had a spot in TK, he didn’t get a spot in after-school care. That meant the LaPietras would have to pick him up from TK at 2 p.m. every day, and noon on Wednesdays — impossible given their work schedules.

“I’ve signed up for every possible after- school care program with the school district and we’re number 45 on the waiting list for most of those,” Sara LaPietra said. “I just feel like we’ve been tearing our hair out for three months trying to figure out what to do.”

She’s tried everything — signing up for private programs that pick up kids after school, local daycares to see if they’d pick up Teddy after school, churches, nannies — no luck.

Many parents here and throughout California will find themselves in the same boat as the LaPietra family in the coming years.

Starting this school year, California launched a $2.7-billion program to expand the number of kids eligible for TK, with the goal of providing TK to all 4-year-olds by 2025.

If it’s fully implemented, the plan would make California a nationwide leader in providing early childhood education. But it’s missing a crucial piece — after-school care.

After school programs are often run by outside organizations with their own staff, not public schools. Depending on the district and school, these programs may be licensed child care programs that parents pay for, or state funded enrichment and care programs. Either way, there are not enough slots to serve all students.

The San Diego Unified School District has more than doubled the number of TK classes this year to more than 185 classes across 118 schools. And the waitlists at aftercares have shot up, too. Across all the programs run by SAY San Diego, there are 2,085 kids on waitlists, almost twice as many as last year.

Staffing shortages and licensing delays mean SAY San Diego is limited in how many students it can serve, said CEO Nancy Gannon Hornberger.

“When you look at the first six years of life and rapid brain development and all of the social and cognitive growth for kids, it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Gannon Hornberger said. “We also know that working parents were really looking forward to being able to enroll their children in a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. day”

Not all working parents need 12 hours of care, but many need care beyond the school day.

“It’s frustrating, I know, for parents who were counting on that longer day of care,” Gannon Hornberger said. “And we’re here to help them navigate to preschool or some other form of care for their TKers.”

Courtesy of SAY San Diego

Kids work with a teacher at a SAY San Diego after school program in this undated photo.

Another problem is after-school programs are not licensed to serve kids younger than four years and nine months, but those younger kids can now be enrolled in TK, said Kim McDougal, the executive director of the San Diego YMCA Childcare Resource Services, which also runs after care programs.

She said after the state announced TK expansion, the YMCA looked at whether they could get licenses to care for younger kids at their afterschool program sites.

“But we would have to do all kinds of facilities renovation,” she said. “We would have to have child-sized toilets. We would have to have an age-appropriate playground. It would be really close to impossible for us.”

McDougal says the program should include a state-funded voucher that parents could use at preschools.

“How much money were we going to put towards TK in public schools? Put that towards the existing childcare system, put it towards supporting our existing child care providers, give more money to families to pay for that care,” McDougal said.

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, the author of the TK expansion law, said adding after-school care would come in the future.

“One of the biggest things lacking, that we need to make sure we complete, is having universal PreK for all four-year-olds to show up at Kindergarten ready,” he said.

McCarty acknowledged there are staffing shortages and other issues, but said the expansion will take a few years. He said there are other proposals in the works, including making after school programs free for all families, not just those who are lower-income.

However, for people like LaPietra, the future is now, and McDougal said the TK expansion has created a bigger mess than it solved. She wishes lawmakers would have consulted more with childcare providers before implementing it.

“If we thought of a child and a family in this holistic way, as we should, then we would have looked at what needs to happen for a child across the whole day,” she said. “And we would have had systems that communicated with each other.”

One local school district has taken matters into its own hands.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cajon Valley Union School District started providing free all-day care for students, even when schools were closed. Children worked on laptops and attended virtual classes, but inside a classroom, with care at the school.

When schools reopened, Superintendent David Miyashiro said he decided to continue providing free after-school care for all families who needed it. Cajon Valley partnered with local organizations and paid teachers extra to teach classes like dance and cooking after school.

“Pending some type of fiscal cliff in California, where we’d have to go into a cutting situation, we’re planning to provide this for years to come,” he said.

After school is guaranteed for everyone, with no waitlists, including all new TK students. Miyashiro said other districts could offer the same, depending on their budgetary constraints and priorities.

“We’ve actually shared with the California Department of Education our playbook and our budgets and shared how we’re doing it,” he said. “I think it is replicable.”

In the meantime, McDougal at the YMCA found a workaround solution that allowed a few more TK students to get after-school care. They are providing enrichment programs at some elementary schools until 4 p.m. to serve TK students who are too young to fall under the license.

