One of the number one reasons parents get their young children started at daycare/preschool is socialization. They also want their kids to be able to make friends and socialize with others outside of their homes; but mainly they want their little ones to learn socially acceptable behavior in the form of good communication skills, sharing, taking turns, emotional regulation, conflicts, etc. It’s definitely important that children socialize and learn many different social skills, but before we think of socialization, I believe we should seek something completely different for our kids first. What children need is a true sense of belonging.

When the new school year starts I see a lot of toddler parents sharing their anxiety all over social media. They all show a lot of worries and not so much excitement about their child entering school, and that mostly has to do with the transition phase, and how it affects their child. I have seen that a lot of parents try to calm their minds by telling themselves that everything is ok and even though their child cries and struggles, they’ll get used to the new situation. It’s normalized that there’s lots of big feelings and anxiety involved. And I couldn’t agree less.