7. Back to School Strategies for Parents After COVID-19  

7/17/2020

During COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, children have likely experienced significant changes in their expected routines and relationships. Returning to child care is another big change for children who are already in disruptive social environment. Today I will share with you 3 tips of transitioning your children back to child care smoothly.

The first tip is to have a conversation with your children. Keep your words and terms simple for younger children to get better understanding. You can describe “in a couple of days you will be back to school, yay!  It will be so nice to see your teacher and friends!” Talk to them about the new daily routine and share pictures of what will happen. Remind your children of waking up, getting ready, getting picked up, eating dinner with family, getting ready for bed, and all other activities your children were be doing before the shelter in place. You may also choose a few books about going to child care and read to your children. This process is getting your children to get ready for what’s coming mentally.

The second tip is to simulate their school routine, including new procedures. This is the time you want to start putting your children in a regular sleep and activity routine. Simulate the school routine for a few days prior to return to help children understand their new routines. You may have mini circle times and free play activities, and practice some of the previous experiences such as hanging up their jackets, or getting their backpack ready. Practice any new steps for the drop-off procedure such as washing hands, temperature check, or wearing a face mask.

The last tip is to expect some behavioral challenges. After going through stressful and disruptive events, children need to adjust the changes.  children often do not have a full understanding of their feelings or the ability to communicate in words they have not felt before. Young children may not be able to express how they feel with words, so may instead use their behaviors to tell us how they are feeling. You can use your words to help children understand how they feel like “I see you are feeling sad about be away from mommy and daddy all day” “it’s ok to cry when you feel angry.” Also remember to set firm limits while acknowledging emotions like “it’s ok you feel mad when your friends take your toys, use your words to tell him, but you may not hit”. Most important is working with the teacher. The best tip for child care success is to make sure that parents and teachers are working together as allies.

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