September is approaching and, with it, the beginning of many young children to attend daycare. The selection of the center and, later, leaving our son there is a situation that creates insecurity and even fear many parents who are now choosing center.
Therefore, we have decided interview Mónica Serrano, psychologist specializing in maternity and parenting, author of the Child Psychology and Parenting Attachment blog, about how to choose a nursery well and what parents can do to facilitate the adaptation of their children to it.
Monica, what do you think are the keys that tell us that a nursery is respectful of the children who attend it?
Well, let's see the clues that may indicate that a nursery is respectful. We must detect this information before enrolling the child in it. First, it is important to analyze how they perform the adaptation period in the center. Ideally, they should allow the child to be accompanied by their mother (or other reference adult) during this period. However, this is not the most common. However, it is important to know if they allow parents to accompany their child to their classroom (during adaptation and the entire course) or do not allow them to pass beyond the center entrance.
Anything else?
In my opinion, it is very important that parents be allowed to accompany the child to their classroom, leave it with their reference educator and their classmates. It is relevant that the farewell be done in the classroom and that parents have access to it. The same happens with the child's collection. On the other hand, it is important to know what conflict resolution methods they use. Many nursery schools use "the thinking chair," which is nothing more than an undercover punishment. It is desirable that they do not use this method or any other type of punishment; that conflicts be resolved with affection, comfort and accompaniment, basically. It is essential that when parents visit a nursery, as a possible candidate for their child, they listen. Listen not only to the information that the person who is informing them gives you, but also the tone of the educators when they are addressed to the children, the expressions of the children who are there, the duration of the crying ... If it is possible to do this Listen, we will be getting valuable information.
And, more specifically, what qualities should an educator have?
In my opinion, the fundamental thing is that you want the children in your care. May he treat them with affection, may he embrace them, comfort them ... may he play with them. Many times it is difficult, since the working conditions of these professionals are not adequate. They have a job of enormous responsibility and importance, but many times, their conditions do not correspond to the value of their work and this can have an impact on their mood and, therefore, on their relationship with children. Therefore, it is important that parents try to obtain information on the mobility of educators. If there are too many personnel changes, many educators who leave the center, we can intuit that their working conditions are not adequate. However, if the center has a relatively stable team, it is a sign that the staff is satisfied and this is positive for the relationship with the children.
More specifically, it is important that the nursery base the activity of the child in the game. If it is intended to respect the evolutionary needs of children from zero to three years old, the use of cards does not make any sense. On the other hand, we can have another interesting key in tantrum management. If they manage them on the basis of not paying attention to them, they are telling us that they are not respectful of the emotional needs of the children. It would be desirable if they based management on emotional support and comfort. It is also key how they handle the issue of food. If they start from the idea of ​​establishing fixed amounts of food and intend to "force" the children to eat them, we are facing disrespectful food management. Ideally, they should respect the children's intake needs every day, attending to their personal tastes and trying to make the meal time enjoyable, encouraging exploration and experimentation with food.
We thank the psychologist Mónica Serrano the interview she has given to Babies and more, what we hope will help you to choose the best possible nursery for your children and next week we will go deeper into this topic, so that the adaptation is as light and happy as possible.
