Starting nursery at 2 years old

It has been a long time since I have done an update on Bee. Things have just been so hectic, and in all honesty my priorities have changed. But I have been determined to write an update up for a while now! So here it is!

A year ago I was thinking about signing up Bee to nursery’s with a view to her starting when she was 2 and I wrote about it being time to start thinking about nursery.

Then in September I was still hesitant to send her but I was more confident about it and was looking forward to nursery.

It didn’t help that my family were against me sending her to nursery. But what they always seem to forget is that I am the mother. Not them. And I know her better than anyone else. And I felt that nursery may benefit her; if she didn’t like it I could just take her out.

Although I was taking Bee to many toddler groups on almost a daily basis I felt that sending her to nursery for just a few hours of day would be great for both her and myself. I would get a break from a hyper toddler and she would mix with other children. I did a lot of things with Bee but there was only so much I could do at home and she required further stimulation; she would get more exciting experiences from nursery. A nursery has many benefits:

  • Learning social skills. Although I took her to toddler groups she was still reliant on me and wouldn’t really play with the other children.
  • Learning creative skills. I did no plenty with her but things like messy play I avoided as much as I could.
  • Learning to share. With her sister being at school all day there wasn’t much of an opportunity to teach her to share at home.
  • Learn and accept a routine to the day. At home we were pretty chilled out and just took eash day as it came.

So I didn’t tell the family and made preparations to try her at nursery. We looked around a few nursery’s and although I was initially impressed about the outdoor activities of the nursery mentioned in my first post, I didn’t like the actual room the nursery was based in. It just looked cold and bland. So we opted for a nursery that was nearer to us and was smaller, but it had a more homely feel about it.

They accepted her to start January 2015.

What I actually love about the whole process now is that before the child starts, most nurseries do a home visit. The manager of the nursery along with Bee’s key worker came and visited Bee at home and gave her some things to try to help ease her into the idea of nursery.

pre nursery pack

 

Bee was initially shy but then went off to chat to her key worker so they were confident that they would have no problems with her starting. And they were right! On the day she was due to start I think I was more nervous.

I explained to Bee that she was going to go play there while mum came home to do some housework and she wasn’t phased about it at all. Once we arrived I settled her in, told her I was leaving and she was fine with it. I went to collect her early on her first day and found her sitting at the snack table demanding more milk! Apparently she only once asked where I was, and where her dad and sister were and then continued playing.

Since her first day she hasn’t looked back. She looks forward to going every morning and tells me excitedly each day what she did. I initially was only sending her three mornings a week but as she was doing so well we increased it to 4 days. She has just had her nursery ‘report’ and is doing very well.

going to nursery

I am so proud of my little Bee.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.