But LaPietra doesn’t know if that will help her. She had heard that Teddy might get into an aftercare class run by the YMCA, but she’s still waiting to find out. And school starts on Monday.

• San Diego Unified schools are back in session

  California’s second largest school district, San Diego Unified, welcomed students for what may be the most normal school year since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

TK & Kindergarten Program – After School Kids

Perfect for the little ones.

Monday – Friday | Times vary

The TK & Kindergarten Program at After School is designed to supplement the school day schedule and provide care for TK and kindergarten-aged children who attend school part time. The TK & Kindergarten Program is designed specifically with the needs of younger children in mind. Regular activities include circle time, special art projects, snacks, and story time. We provide some freedom for children to choose between activities, but also structure their time to make sure they have time to rest and relax in a quiet environment and refuel their bodies. In the afternoon, children enrolled in the TK & Kindergarten Program are joined with the older children (1st-3^rd grades in San Carlos, 1^st -5^th grades in Belmont) who attend the Afternoon Program.

Assuming there is space available, any child attending one of the schools we serve who is in kindergarten or the transitional kindergarten class is eligible to enroll in the TK & Kindergarten Program.

“My children have made wonderful friends, learned fantastic games and have blossomed educationally at the BA After School. I wouldn’t trust just anyone to watch my children before and after school; the staff here is the best!” – Michele, After School Parent

Enrollment Information

We begin accepting newcomers onto a waiting list for the TK & Kindergarten Program on August 1^st, one year prior to your child’s start of kindergarten or transitional kindergarten.

To be placed on our waiting list, click on your preferred site below. If you already have an older sibling in After School, please log in to the parent portal and add a child to your account, then add him or her to the TK/K program at your school.

Questions? Contact one of our sites directly to speak to a Site Manager.

Arundel School

Brittan Acres School

Central School

Heather School

White Oaks School

Please submit your waiting list form as early as possible, as we do reach our capacity each year well before school begins. With limited spots available each year, we determine who will receive the registration packets based on when the form is submitted.

Registration in After School is dependent on school district registration, and so the timing varies. In San Carlos, registration packets are available in October. In Belmont, registration packets are available in April.

After receiving a packet, you must fill out all of the paperwork and return the forms to us along with a nonrefundable registration fee. After the forms and the registration fee have been received, you will receive a letter confirming your child’s spot in After School.

Hours and Scheduling

The hours of operation for our TK & Kindergarten Programs vary at each location to match individual school’s TK and kindergarten schedules, because each individual school campus has a different start time and schedule.

Our San Carlos schools generally maintain two TK and kindergarten start times: 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM. White Oaks starts at 8:35 AM and 9:40 AM. In Belmont, all kindergarteners at Central School start at 8:30 AM.

We also offer an extended TK & Kindergarten Program, called Late Bird TK & Kindergarten, for TK and kindergarten children who have a later start time. Late Bird TK & Kindergarten runs from about 8:30 until the later kindergarten start time at our San Carlos schools.

Our TK & Kindergarten program runs in the afternoon from when kindergarten ends (around 1:30 or 2:30 PM) until 6:00 PM.

Afternoon Fun for All Ages

If your child attends our afternoon TK & Kindergarten Program, they will be integrated with the older children that attend our Afternoon Program. We have found over the years that a mix of ages provides a family-like atmosphere, with older and younger children interacting with one another and learning from each other. We closely monitor the interactions between children and employ stricter rules for the kindergarten children when they first join us to ensure their integration with the older children is seamless.

How to choose a kindergarten and school for a child with special needs

Photo: 123rf.com

Choosing a kindergarten or school for any child is already a responsible task. Choosing an educational institution for a child with special needs or a disability is a very difficult mission, because the right school gives him the opportunity to develop and acquire new skills, while an unsuccessful school practically guarantees regression in skills and deterioration in health or new behavioral problems. What educational options are available in Britain for children with developmental disabilities and where to find information about this – in the material “Kommersant UK”.

What is SEND

The world of families with special needs in the UK is quite large. In 2021, 15% of schoolchildren were identified with some form of developmental problem or disability, according to Ofsted, the state commission on learning standards; also, about 15,000 children are born every year who subsequently have special educational needs. Year after year, more and more children are being diagnosed with autism or hyperactivity disorder.

Numerous studies show that early intervention can have a huge impact on the later life of a child with developmental disabilities, so it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the right kindergarten or school.
First, let’s define terminology. Who in the UK is classified under the general acronym SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) and is eligible for additional support?

