Temperatures are warming up and that means school is winding down. Just as important the transition from summer to school is for kids, so is the transition from school to summer child care.

Lynette White, Summit DD’s Manager of Community Partnership for Inclusion offers summer transition tips on how to make the move from school to summer schedule easy on both parents and child.

Get Familiar with the Facility

Visit the child care facility with your child. Try to schedule two hours where you can explore along side your child and both become familiar with the new setting.

While some kids are ready to get on with play, some have a harder time adjusting. Understand that even after visiting the child care facility, your child may still have anxiety over leaving you the first day. Anxiety is natural and often day two is more challenging than day one.

Allow the Facility to Get Familiar with Your Child

Prepare the child care facility with all kinds of information for your child. Of course medications, allergies and behaviors are important to share. But so is unique language you use with your child (a special name for a comfort item or a unique name for a family member). Being detailed will help ensure that there is little or no miscommunication.

Be very up front and honest with the facility with any disabilities your child has. This will help the facility to better accommodate your child and be able to work with your child accordingly.

Understand the Schedule

Often the schedule for children birth to 18 months follows the schedule that is kept at home.

From 18 months and onward, meals and nap times most often follow the facility’s schedule. That means your child may be eating and resting at a times they are not accustomed to eating and sleeping. Try to mimic the schedule of the facility for a week to help ease the transition.

Likewise, the facility may require you to pack certain things in your child’s lunch to fulfill State nutrition requirements. Even if your child will not eat the items, they still need to get accustomed to seeing them in their lunch. Preparing them for this will help meal times run smoothly.

Above all, keep in mind that it takes 21 days for a new habit to form. Give your child a few weeks to really get used to his or her new surroundings. And remember, Summit DD’s Community Partnership for Inclusion Program is here to help you transition as well. Contact us and let us help you create the right setting for your little one to thrive!