Settling into kindergarten

Settling can be daunting but we are so proud of all our new children at kindergarten who have settled in so well.

We know that having a good drop off experience is important for both children and parents. When children are starting kindergarten they are building and developing new relationships with peers and teachers. This can take time. Being positive when you talk to your child about their kindergarten experience builds a positive expectation for them. Talking in positive tones with reassuring words helps your child to settle. 

When you arrive at kindergarten, settling them into an activity that engages and excites them helps the goodbye process as well. Seek the support of the teaching team so that they can support you and your child as you say goodbye, helping to make it a positive experience.

"The quality and stability of a child's human relationships in the early years lay the foundation for a wide range of later developmental outcomes that really matter - self confidence and sound mental health, motivation to learn, achievement in school and later in life, the ability to control aggressive impulses and resolve conflicts in nonviolent ways, knowing the different between right and wrong, having the capacity to develop and sustain casual friendships and intimate relationships, and ultimately to be a successful parent oneself" (National scientific council of developing child, Harvard University, 2004).

 

"Nurturing and stable relationships with caring adults are essential to healthy human development beginning from birth. Early, secure attachments contribute to the growth of a broad range of competencies, including a love of learning, a comfortable sense of oneself, positive social skills, multiple successful competence and well being - individualised responsiveness, mutual action and interaction, and an emotional connection to another human being.... Relationships engage children in the human community that help them define what they are, what they can become and how and why they are important to other people" (National Scientific Council of Developing Child, Harvard University, 2004).

And don't fear, our older children have seized the opportunity to step up and be rangatira (leaders) for our new tamariki, supporting them as they settle into their kindergarten days, showing them all the good things to do at kindergarten and inviting them to be a part of their play.