Having children that are clingy to parents is not out of the ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. From an evolutionary perspective, children are going to want to stay as close to their parents as possible for as long as they possibly can. Most of the first few years of their life has been sent with parents that they have known and loved, but moving to preschool marks a time when they will spend the majority of their time with other strange people. While they eventually have fun and often find a new side of extroversion neither you nor they thought they had, the first few days can be difficult. We know firsthand how difficult the transition can be for children entering an Albuquerque preschool, here are a couple tips to help get your child ready:
Preparing Kids for Preschool Socially
One thing that parents can do in order to prepare their kids for preschool from a social perspective is to introduce them to many different social events and play dates in order for them to get used to other strange people and especially other children their age. While the children do not have to all be strangers, it is a good idea to put them in increasingly uncomfortable social situations so that they can thrive when they finally get to preschool and start to spend time without parents.
It is natural for your children to be slightly clingy when the prospect of going to preschool is apparent. While they may have fun when they do go to the school, it can be difficult to get them on board initially. Sometimes, helping them prepare socially just means explaining to them what is going to happen (of course this assumes your child is old enough). Children react best when they are in the know about the events going on in their life. Explain in full detail what they can expect and what fun awaits them and they will most likely forget about it by the time they are enrolled in their preschool classes.
Don’t Give In
Parents often neglect to consider their own desire to spend time with children as well. When parents want to spend a lot of time with their children, it can often lead to coddling or giving in to the child’s demands. Preschool is plenty of fun and kids will enjoy it if they go, but sometimes it is your own desire to keep them at home with you.
Do not give in to either your desire or their desire to stay at home during these formative times in their lives. Children need to prepare for normal school by being social and having fun at preschool first. A jump straight to first grade can be a shocking experience for kids that have little to no training with other children of the same age group.
Parenting Clingy Children
The best thing that you can do for a clingy child is simply console them and tell them that things are going to be alright at their preschool. Explain some of the fun activities and that you are not going to be very far away should anything happen. With this, they should at least be willing to give it a try.
