The first days of preschool
Most young children need a little time to settle into preschool. What helps most starts before the first day: a school-day routine, calm talk about school, and a short goodbye.
What settling in can look like
Young children often show worry without words: clinging, going quiet, or being more cross than usual. A child who was dry may have accidents for a while.1
Zero to Three's advice is to let a child play out these feelings, calmly; children often return to their usual selves sooner when they are allowed to.1
In the two weeks before
- Move bedtime and wake-up time to the school-day times, about two weeks ahead.12
- Practise the getting-ready jobs as a game: shoes on, bag on, opening the water bottle.2
- Play school at home, taking turns to be the teacher.2
- Visit together, if the school offers a visit, so the place is not new on the first day.2
Talking about school
Keep it low-key: too big a fuss can make a child more worried than excited. Ask how they feel about school, and tell them it is normal to feel excited, worried, or both. Your own happy memories of school help too.12
Keep talking, singing and reading in your home language. NCERT's framework asks that the language children hear in the early years be mostly their home or familiar language, so tell the teacher your child's own words for the toilet, water and food.3
The morning and the goodbye
Leave time, so the morning is not rushed. Children pick up the feelings of the adults they trust, so keep your tone easy and sure.1
Have one short goodbye, the same every day: a hug, a wave at the door, “see you after lunch”. Then go. If you hear crying as you leave, try not to go back in; wait a few minutes outside, or call later in the morning to ask how things are.21
Ask the schoolAsk whether parents may stay for a while on the first mornings, and how the school will tell you how your child is doing.
After school, and when to talk
Expect a tired child for a while. Children aged 3 to 5 need 10 to 13 hours of sleep in 24 hours, naps included, so an earlier bedtime in the first weeks helps.4
If distress is not easing after a few weeks, or sleep or eating change, talk to your child's teacher, and to your doctor if you are worried.
Ask the school
Only the school can tell you these. They are good questions for a visit or a call.
- How the first days work: whether they are shorter, and whether a parent may stay for a while.
- How the school will let you know how your child is settling.
- What to send, and what help is given with the toilet.
- Who may collect your child, and how that is checked.
Sources
- Zero to Three, Preschool prep: how to prepare your toddler for preschool (2010).
- UNICEF, How to prepare your child for preschool.
- NCERT, National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (2022).
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine, in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: a consensus statement (2016).
Sources read and checked in October 2026. This guide gives general advice from public bodies, not medical advice, and it says nothing about this school that the school hasn't confirmed.
Come and see the school
Call or WhatsApp to arrange a visit, or send an enquiry and the school will get back to you.