The SEND category includes four groups:
1. Sensory and physical developmental disorders are problems with vision, hearing, or the musculoskeletal system.
2. Social, Emotional, and Mental Problems – These include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
3. Cognitive and learning disabilities – This group includes specific learning problems such as dyslexia and dyscalculia and mental retardation of varying severity.
4. Difficulties in the field of communication and interaction with other people – this group includes autism spectrum disorder and speech development disorders.

Many diagnoses can include problems from several groups, and the needs of children are so different that there is no single support formula for everyone even within the same diagnosis, so choosing a kindergarten and school is always an individual process.

In England, the number of children with an Individual Support Plan has doubled in the last eight years, and local authorities, unable to cope with the growing number of applications, are trying to provide families with children with developmental disabilities with an absolute minimum of services. As a result, parents, many of whom have already taken on the role of rehabilitation therapists for their children, also have to become lawyers who thoroughly understand the laws on the rights of people with disabilities, because the more information they have, the better conditions for the education of their child they can defend.

The right to education

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation regarding specialized education. We will talk about the rights of children with special needs or disabilities and official organizations that provide assistance to them in England.

After a truly landmark law in 1970, all children who were previously considered “learning disabled” received the right to education on an equal basis with their peers. Today, the education system in England assumes by default that all children under 16 years of age must attend mainstream schools unless they have “special circumstances”, which most likely implies serious behavioral problems that interfere with the learning of other children. , or an option when the child’s family itself expresses a desire to send him to a specialized school.

Specialized schools accept (with rare exceptions) only children who have an individualized support plan that details the child’s needs, therapies, and coping strategies to help them progress academically and in life. This plan is called the Educational Health and Care Plan (abbreviated EHCP) and is compiled with the participation of the district government (Council, Local Authorities).

By the way, each local municipality is required by law in 2014 to do everything possible to identify children living in its territory with special needs or disabilities. Under the Equality Act 2010, adopted in 2010, it is prohibited to discriminate against children because of their characteristics. This also means that the child has the right to receive additional assistance in order not to be deprived of the opportunities available to their peers.

A document listing all the legal principles that government agencies and professionals working with children with special needs and disabilities must follow is called the SEND Code of Practice. It is one of the main sources of information for families about the rights of their children.

Every regular kindergarten and school has a special employee responsible for inclusion and work with children with special needs. It is called SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) or Inclusion Leader.

Portage

Officially, kindergartens can accept a child with special needs or disabilities from the age of six months (for a fee), but many parents consider this premature, since they themselves are only learning how to deal with a fragile baby, who is also in need in extra care. This is where Portage Service Specialist comes to the rescue. He works with families of children with special needs at home from birth to age five. The program is named after the city in the US state of Wisconsin, where this method of supporting families first appeared. In the UK, the Portage service has been operating since 1976 years old.

An employee of Portage takes care of a family with a “special” child and helps parents adapt to new life realities, gives advice on caring for the baby depending on the diagnosis, helps to find a suitable kindergarten and fill out documents related to the child’s characteristics.

The service holds weekly group meetings for its wards, where families can meet other parents and their “special” children. Typically, Portage services are free and provided to families until the child is under five years of age or starts kindergarten.

To find out how to get Portage services in your area, visit the National Portage Association website or the Local Offer section of your local government (council).

Kindergartens

Most children with special needs go to regular kindergartens, public or private. Home kindergartens (the so-called childminders) can also undergo additional training and take a child with special needs into the group.
However, according to many parents, home kindergartens prefer children without behavioral problems, and a baby with autism or hyperactivity syndrome can be sent home after several episodes of disobedience with the wording “we cannot provide a safe environment and conditions for the child to meet his needs. ” How do kindergarteners care for a child with special needs?

First, management must adapt the space so that it is easier for the child to navigate. To do this, consultations are held with specialists already working with the child. For a pupil with vision problems, rooms are equipped according to the recommendations of a QTVI (Qualified Teacher of Vision Impairment) specialist provided by the district. For a child in a wheelchair, ramps are equipped. A child with autism will be printed with Visual Support Cards (PECS) to help them process information better. To support a non-verbal child, one of the caregivers can learn Makaton sign language.
Children with hearing problems are usually sent to a kindergarten, where there is a teacher with knowledge of British Sign Language.
Caregivers who have been trained and instructed can give the child the necessary medicines at certain times, feed him through the gastrostomy tube and help with episodes of epilepsy.

