Strategies to help your child through the transition phase as they commence school, kinder or childcare.

While we adjust to getting back into routine, our children are also going through the transition of commencing or going back to school/kinder/childcare. It can take some time to move through a transition phase and is influenced by your child’s individual temperament and needs. It's useful to remember that change can be hard and takes time for us adults too, so patience with the process is required!

TRANSITION STRATEGIES

In the first few weeks of school (kinder, childcare) , give your child time in the afternoon to decompress. This can be:

• Spending time outside,

• Resting on the couch,

• Playing with toys,

• Drawing/colouring,

• Reading.

Try to limit time on the screens. Eg. 20 minutes then turn it off. Have options available when screen time is finished.

When inquiring about their day, try not to push them to tell you what they did straight away. It may come out much later in the day eg, at bedtime. Try using direct closed questions such as "Did you play in the playground today?" rather than open ended questions eg, "how was your day?" as this can feel overwhelming for some children to recall the day and have a response. Pictures of typical activities at school/kinder can also be helpful for younger children. Circle an activity that you did today!

Allow them some quiet time when they arrive home before tackling homework and extracurricular activities.

Provide structure and routine – many children thrive when they know what to

expect and what is expected of them. Visual schedules can be really helpful. Eg. A chart with morning routine tasks that need to be completed or a chart with items that need to be packed in the kinder/school bag. This also reduces their cognitive load (mental energy to think about new things).

Creating a regular, consistent and predictable routine will allow them to feel more at ease and less likely to have negative behaviour.

A weekly planner can assist children (and adults!) to remember what activities they have coming up and what is expected of them.

In the first few weeks of term, your child will be adjusting to the change in routine after a long break. Try to keep weekends free from unnecessary activities to allow your child to rest and rejuvenate for the week ahead.

'Name it to Tame it' strategy - Dan Siegel author of The Whole Brain Child

Label and validate their feelings. All feelings are OK and can be normal during these periods of time and will pass.