Kindergarten readaptation — how to return to reality after a long break

For most children at the age from 3 till 6, the break in their education is significant, so it is worth paying special attention to them. Often, children do not remember what it was like to attend an institution every day. Therefore, it is important to prepare the child for the upcoming changes right now and start getting the child used to the thought of returning. How to do it?

Sometimes an extended illness can already cause problems with re-adaptation in kindergarten. Nowadays, children do not attend kindergartens for several weeks. Such a break, even for experienced kindergarten children, is significant and can break the child from the daily rhythm of the day. Therefore, it is worth starting to prepare the toddlers for their return right now. This will not only save a lot of stress for the child, but will also help us to return to work without worrying about our child.

Talk to your child

The most important thing is our approach to the whole situation. It is worth reminding about what the child enjoyed most about their daily stays in the kindergarten.

Talk to your child about what he or she misses most. Remind your preschooler about their best friends, games or afternoon stories read by the teacher. If you remember meals served in the kindergarten that your child particularly liked, prepare them. Let’s also start getting back to the daily routine that was practiced in the kindergarten. Adjust the meal times, if you let your child go to bed later — go back to the rules from the time before the break, set the plan for play, after-lunch rest, and recall the favourite games known from kindergarten — comments Anna Osiecka, Regional Director of KIDS&Co.

Let’s not communicate the return to kindergarten as an obligatory plan, the end of a certain “free time” which was introduced recently. By reminding the child of his or her favourite toys, non-seen friends, and also by recalling pleasant moments, we will make the child miss kindergarten and also feel excited at the thought of returning.

Remind your child what kindergarten activities look like

If your child hasn’t regularly attended online kindergarten classes so far, this is a good way to remind him or her of the familiar daily routine. Such classes are not only a great time for playing with the favourite teacher, but also a way to get in touch with the kindergarten atmosphere and gradually change the home into the familiar interior of the facility. It’s also a good idea to remind your child about their favourite kindergarten friends. Just a moment of conversation or just seeing a friend, via an online messenger, will make the child more eager to return to the kindergarten to be able to play with the friend once they meet again in the kindergarten.

How to show the kindergarten if the child… has not been in it yet?

If we are just preparing the child to go to kindergarten, it is important to start the process now, in order to gradually prepare the child for the changes that will take place in a few months.  The most important thing is to familiarise the child with the new environment in which he or she will be located. So far, we have used open days in kindergartens or time for adaptation in the facility. Unfortunately, the current  does not allow us to do this. So how can we manage in this situation?

Showing your child a new environment, even before it becomes their everyday life, is extremely important. Therefore, in the current situation, it is worth taking advantage of virtual open days in selected facilities. During such an individual meeting, the parent and the child are shown around the kindergarten, and the headteachers talk about the daily schedule, education and nutrition. They also answer parents’ questions. What is important in such meetings for the children themselves — even though the child does not have the opportunity to touch the kindergarten toys, or play with other children, it is important to show where he/she will eat meals, where he/she will be able to play, or how the tables look like, where he/she will paint. It is also worth talking to the child after the meeting and asking what he or she liked best — advises Anna Osiecka, Regional Director of the bilingual kindergartens KIDS&Co.

Despite the current situation, we can still take measures which will help our child to return to kindergarten, as well as help children who will only start their education in September. We must remember that in both situations, this will be a big change in the life of a child, and if we do not prepare him or her adequately in advance, the transition to a new everyday life may prove stressful for both the child and the parents.