September saw the beginning of a new a term at Crawford Childcare. This was an exciting time for both children and parents with mixed emotions involved. For some parents this was the start of their children’s school life. For some children it may have been the first time they were separated from their parents for a significant length of time. Now we are a little over three months into this new term and all children have settled very well and are enjoying their time at Crawford Childcare. These early years are very important.

As a parent it is natural to wonder if they are enjoying their new experience and school life. We all know that there is only so much information a three and four year old will tell you about their day and also how they are feeling. Some children may find it difficult to express their emotions. Here we identified five top indicators to show that your child is happy at their Montessori.

• Smiles and running in the door – some obvious physical signs that your child displays such as running in the school door with smiles or talking with excitement about school can leave no doubt in your mind that your child is happy in their Montessori.
  


• Communication - ask questions that require more detail. Often if you ask a preschooler “how was your day today” chances are they will say “fine” or “ok”. Or if you ask “what did you do today” the response will be “nothing”. A good idea is to ask “what was your favourite thing you did today”, or “what did you enjoy about your day today”.


• Talk about school – all parents want to talk about school with their children therefore the timing of these conversations can be important. It may be a good idea to talk about this over dinner. Often when it comes to the end of the day for the child they are tried from the days activities and may just want to relax when they get home.


• Talk to the teacher – as well as communicating with your child it is important to communication with the teacher. The teacher spends five days a week with your child and may be able to provide more information about the situation.


• Open door policy – at Crawford Childcare we have an open door policy. Should there be a day when your child comes into school crying and you may feel a little bit concerned when you leave please feel free to come back half an hour later and look through the window or pick up the phone to ask the teacher how they are doing. Once it can be the case that the child will stop crying a few seconds/minutes after you leave and will be enjoying themselves. This is something frequently observed my teachers but maybe not by parents.

Should you have any concerns about your child please let us know and we will be happy to meet you outside class hours.