From June 1st, nurseries in England opened to all children. After months at home, many children and parents will understandably struggle to adjust. While this transition may be exciting for some, it can be daunting for others as it is a huge change from life in lockdown. With the Coronavirus still looming, nursery will be very different compared to what it was like before.
Little Steps Day Care are here to help you and your child prepare for their return to nursery after lockdown.
Speak To Your Child
Understandably, your child may not be keen on the idea of going back to nursery. Speak to them and find out why that is. They may simply be enjoying themselves at home. Remind them of their friends and the activities they do at nursery.
Your child isn’t alone in returning to nursery and many of their friends will be returning as well. If your child is old enough to understand why they had to stop attending, explain to them that they are returning to nursery and what is happening in order to keep them safe.
Practice New Safety Measures
Like many other things, nursery is going to be very different to how it was before lockdown, for both parents and children. As a parent, it will be upsetting for you to not be allowed inside the premises to settle your child, and they will equally as upset. Some new measures include:
- Interacting in smaller groups
- Frequent cleaning of toys
- Staggering break and lunch times
Your child may not have been around other children for some time, so behaviours such as sharing or taking turns could be difficult to re-adjust to. Speak to your child about their nursery friends and remind them how to share and be kind to one another.
Children are not expected to stay two metres apart from each other or staff, but if your child displays symptoms of Coronavirus, please inform us and isolate immediately.
Ease Them Back Into A Routine
Your child’s daily routine will have been very different over lockdown and going back to their normal routine may be very overwhelming. In order to transition smoothly, we recommend easing them back into their routine in advance, so they have time to get used to it again before they start nursery.
Don’t Worry
We understand that you may be worried about returning your child to such an environment after spending a lot more time together during the lockdown, but we can assure you that it will be as safe as can be. Despite these changes, our staff are doing their very best to ensure your child’s return to the nursery is as happy and exciting as before.
Adjusting as a parent is as difficult as adjusting as a child, but we can guarantee you that staff have been working very hard behind the scenes to ensure that the environment is safe, and will continue to do so once the nursery has opened again full-time. Keep up-to-date with us via our Facebook page.
Get In Touch
To enquire about preparing your child for returning to the nursery, don’t hesitate to contact us. We understand that you and your child may be apprehensive about going back, and we are more than happy to help make this transition easier. Please call us on 07340 956133. You can also fill out our online contact form.
