For a lot of parents, enrolling a child into preschool is a necessary but scary thing. This is a time when you have to release your grip on the reins a little bit and allow your child to grow in a space away from your parental guidance. The social benefits and care given in a preschool can be extremely important for your child's development, however frightening the idea of leaving your child in the care of others might be. Fortunately, the parent-teacher meeting is a time when you really get to have a clear sense of how your child is behaving, feeling and growing and to find out what can be done to push that growth even further. Here are a few questions you should ask at your preschool parent-teacher meeting:
How are your child's interactions with other children?
Preschool is often the first time that kids get to experience immersive social contact with other children, especially if they don't have siblings. It's important to gauge how they are in social situations because they nurture important qualities such as learning to share and having compassion for others. Of course, some children are simply shyer than others, but it's good to have an idea of where your child sits and how to push them a little out of their comfort zone.
Does your child engage with activities?
In 21st century life, we can all be guilty of having a short attention span, but this is all the more reason to enquire about your child's focus on activities at their day care facility. Is your child able to finish tasks through to the end without procrastinating or are they more likely to be distracted? Which activities engage your child and which do not? These are important lessons to learn about your child as knowing what engages them can help you motivate them in the long term.
How is your child's behaviour?
Once your child is free of the rules of the home, it's hard to know exactly how they will behave at school, and that's what makes this an important question to ask. Does your child follow rules and respect authority? Does your child listen when other children are speaking and give them an appropriate amount of personal space?
It's important to remember that you are not asking these questions with an assurance of getting glowing feedback. You may hear some things that don't please you, and that's okay because good children behave in all kinds of different ways at certain times. It is, however, important to have this information so that you can work with it and nurture your child's growth in the best possible way.
Share10 May 2019
I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting resources to liven up my childcare education program. These days, it's important that children are always learning at childcare, but it's equally important that children have fun. I like to find topics that match up with the topics that my kids are passionate about. If they are obsessed with trains, then I'm going to make sure we do a whole program on trains to keep them engaged and interested. If you are also a childcare educator or teacher who is looking for new resources for education programs, then please keep reading.
