How Can I Prepare My Child For A New School?

Moving away is always tough – the whole experience could be hard to accept for everyone, especially your little one. You may be worried about the physical aspect of moving – you will be faced with the concern of packing and moving, worried about whether you would have enough space for everything in your new house and so on. You or your better half may also be excited about the new job or career opportunity that may have caused the shift in the very first place. Your little one, on the other hand, has had to leave behind all the friends that he had, for all this while, including his friends from school who he may have grown accustomed to by now. He will have to start afresh in a new school, which he is bound to be wary of. He would be afraid of everything – from the directions, the teachers, the classmates; he will be afraid of not being accepted by them. However, as a concerned parent you can help him get over such fear. Here’s how to help your child in the new school. 

Preparing a Child For New School
Here’s what you must do to make your child comfortable at the new school

Check It Out
You must make the efforts to take a look at the new school that your child will be attending – find out his classroom, which teachers are assigned to his section, who the class teacher is. Talk to them and ask them how you should make the transition easy for your child. This might also pave way for any future correspondence between you and the teacher, in case your child lands into problems where your intervention may be required. 

Listen To The Little One
Talk to your child about the issues that concern him and actually listen to him. Listening to children gives them the feeling that they are attributed the legitimacy that their feelings deserve. Throw a party for all his friends from the old school and take pictures of each one of them and help your child maintain an album. 

Land-Markings
Drive your child to school or go with him in the school bus and point out landmarks that you may come across. In fact, it is best to let your child point out anything that he may remember. You could do such kind of mapping inside the school as well and point out the playground, the library, the water cooler, the classroom, the staff room, and so on. 

Ask! Inquire! Communicate!
It will do you good to keep communications open not only in terms of what is being taught in school but also as to whether your child has been able to make any friends, whether he or she is facing any issues with anyone, even whether someone is causing them trouble or bullying them. Give their issues importance and give them the opportunity to trust you with their feelings. 

Address Issues
Some school teachers, especially male teachers have a habit of rubbing a child the wrong way – they may openly poke fun at, abuse as well as hit children; and if your child is well into teenage or adolescence, this kind of behavior could lead to serious long term issues, if not addressed in time. In such cases, you will have to talk directly to the teacher concerned and not just the class teacher. 

No Sugar Coating, This
Do not ever try to sell unrealistic dreams to your child – they never work. You will only raise your child’s expectations to an alarmingly high degree and he will not be able to take the disappointment later. Also, it will give them the false impression that their problems are of no consequence to you since you only see what is good in the situation. You or your better half may have moved to another city to better your career prospects but that doesn’t mean that your child should not face any problem just because mommy or daddy are earning better.