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Starting at Tara Montessori

The introduction into group care can be difficult for children and parents. Children’s welfare and happiness are the priority for educators at Tara Montessori especially when welcoming new children to the centre, and when assisting the family to settle into the centre environment. It is recognised that the needs of families vary greatly. We attempt to do our best to work with and meet each family’s individual requirements as part of the orientation process.

The following outlines some helpful hints for parents on settling their child into care:

Make sure you familiarise your child with the environment and the people in the environment (children and adults) by coming in for visits with your child before commencing care.

Provide a favourite toy, blanket or comforter to support your child when they are settling to sleep. This can help your child feel more secure.

If your child is unsettled, short visits with you may help your child to gain trust with an unfamiliar environment. These visits can be made on a day when your child is not booked to attend. Please speak to the educators and/or Centre Manager to set up visiting dates.

Interactions between educators and parents or educators and other children can produce positive role models and be reassuring. This experience can help to establish trust in an unfamiliar setting.

Talk about Tara Montessori at home in a positive way. Mention the names of the educators and other children. Talk about the things the child will be able to do at child care that are fun and enjoyable.

Tell us about your child on the enrolment form, for example, what they like to do; things they like and dislike, songs and activities they enjoy and so on. This helps the educators to get to know your child, and to provide care that meets your child’s interests and needs.

When leaving your child, it is best to make sure you say goodbye and then leave the child’s area. Hesitating and not leaving after you have said your goodbye, confuses a child and can make them unsettled and/or upset. Reassure your child that everything is alright and you will return later prior to saying goodbye. This can help your child to settle.

At first, some children protest strongly against being in child care, while others may take a day or two to realise that you are leaving them, and begin to protest after several days. Children soon learn that you do return and, in the meantime, they are well cared for. Most children settle very well into childcare. Our team at Tara Montessori does all we can to help the children settle.

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Starting at Tara Montessori

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