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Plymouth

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018 • Page 13

Transitioning to early education Helping our youngest learners navigate big changes By RACHEL ANDERSON Contributing Writer

It won’t be long before the kids are back in school. If you have a child going into elementary, middle of high school this fall, there are plenty of resources out there on how to prepare, but what do you do if you are sending your son or

daughter to preschool for the first time? “A good place to start is by realizing that the social/emotional aspect of school is what is most important for young children. Some children will be extremely excited to start school and others will be more hesitant. Take your child at his or her social, emotional and developmental level. No two children are the same,� said Sandi Loxton, the early childhood education coordinator for Wayzata Early Learning School in

Teacher Janet Stobel works with a preschool class.

Plymouth. Loxton and her colleague, early childhood special education supervisor Robin Henslin, teamed up to offer these tips for parents: 1) Provide opportunities for your child to get excited and feel comfortable about their new adventure. 2) Discuss in advance what school is, what activities they might be doing, the parts of the day your child will find most interesting (e.g. art, music, playground, snack, reading). 3) If they will have a school experience where the caregiver does not stay, discuss this separation in the weeks leading up to school. Remind the child that you will always come back. 4) Create and use social stories to describe and chronicle the format of the day. For example, create a book and include pictures where it shows

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(PHOTOS COURTESY OF WAZYATA PUBLIC SCHOOLS)

Teacher Kathy Kirchner helps a student work on his scissor skills.

getting in the car or bus to go to school, a picture of the school, a picture of the room, a picture of the caregiver and child giving each other a hug good bye, a picture of the teacher if possible, students doing art activities, circle time pictures, playground pictures, snack pictures, and a picture returning home. Use real pictures wherever possible.

5) Read other stories about the first day of school. It helps for children to know that other children do this also. 6) If possible, see if your child will know any other children in his/her class. Due to data privacy, the school can’t give out class list information, but you may know the children based on past experiences. 7) Get a first day of

school picture! You will want to remember these days. 8) As a caregiver, be sure to take care of yourself too. Taking your children to school for the first time can be a very emotional experience for adults too. Loxton recommends that if possible, you take See PreK, Next Page

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