Secondly, specialists helping the child, such as a speech therapist or ergotherapist, can come to classes directly to the kindergarten to work with the ward and train the caregiver accompanying the child (1:1 support), who is also included in the therapy process.

Some kindergartens are open to parents who want their child to be accompanied during the day by a private tutor or assistant they have hired, who is proficient in a particular technique, say behavioral analysis.

Children with special needs spend most of their time in kindergarten, surrounded by their peers. As a rule, in each district there are several ordinary kindergartens that have established themselves as SEND-friendly, where the staff has extensive experience working with children with special needs, where more places are allocated for “special” children, the premises are adapted to their needs and are better adjusted. communication with incoming specialists. Information about such kindergartens is posted on its website by the district government in the Local offer section.

Specialized kindergartens

There are very few specialized kindergartens in Britain. In some areas there are gardens that help the child overcome speech development problems (they are called Speech and Language Resource), there are gardens at specialized schools for visually impaired and hearing impaired children or children with physical health problems; for example, such kindergartens have been available since the age of three at the educational institutions of the consortium of special schools Eden Academy.

It is almost impossible to find a specialized kindergarten with the possibility of a boarding house. There are boarding schools that accept children from the age of four, but there are very few of them in the country.

Schools

Schools in Britain are divided into primary (from 4-5 to 11) and senior (from 11 to 16-18).
According to official statistics, 90% of children with special needs and disabilities in England and Northern Ireland study in non-specialized schools, including 60% of children with visual disabilities and 78% of children with hearing problems. In Scotland and Wales, the number of “special” students in mainstream schools is even higher.

“Mainstream”

An ordinary state school is usually two or three classes in parallel with 30 students each, with one teacher and his assistant.
The following factors are necessary for the successful education of a child with developmental disabilities in a regular public school (not ranked by their importance, since each of these factors is of paramount importance).

First, it is about the school’s inclusion policy, the commitment of the school principal, the Specialized Children’s Officer (SENCO) and all staff to provide children with the best possible support for learning and socialization. Many schools with a reputation for being “academic,” that is, those where children perform well in school and on exams, turn out to be not very inclusive, since children with developmental disabilities, no matter how cynical it sounds, can “ruin their statistics.” There were even scandalous stories that students with special needs were asked not to come to school on the day of the assessment or the visit of the state inspectorate.

Secondly, a well-designed individual curriculum (EHCP) is needed, on the basis of which a separate assistant (1:1 support) will be allocated to the child and a program will be prescribed taking into account all the needs of a special student, and also indicate the additional therapy required for him. Some subtleties should also be taken into account: who will help the child during lunch, when the main teaching staff goes on a break, how to provide support for the child with personal hygiene (often in ordinary public schools, a child cannot change a diaper and parents are called for this).

Thirdly, the training of school personnel is very important. According to the British Society for the Deaf and Dumb, two out of three teachers do not know how to support a student with a hearing problem. Teachers and assistants often do not have sufficient knowledge in the field of supporting children with autism spectrum disorder, increased anxiety or dyslexia. All these points must be clarified before submitting documents to the school.

Specialized Schools

If parents feel that their child will not be able to cope in the noisy environment of mainstream schools and the child has an Individual Support Plan (EHCP), you can apply to a special public school. Special schools are different: there are educational institutions for children with only one diagnosis (autism, vision and hearing problems, cerebral palsy), there are schools in which children are grouped according to the level of development. Some specialized schools are not divided into primary and senior, and the child can be there all the time of study – from 4-5 to 16-18 years old.

In special schools, there are no more than 10-12 students in the classroom, and the teacher has two to four assistants. All school personnel are trained to work with children with special needs and disabilities. In addition, such schools have additional specialists: speech therapists, ergotherapists, physiotherapists. Special schools for children with problems of the musculoskeletal system can be equipped with a pool with warm water, special tablets for communication, and sensory rest rooms.

Many special schools organize hikes, trips to nature and museums, rock climbing in wheelchairs for children: there was even a documentary film on the BBC Special School about one of the largest specialized schools in Britain called Ysgol Y Deri ( Wales). This is important, because in ordinary schools a child with special needs is often not taken on a field trip with the whole class due to “concerns for his safety.”

Also, many special schools organize support groups for family members of student children, while in a regular school parents of a “special” child often have no one to discuss their problems with.

