Parental Involvement
At Forest Hill Nature Preschool we value the partnerships that we create with the parents of students in our care. The 2020 school year is a challenging time to be a parent of a young child in care and we recognize the anxiety that restrictions against parents entering the school building places on our parents. We hope that parents will continue to build relationships with their child's teachers through the Brightwheel app. Teachers will share photos, videos, and updates with parents on a daily basis and parents can send messages to teachers at any time during the day. Brightwheel offers an extra insight into your child’s classroom and some of the fun and exciting projects that your child is involved in during the school day.
In the past, we've always planned many opportunities for parents to become involved with your child’s preschool experience at Forest Hill Nature Preschool & Childcare. Parents have been invited to chaperone for field trips, come in to read to your child’s class, and volunteer to help with special days at school. Even though parents are not in the building this year, we still invite you to get involved. You can lend objects to the school to enrich classroom themes, help your child at home with the concepts we are learning in school, help your child choose items and prepare for show-and-tell, and provide treats or other items for class celebrations. In addition, we are still planning several parent and child events throughout the school year to offer special opportunities for you to spend time with your child in the school environment in a safe way. For a complete list of events planned this year, check out our Special Events page.
If your child is routinely upset and clingy when you drop him or her off at school, the staff will likely encourage you to say a quick goodbye and be on your way. Please understand that this is in the best interest of your child. Saying a quick and confident goodbye and then leaving will help communicate to your child that you know that he or she is in a safe place and that you feel confident that everything will be OK. After you leave, your child’s teacher will provide comfort and distraction, and will reassure your child that you will return to pick him or her up at the end of the day. If you stall in leaving because your child is upset or appear upset yourself, what you are actually communicating to your child is that you are anxious about leaving your child in the school environment. This reaction will only increase your child’s anxiety. Anxiety at drop off time is most often an issue for our younger children, but as the children begin to settle into more familiar routines, this anxiety usually subsides and children become more and more confident about separating from mom or dad.
In the past, we've always planned many opportunities for parents to become involved with your child’s preschool experience at Forest Hill Nature Preschool & Childcare. Parents have been invited to chaperone for field trips, come in to read to your child’s class, and volunteer to help with special days at school. Even though parents are not in the building this year, we still invite you to get involved. You can lend objects to the school to enrich classroom themes, help your child at home with the concepts we are learning in school, help your child choose items and prepare for show-and-tell, and provide treats or other items for class celebrations. In addition, we are still planning several parent and child events throughout the school year to offer special opportunities for you to spend time with your child in the school environment in a safe way. For a complete list of events planned this year, check out our Special Events page.
If your child is routinely upset and clingy when you drop him or her off at school, the staff will likely encourage you to say a quick goodbye and be on your way. Please understand that this is in the best interest of your child. Saying a quick and confident goodbye and then leaving will help communicate to your child that you know that he or she is in a safe place and that you feel confident that everything will be OK. After you leave, your child’s teacher will provide comfort and distraction, and will reassure your child that you will return to pick him or her up at the end of the day. If you stall in leaving because your child is upset or appear upset yourself, what you are actually communicating to your child is that you are anxious about leaving your child in the school environment. This reaction will only increase your child’s anxiety. Anxiety at drop off time is most often an issue for our younger children, but as the children begin to settle into more familiar routines, this anxiety usually subsides and children become more and more confident about separating from mom or dad.