Lauren A. Hakala

Once the decision to attend childcare has been made and you have chosen a center, you can begin thinking about the best ways to help your child, your family, and yourself through this transition. Every child care center has its own way to help parents or guardians transition to child care, and this transition can vary significantly depending on parent need, timing and the age of your child when they begin.

A quality transition plan requires that the childcare center, the parents, and the teachers all work together to ensure the child will be successful. The child benefits most when the center, teachers and parents are all in agreement about how they will help the child acclimate.

Childcare Center:

• Orientation: There should be a clear orientation process that lays out what you can expect and the various roles and responsibilities of the center, the parents, and the teachers.

• Family Handbook: You should be given a handbook or packet explaining varies center policies and procedures. This should also explain the process of transitioning your child from a daily home routine to the more structured and social routine of group care. It should give you a sense for the schedule of the day so that you can adjust your meal and sleeping times according to what your child will be getting used to in the classroom.

• Meetings: An intake person, often the Child Care Director, or Enrollment Coordinator will make arrangements for teachers and parents to connect and meet prior to a start date, or very shortly thereafter.

• Checking-In: An administrator should check in with you to know how your enrollment has gone.

Teachers:

• A teacher’s love and care will never replace your role as the parent. Teachers know and understand this and will help you to know where this boundary is. Trust they are trained to provide quality care for your child and that they will communicate with you about how your child’s day has been and what is going on. Teachers should also seek out similar information upon arrival about how their night and morning has gone, so they know what to expect and can anticipate what your child might need going forward into the day.

• The care the teacher is providing for your child is establishing trust and is reassuring your child right away that they will get their needs met. Building a trusting relationship is demonstrated also by the relationship between parents and teachers. This is where parents’ positivity toward their child’s teachers will go a long way in establishing a joyful relationship. When you are at ease and can demonstrate your trust for the teacher, your child will pick up on this and will take their cues from you.

• The first few weeks are like the honeymoon phase, and your child’s teacher should be aware of this. You should be prepared to check in with your child’s teacher in the second to third week that your child is in care. When the honeymoon phase is over, children will begin to want to stay home or will prolong getting ready for school. The reality of being in childcare consistently has set in and they will want to exercise some control in handling their situation. This can look like testing their parents and teachers; making sure their new needs are being met and that all is understood.