The first day of school isn’t always an enjoyable or easy experience. To help your child gain the confidence to overcome one of the first obstacles in life, there are some things you should understand and avoid doing on the first day of class.
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When kids reach the age of starting school, they have to get used to leaving their parents’ arms every day to learn and play in a completely new environment. Children can no longer stay with their parents every second as before. Instead, friends and teachers at school will be by their side, taking care of them during their toddler days.
This is an important milestone for your baby, marking a big change in the child’s growing up journey. Therefore, even though they have been mentally prepared by parents, most children will feel scared and frustrated. To help children overcome the psychological crisis when going to class, parents are required to be prepared carefully as well. You should especially avoid the following actions.
Scolding the kid harshly when he or she refuses to go to school
On the first day of class, most children are terrified. They did not understand what it was like to go to school. They only found themselves facing away from their parents and having to be with strangers. As a result, they cry a lot and refuse to go to school with their parents. This is a common situation that almost every parent will have to face. At such times, how can you calm your baby?
Many people, seeing their children cry, become immediately frustrated. Then, they start scolding the kids to be obedient and force them to leave home. But in reality, this is never a good way. It’s even considered as a thing to strictly avoid on the first school day. To stop the kid from crying and compromise, parents should gently explain why school is important,. So that, their child can understand how fun and interesting it is to come to class. Also, if possible, take your children to visit the school before starting school. After that, they can easily get used to the new environment.
Bringing up a negative view of school to your children
One thing that many parents tend to do, which should never be done at all, is threatening the children of negative scenarios if they don’t behave well on the first day at school. For instance, parents often say that they would tell the teachers to punish kids who don’t behave nicely, eat well, or study hard, and so on. Some even threatened to abandon their children at school if they do something naughty.
We often think that if we scare children like this, they will learn their lesson and obey. However, such negative content will make children break down and possibly become even more afraid of going to school.
Being obviously too emotional in front of the kids
A common mood among most parents when children start school is being worried, sad, and lonely. Kids seem so small and vulnerable. They are used to being taken care of and loved by their families. Therefore, parents will often worry a lot on the first day of taking their children to school. Many parents can not hold their tears when saying goodbye and leaving for work.
However, psychologists recommend that parents should avoid exposing such feelings to their children on the first day of class. What you should do in this situation is to act strong and overcome your own emotions to give your baby more confidence. Show them a smile and promise to take them out for dinner or buy them a cute gift instead! It works like a charm!!
Picking the kid up early because he or she cries too much
Your kid won’t let you go home and keep on nagging, crying, clinging to your leg. During this time, what should you do then? Some parents told us because their son or daughter cried so much, they felt bad and decided to spoil the baby by taking them home. However, we do not recommend doing this regularly. This will form a thought that they just need to start crying loudly and their parents won’t force them to go to school again, or they will be picked up early again.
Instead, we could promise to pick them up on time with a special prize for students who behave well. Try to calm and bribe them with something they like such as sweets and pretty toys, but only when they’re willing to behave.
Sneaking out when your children don’t notice
Taking your child to school is already hard enough, but it is even more difficult to keep their children in school with their teachers and friends so you can go home. Many parents choose to direct their children’s attention to something else, and while they are not paying attention, parents would sneak away, leaving kids alone at school. It is understandable that some thought this would be a good idea.
However, this is something that should be avoided on the first day of school. If you leave without notice, your kid will be surprised, frightened and they are likely to cry harder because they don’t know where you are while surrounded with only strangers. From there, it creates a bad memory about going to school. What’s worse is that, the child will develop a fear that if he or she goes to school, the parents will continue to leave him or her behind. Therefore, the following days of school will be even more difficult for both of you.
Comparing your child to other kids negatively
Another important note to make on the first day of taking your child to school is that it is not advisable to compare children negatively with other friends. For example, when children refuse to go to school, parents often compare them to some friends or “the neighbour kid” who never cry or whine when he comes to class. This action will hurt their pride deeply and discourage them from even trying to behave well at school.
You should be showing them love and sympathy instead. The kid will feel extremely pathetic when put in the comparison where he or she is always on the negative side. Instead of making such unhelpful comparisons, we can encourage and praise the strong points that your kids own, showing them that they are unique and just as talented as others. That is also a way to make your child happy and confident to start school. Even us adults enjoy being praised, don’t we?
Forcing the kids to make new friends on themselves on their first day to school
In order for your child to easily adapt to the new environment, getting acquainted with teachers and friends is very crucial. However, parents should not assume that would happen on the first day of class. Children aren’t obliged to be open and make new friends by themselves immediately. Such pressure will weigh heavily on the kid and inadvertently lead to the fear of going to school.
Let your baby naturally get to know his or her friends. This process might take a while for them to get along well. On the first day of school, children are usually confused, sometimes embarrassed to meet new people. Therefore, it would be better if parents could become a bridge to help children get to know and play with friends naturally.
To give children a happy and meaningful first day in class, parents need to show their care and support for their children. Listen attentively and explain to your child that going to school is a helpful experience. More importantly, it is necessary to remember to avoid the above mistakes on your child’s first day to school in order to help children be more confident and grow up through this experience.