The disadvantages of specialized education are that, as a rule, not much attention is paid to the academic aspect, teachers are more focused on teaching children the skills of self-care and independence. In some special schools there are no exams at all. It turns out that if, in case of failure with a regular school, a child was transferred to a specialized one, then the path back to him is practically closed.

By the way, quite often, after studying in a regular primary school, children with developmental disabilities go to a specialized high school, where classes are small and the level of support is high.

Resource classes

A separate type of specialized training – SEN Units (“resource classes”). This is a specialized department at a regular school, where students with additional needs are accepted. Resource classes are good because the child gets the experience of both special education and learning among normotypical peers.

The number of schools with such special classes in the country has recently increased; information about them can be found on the website of the district government in the Local offer section.

Residential homes

In situations where parents are unable to manage their child’s care at home, or where there is no school within a reasonable distance from home, the state may pay for the child’s stay at a residential school. In such boarding schools, children live, study, receive treatment and additionally study with specialists.

Private schools

Unlike public schools, which are required to accept all children at the place of residence regardless of their additional needs, private schools can choose their students and have the right to refuse a child a place at their discretion. However, there are quite a few children with developmental disabilities in private non-specialized schools, as long as they do not show severe behavioral problems and are doing well academically. In some cases, parents may agree that an additional paid assistant will accompany the child.

Highly functioning children with developmental disabilities can benefit from small private schools with small classes and personalized attention to achieve greater academic and social success.

Private special schools

The private educational sector has more than 200 specialized schools with excellent conditions and a large staff of specialists. Most schools, although private, require an Individualized Support Plan (EHCP) when enrolling a child. The cost of education in a private daytime special school is on average about 50 thousand pounds per year.

There are also private specialized boarding schools.

Interestingly, in some cases, if the district government could not find a place for a child with EHCP in a public school, it can pay for his studies in a private specialized educational institution.

Children expelled from school

Unfortunately, quite often due to the fact that an ordinary school cannot create the necessary conditions for a child to study, and there is no place in a specialized school, the child ends up at home for an indefinite time. In this case, the district must provide the child with a teacher from an external service that provides support to students who, due to medical conditions or for other reasons, cannot attend a regular school.

There are also Pupil Referal Units, specialized day centers attended by children who have been excluded from school.

Urgent problems

Unfortunately, today the educational system for children with developmental disabilities in Britain is not working effectively: families wait for years for approval of an individualized education plan, go through mediation and court with district authorities to achieve adequate support for their child . Public schools do not have enough funding to create suitable conditions for an increasing number of students with additional needs.

But if you know how the system works and call for help from experienced lawyers and consultants in matters of special education, then a school that will reveal the potential of the child will definitely appear. The main thing is not to give up.

Advice on how to prepare a child for visiting preschool and school.

It is necessary to plan your child’s entry to kindergarten in advance and, in accordance with this, take a number of preparatory measures.

Teach to do without mother

As your child grows up and becomes more independent, begin to teach him to be under the supervision of other adults. It can be the closest relatives of the baby: father, grandmother, aunt. Prepare the necessary things for the care of the child, if necessary, provide some instructions for handling him. And then for a couple of hours you can go about your business.

Don’t worry too much about leaving the baby without your care – everything will be all right with him. He is no longer a helpless baby, and your loved ones are experienced enough to cope with their task. But the child will gradually get used to the fact that the mother does not have to be around all the time. He will understand that he is no longer a single whole with his mother, but must and can become more and more independent.

Practice shows that in kindergarten it is the separation from the mother that frightens the child the most. If he is already prepared for the fact that she may be absent for some time, then the discomfort from parting will pass faster.

Teach self-care skills

Another important piece of advice on how to properly prepare your child for kindergarten concerns the development of self-care skills.

• You need to teach your baby how to use a spoon, drink from a cup, ask to go to the toilet;
• Show him how to dress properly, put away toys, wash hands.

The older your toddler gets, the more he should be able to do. This learning process is quite lengthy and requires patience, but a child in kindergarten will feel more confident and avoid many unpleasant situations.

In addition, one more side of this problem must be remembered. Make sure that the items your baby uses are as comfortable as possible for him:

1. Buy children’s dishes;
2. Choose clothes with buttons, shoes with Velcro or elastic bands, etc.;
3. Attach brightly colored stickers to your child’s personal belongings to make it easier for him to find them or to know which foot to put on the boot, where the front of the T-shirt is, etc.

Adjust to kindergarten routine

To make it easier for your baby to get used to kindergarten, be sure to take care of accustoming him to the correct daily routine. Ask in advance what time breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea will take place, when the daytime sleep should be.

