Hello Families,
What a pleasure it has been to see you all in the building again this week. We covered a lot of information and I am sharing some of it again here for anyone who was not able to attend Parent Orientation or who may just benefit from a reiteration of some of these new concepts. I hope this information about our separation process is helpful to you.
Separation is the process by which we help children successfully transfer trust from their family and home to their teachers and classroom in order to come to school. Our process of separation is as thoughtfully designed and considered as it is individualized and deeply personal.
Each child and family unit brings their personalities and styles with them. Your experience of separation may look a lot like someone else's, or it may look very different. We expect and welcome these variations and see them as the heart of what we do here. We meet each child and family where they are and consider the best way to help them create a solid foundation upon which all of their future educational experiences can rest. Park West kids learn very early on that school is a place for them: a place where they matter, where their feelings matter, and where their ideas are taken seriously.
By investing time now and working with teachers through separation, your children will come to think of school as a place where they can take appropriate risks, try new ideas, express themselves fully, and be immersed in the delights of play!
For many children this will be their first experience leaving home and their parents to spend time with other adults and children. This is a really big deal for them and for you too, and we get that.
Even for returning students, the start of a new school year—maybe a new classroom, new children, or teachers—can take some getting used to. Our separation process is designed for them too.
So what does all this look like in action? Well, it actually started with your Child Development Form. Teachers and I learned about your identities, your values and your family’s interests, how your child has grown and developed in their early years and what interests and delights them. I sincerely thank you for sharing this information with us.
The next step in separation is your relationship with teachers. They are excited to begin their relationship with you and for you to begin your relationships with each other. When you feel comfortable and connected at school, this will be your child’s first signal that they too can be comfortable and connected at school. Your relationship with teachers is a message to your children that school is a safe place and teachers are friends with whom it is safe to connect.
Classroom visits are the next layer in separation. For returning students, you’ll visit with a small group of other children and parents in your classroom to explore the space, spend time with teachers and connect with each other. For new families, you will visit the classroom with just you, your child, and your teachers. This first visit in a quiet and uncrowded classroom gives children a glimpse into what school may be like. They may identify an area of the classroom or a toy or activity that interests them. This is often the first thing that children return to on their first day of school.
The visit is also an opportunity for teachers to make an early connection with your child. This may mean playing a game together, answering questions, or showing them around the space. It may also just mean being nearby while you and your child explore. Please know that there is no wrong way for your child to experience their visits and first days of school. There is no good or bad way for a child to react to separation–children have many ways of showing us how they feel, and we welcome them all.
After visits we begin building up to our full regular class schedules. First we invite children to attend school with ½ their class allowing more time and space for teachers to help connect with children about the routines and expectations of school and begin getting to know them even better. After these smaller class experiences, children will begin attending with their full group and regular class schedules.
During separation, teachers will notice when it is the right time for you to begin leaving your child in the classroom for some amount of time. These short comings and goings begin to build up trust and comfort in the child and school becomes a place that is reliable and supportive to them. We build upon this with longer and longer periods of separation until the time when your child is ready to be at school without a parent or caregiver present.
Park West Coop has been engaging in, studying, and reflecting on our practice for over 50 years and we know that our approach to separation is an effective way to help children have a healthy and age-appropriate opportunity to adjust to school life.
Thank you for your partnership and for entrusting us with your children. We are honored to have you in the Park West community.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Melissa