Για ελληνικά πατήστε εδώ.
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the Athens Municipal Crèche.
The transition of the child, from the close family environment, to that of the Child Care Center is usually the first separation from its intimate caregivers. This first move away from home is not always easy, neither for the child, nor for the parents. The child's entry into the Child Care Center is an important change for the family, which causes unprecedented feelings and behaviors.
Crying, manifestations of fear and insecurity, attachment to the parent, "regression" to previous behaviors, are frequent manifestations of the child, during the first days or maybe weeks of adjustment to the Child Care Center, depending on its age and temperament. These behaviors are completely normal. At the same time, the parents live their own anxiety about the fact that the child moves away from them and is in an environment, even for them, unknown, and especially during the difficult and unprecedented period of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) we are going through.
Our Child Care Centers, adapted to the emergencies that the current conditions require, take all the necessary preventive measures and are ready to receive infants and toddlers as safely as possible, harmonizing the process of their integration into the Child Care Center, according to the new data of coronavirus health crisis (Covid-19).
The employees of the Child Care Centers of the Athens Municipal Crèche, educators and support staff, thus organize the first days of reception of the child in the Child Care Center, so that its adjustment can be done smoothly. In order to facilitate the transition of the children, but also of parents to the new reality and to overcome the first difficulties, we suggest to the parents the following practical tips:
- Talk to each other, but also to other family members who will be related to the Child Care Center (e.g. grandparents who will pick up the child), to express thoughts, concerns, ideas on how your new life and your relationship with the child can be planned. Also, talk to friends and acquaintances who have already had this experience. It is best that your anxieties are not expressed in front of the child.
- Be sure to explain to the child, even if it is a baby, that it will go to the Child Care Center in the fall, will coexist with other children, will play and will be taken care of by its child care staff. Try to make it understand that you will not be with it. You will go to work, but always, you will come back to get it. This tactic of honesty and explanation should be followed every time the child stays with another person at home or elsewhere, in order to not only facilitate their integration into the Child Care Center, but to also have honest relationships with you, relationships that will help you and accompany you throughout your life.
- Make sure that, at least one week before the start of the school year, you have gradually implemented a daily program, which will fit the schedule that will be followed. The child should sleep relatively early at night, so that it wakes up effortlessly in the morning, is not tired and consequently in a bad mood.
In this context, we would like you to complete the “Getting to know Your Child Questionnaire”, that you can find here, which is going to be an auxiliary tool for the child care staff of the Athens Municipal Crèche, in order to organize, in the best possible way, the adaptation of the child to the Child Care Center and to design the pedagogical actions required.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.