Helping to Make Transitioning Easier for Children

Making Transitioning Work for Your Family 



Transitioning or returning to school can be a stressful time for children and parents. Many children exhibit extreme symptoms such as nightmares, inability to sleep, loss of appetite and various other symptoms. As a parent or caregiver you may feel helpless and frustrated trying to find solutions that help make transitioning easier for your children.
Child Care Aware, our nations leading voice for child care offers the following strategies on making transitioning easier.

• Give yourself five minutes of quiet before you wake up your child or start your day.
• Think about what you know about your child. What will help make the morning more pleasant? Playing soft and calming music. If your child enjoys tickling, use that as a strategy to wake him or her in the morning. It makes waking up fun.
• Plan to give the slow-to-wake up child three wake up calls.
• Get things ready the night before including choosing your child's outfit for the next day.

There are three great articles published on the subject of helping children with transitioning:

PubMed Health published an article on "Stress in Childhood" which illustrates the importance of helping children deal with stress. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002760/

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published a great article on Separation Anxiety in Children. http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/Facts__for_FamiliesPages/Children_Who_Wont_Go_To_School_07.aspx

And Child Care Exchange also published an article called "Helping Children Make Transitions".
http://www.childcareexchange.com/resources/view_article.php?article_id=5015438