It can be very scary and upsetting to start at a new childcare centre.
Parents and children can be distressed and have what is called separation anxiety.
There are three main things that educators need to do to help to settle new children and their parents:
1. Start interacting (talking, smiling, playing) with the child while their family is still there
2. Encourage the family to take as much time as they need to say goodbye
3. Reassure the child if they are distressed in a calm way
Strategies to Help Parents Feel Less Stressed
· Have an orientation program before the first day so parents can visit the centre with their child and stay and play for a while
· Open Door Policy so parents feel welcome to visit any time
· Tell parents they can phone during the day to check on the child
· Call the parent later in the day to let them know how their child is going and maybe send them a photo of the child happy/playing
· Ask the parents about what the child likes and dislikes and how they settle the child at home
· Help the parents have a consistent routine or ritual at drop off eg: they might read a book to their child before leaving
· Discourage parents from returning to their child after saying goodbye
Strategies to Help Children Feel Less Stressed
· Greet both the parent and child by name and make eye contact with the child, even when you are talking to their parent
· Use a security item that can comfort the child eg: a dummy, blankie, favourite toy, pillow. Do not confiscate security items from children. Children should have easy access to them until they are ready to give up the item. You can set boundaries around the use of security items but work with the child to do this eg: dummies only at bed time.
· Do a comforting activity with the child like read a story or play a puzzle or just sit with them and give them a hug if they want one.
TASK: Early Childhood Services will have policies and procedures (these are rules) for arrivals and departures. With your coach can you think about the rules that HEY has about children being dropped off and picked up? What rules are in place to keep the children safe?
Think about your job on Door Duty - can the children just leave? do the parents sign in and out? Can any random person pick up a child?
Write down what you think the rules are and then ask your boss at HEY to show you the actual arrivals and departures policies and procedures. Did you get most of them right? Which ones did you not know? Write these down too.
TASK 2: Here is a good article to read on Separation Anxiety at Child Care Drop Off. Can you pick three things from the Article that you could do to help settle new arrivals?
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