I especially want to focus on this moment those mothers who are interested in the question of how to prepare a child for kindergarten at 1.5 years old.

At this age, it is difficult to control a child’s behavior in an arbitrary mode. If he does not develop the habit of falling asleep at a certain hour, then this can be a serious problem for the educators in the group. Yes, and the baby will become lethargic and capricious when the usual time for sleep comes.

• If the child has difficulty falling asleep;
• It is difficult for you to maintain the correct daily routine;
• And in the evening, putting the child to bed is delayed for hours, then listen to the Internet seminar
• It would not be superfluous to ask about the composition of the kindergarten menu. Include most of the dishes that the child will try in the diet at home.

Develop your speech

Tips on how to prepare a two-year-old child for kindergarten talk about the need to pay attention to the development of his speech. At this age, he should already learn to correctly formulate remarks and even sentences. It is necessary that he was able to communicate about his needs, well-being.

Keep an eye on your baby’s vocabulary. Introduce him to words of courtesy.

Learn to communicate with peers

Be sure to point out the importance of teaching him to communicate with peers in the recommendations on how to prepare a child for kindergarten. This question is not very relevant for children under 3 years old. But already at a later age, you should show the baby how to get to know each other, communicate with other guys. Teach him to share toys, to resolve some conflict situations.

Very useful before the child starts attending kindergarten, going with him to the children’s club or club. Visit your friends often who also have children of similar age. Visit the playgrounds in the playrooms.

Tell us about kindergarten

It is equally important to know how to psychologically prepare a child for kindergarten. Most often, the baby is frightened by the unknown when he finds himself in an unfamiliar environment and does not know what awaits him there.

1. To eliminate such a problem, it is recommended to tell the preschooler about kindergarten conditions in advance;
2. Choose the walking route so that it passes the kindergarten. Being nearby, pay the child’s attention to the appearance, location, bright lines in the design of the building and territory;
3. Be sure to comment on the actions of staff and children if you see them in the yard
4. On occasion, show your child pictures of children in kindergarten. Tell them what they can do there. Always point out that children in preschool are fun and interesting.

By the way, in the pre-kindergarten course, you will receive two of the best books to read and discuss with your child as bonuses.

When I am asked for advice from a psychologist on adapting to kindergarten, I recommend telling a child about kindergarten in the form of a fairy tale. Come up with a story featuring your favorite character or your little one’s toy. Tell us about how he goes to a fabulous kindergarten, what friends he met there, etc. Encourage your child to write their own stories.

Important! Never scare a child by sending him to kindergarten as a punishment for some misconduct. Do not talk about strict (especially evil) teachers who will scold him.

Play kindergarten

It is very useful to play kindergarten with your child:

• Organize a kindergarten for dolls at home;
• Let the baby be in the role of a teacher or a preschooler;
• Watch that his actions are correct, correct if he makes a mistake in something;
• Game play must always be played in a friendly manner;
• Pay attention to the child that there are certain rules in kindergarten and you can not behave as you like.

Create a positive mood

Talk to your child more often about his imminent admission to kindergarten. Associate this with the fact that now he has become older and more independent, and you are very happy for him. Say you’re proud of him. In the presence of the baby, tell your friends about this upcoming event.

Remember that preschool children perceive the world around them through their parents’ emotions.

1. The child will be happy to enter kindergarten if he feels your positive attitude. Therefore, it is important that you have no doubts about this matter;
2. Visit the kindergarten in advance, find out about the team working in it. Take an interest in the programs that are used for classes with children, the presence of additional opportunities for the development of their abilities.

Take care of your health

Quite often you can hear parents complain that as soon as a child starts attending kindergarten, he is constantly sick. Unfortunately, in most cases, this is indeed the case. It is worth considering in advance how to prepare the child’s immunity for kindergarten.

• Include foods containing vitamins and minerals in your baby’s diet. If necessary, give special nutritional complexes;

• Separately, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that it is not recommended to do any vaccinations immediately before entering kindergarten. About 1.5 months should elapse between these events;
• It is also advised not to register the baby in the garden during periods of increased epidemiological danger.

In conclusion, I want to say that the right time for a child to enter kindergarten can only be determined based on the characteristics of his character and state of health. The most optimal period is considered to be the age of 2.5 or 4 years, since it is recommended to avoid significant shocks during the three-year period of crisis for the child.

If your child has sufficient independence and the necessary communication skills, then she is quite ready for new changes in her life.