Starting School (Difficulties): Notes for Parents

Abstract

After spending almost every moment of their early waking lives in their mother’s company it is perhaps surprising that so few children (and mothers) experience difficulties in starting school or nursery and to being separated. Even the most sociable and easy-going child, however, needs to be carefully prepared for starting school. Should you fail to do this your child will be thrown, quite literally, into a strange, unknown, and possibly frightening situation, surrounded by children he has never met, and in the care of somewhat distant adult strangers who, unlike you, can only give him a small part of their time. He will be expected to do things he has never done before and to follow routines he finds strange and different to those he has known at home. His eating, toileting, and so on, all become more public and less personalised, and he becomes one of a group instead of the centre of attraction. But coming to terms with school, to a life outside the home, is all part of the process of growing up, an essential part of your child’s development towards independence.