It’s been 2 months since Nat started school/nursery and we’re pleasantly surprised that he’s adapted very well to it. Initially we were worried and skeptical but it all worked out after much coaxing and lots of preparation. Yet, some days I wish a 2yr old didn’t have to wake up by 7am to reach school by 8am… Anyhow here’s a summary of Nat in nursery.
Left to right: He absolutely loves the sinks in school because it’s just nice for him. He’s happy on most days, I think it’s because of art and craft and some days he falls asleep in the car on the way home because nursery life can be tiring.
Well, the road to Nat adjusting to nursery wasn’t a smooth one.
2 months before: The kindergarten held an orientation for new students, during which Nat refused to go into a separate room so that the parents could listen to a briefing. He cried the whole corridor down because I tried to walk away and leave him with the teachers. In the end, I had to sit with him in the room while the other kids seemed okay playing on their own. At that moment, I really could not help but wonder, “why did it have to be my child?” To make things worse, Nat refused to try the uniform for size. He was already psychologically rejecting the idea of school, maybe he thought we were going to abandon him in a foreign place. So yes, the orientation and initial experience with the school was quite unpleasant for us.
1 month before: The above episode was what made us decide to bring Nat to the school’s playground during the Dec school holidays when nobody was there so that he would associate it with happy thoughts. Over a 2 week period, we bought Nat to the school playground around 6 times. It was also during this period that his aversion towards the uniform disappeared – the trick was dressing him up when he drank his morning milk. So by 31 Dec 2018, we managed to somehow replace his unpleasant memories and feelings towards the school with happier ones, just in time for his first day at school.
The first week: The school allowed each child to have an adult companion for the first two day. On the third day, Nat had to attend class all alone. Both of us could not take leave due to our work commitments so my mom brought Nat to school. Of course there was lots of crying whenever it was time to say goodbye but I think it took Nat a few days to divert his attention and affection towards his teacher. Once Nat became more comfortable with his teacher, he was more willing to say goodbye to my mom and after 1 week, the crying stopped. There was one thing we didn’t quite understand but it seems to happen a lot – the kids will appear fine one minute but once they see a familiar face at dismissal, they will just break out in a chorus of cries?? Thankfully, after 1-2 weeks, Nat stopped crying whenever he saw my mom at dismissal time.
What they are up to: We get regular emails and photo updates about what the kids do in class. We’re so happy that Nat gets to experience a structured timetable revolving around English, Maths, Mandarin, Art, Music, Gym etc. On some Wednesdays, there’s swimming day in a huge wading pool and every Thursday there’s gardening. During certain festivals, they also celebrate accordingly like tossing kid-friendly Yusheng and making Tang Yuan dessert. His favorite classes seem to be art, music and gym. I think he has no clue what is going on during Chinese class (sigh).
As long as he’s having fun and enjoying school, we’ve no complaints.
On a last note, we also learnt some “hard truths/fast rules” about pre-school and nursery that I’m glad we followed.
- Avoid peeking into class and hanging around – say a proper goodbye and leave. This is very true. I had to tell my mom to have a heart of steel when it came to leaving Nat in the mornings. No matter how much he cried, I told her she had to walk away.
- The teachers know better. Trust the kindergarten. They’ve seen it all and experienced crying spells from multiple children. So it helps to know that your kid can be safely left in their hands.
- Your child will be fine. Crying, minor falls and bruises is all part of being a kid. Learning to let go seems hard but it became a necessity for us, especially with my new work posting. Thanks to nursery, my mom gets a 4hour break in the mornings and I also can focus on my work throughout the day.
For this and more, we’re very grateful.
Happy Nat = Happy everyone! 🙂
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