Tips for Transition to Nursery

A parent’s guide to transition to Nursery

We are very excited to welcome our new Broadford pupils to Nursery tomorrow. Here are some tips for supporting your child with the transition to Nursery.

Successful transitions

Changes are by their nature potentially stressful. It is important that children experience successful transitions in early childhood as these act as templates for their future ways of dealing with change.

1. Stay Calm

Very young children are very quick to pick up on anxieties or stress shown by their parents. While you might try to put on a cheery voice or smile, children are able to read body language and pick up on voice tones very effectively.

If children sense that you are anxious, their stress levels will increase. A successful transition for your child relies therefore on you feeling comfortable too. If you are feeling anxious, think about why this might be and talk to one of our EYFS practitioners about your concerns.

2. Develop goodbye routines and try to keep them brief

If you do not have a goodbye routine, it is worth developing one. If you leave your child with a partner, family member or friend even for a few minutes, create a little goodbye routine. Something as simple as ‘three kisses and bye bye’ can be immensely helpful. Goodbye routines are useful as they are positive ways of leaving. When your child arrives at nursery, make the drop-off loving but quick. Find a member of staff, give your child a hug and a kiss, then leave.

3. Have a smooth start to the day

Many children will cope better with transition if they have had a smooth start to their day at home. This is because their background stress levels on entry to the setting are lower than children who have had a bumpy start to their day. While many families struggle to get out of the door on time packed, fed and dressed, it is worth aiming to be super-organised for the days around transition in order to give your child a better start. Make sure also to get your child to bed so that they have sufficient sleep. Tired children do not make for great transitions.

4. Talk about Nursery positively

Talk about Nursery as much as you can at home. Tell your child that they will be safe, that the children and staff will like them, and that they will have great fun whilst they are there.

5. Explain to your child that you will be back

You know you will pick your child up at home time, but that may not be obvious to them. Explain this in a way they can understand such as ‘I’ll be back for lunch time or I’ll be back after story time.”