My daughter had a lovely first day at her new preschool today where she will spend the next two years. Even though she had been in daycare since she was six months old, I was slightly apprehensive about her settling in and had prepared myself for a few tears on her first morning. But far from it! Excited about her beautiful school dress, she was asking me to go to school since she woke up at 7am and I had to tell her we couldn’t go just yet. I credit a large part of this success to choosing a lovely nursery school that is right for her, but I also made sure to prepare her for the situation. About four months ago, I bought the book Topsy and Tim Start School that tells the story of the twins Topsy and Tim and their first day at primary school – how their mum brings them, how they make new friends and meet their teacher, the games they play on their first day and how their mum picks them up again. At first, she was always upset when they were handed over to their teacher and asked “where’s her mummy?” and I would explain “Mummy brings them to school, then mummy goes to work and they are with the teacher and their friends, and then mummy or daddy pick them up” and she would cry and say “no, not the teacher!” but after reading this book for hundreds of times, she finally got used to the idea and even got excited about going to school.
On her first day, she played with trains, dinosaurs, a doll house and did some painting and singing. She was very excited when we picked her up. After dinner, she asked me if she could go back to school now and play with her teacher, but unfortunately it’s Friday and she has to wait till Monday morning! I am so happy, all I wish for as a parent is for my children to love going to school and be happy to go there every day. My efforts of trying to get into a fantastic and oversubscribed nursery school seem to have paid off! How did you little one’s first day at school go? I hope your little ones had a great time!