 Separation anxiety is a common phase in a child’s development, often presenting itself during milestones like starting preschool or daycare. As a parent, witnessing your child struggle with separation can be emotionally challenging. However, there are several strategies you can employ to make this transition smoother for both you and your child. Here are some practical tips to help navigate through separation anxiety:
1. Gradual Transitions Ease your child into the idea of separation by introducing short periods of time away. Start with brief intervals and gradually extend them as your child becomes more comfortable. This helps build their confidence and trust that you will return. 2. Establish Consistent Routines Children thrive on routines and predictability. Create a consistent drop-off routine with specific rituals, such as a special goodbye hug or a comforting phrase. This establishes a sense of security and makes transitions more manageable. 3. Familiarity Breeds Comfort Introduce your child to their new environment or caregiver gradually. Spend time together in the new setting, allowing them to explore and become familiar with the surroundings. Familiarity can significantly reduce anxiety. 4. Open Communication Talk to your child about the upcoming separation in a positive and reassuring manner. Explain where you will be, when you’ll return, and emphasize that separations are a normal part of life. Encourage them to share their feelings with you. 5. Choose a Transitional Object Select a small, comforting item—like a favorite toy or a family photo—that your child can bring along during separations. This transitional object serves as a source of comfort, offering a tangible connection to home. 6. Build a Relationship with Caregivers Foster a positive relationship between your child and their caregivers. Encourage communication between you, the caregivers, and your child to create a supportive network. Knowing that you trust the caregivers can alleviate anxiety. 7. Stay Calm and Consistent Maintain a calm demeanor during drop-offs and pick-ups. Children often mirror their parents’ emotions, so projecting confidence and assurance can help reassure them. Consistency in your reactions builds trust over time. 8. Celebrate Small Achievements Acknowledge and celebrate your child’s successes, no matter how small. Reinforce the positive aspects of separation experiences, emphasizing the enjoyable activities or new friends they encountered during your absence. 9. Be Patient Separation anxiety is a natural phase that varies in duration for each child. Be patient and understanding, providing the emotional support your child needs as they navigate this developmental milestone. 10. Seek Professional Guidance if Needed If separation anxiety persists and significantly impacts your child’s well-being, consider seeking guidance from a pediatrician or child development expert. Professional advice can offer tailored strategies to address your child’s unique needs. Conclusion: Nurturing Independence with Love While separation anxiety can be challenging, it is a normal part of a child’s growth. By approaching it with patience, understanding, and these practical tips, you can help your child build confidence and develop a sense of independence. Remember, every child is unique, and finding what works best for your family may take time. Through consistent support and love, you can guide your child through this phase, fostering their independence and resilience along the way.
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Near the end of the school year, our Pre-K classroom became the foster home for Cooper, a therapy dog in training. We made it official and Heights Cooperative Preschool has adopted Cooper, and she will have a very important job on our team when school starts in September.  Cooper came to us from the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter, where she was taken after being found abandoned in a park with her siblings. Unfortunately, none of her brothers and sisters survived, and Cooper was in need of a lot of cuddles, love, and compassion. Our PreK students were more than happy to deliver an extra large dose of puppy love!
Similar to a service dog, Cooper is working in our school. But she’s also here to be our friend! While a service dog is trained to support an individual person, Cooper is here to help all of us feel better at school. Cooper is still in the process of her therapy dog certification program, and two of our students have volunteered to train with her so that they know her commands and have a strong bond. They are our Cooper Captains and will help the other students learn how to best interact with Cooper. We’ll be keeping things safe and clean in the classroom – Cooper gets regular breaks to potty outside and we wipe her paws so that she does not bring dirt inside. We also practice hand-washing if Cooper happens to give kisses while she’s still in training. Benefits of Therapy Dogs in the Classroom Therapy dogs provide support for students’ growing social and emotional skills. She has already been helping our students feel more confident, motivated, and relaxed! In addition to social and emotional benefits, therapy dogs have been shown to have a positive impact on attendance rates. Research indicates that students who have regular interactions with therapy dogs are more likely to attend school regularly. This could be attributed to the fact that these furry friends provide a sense of comfort and security, making students feel safe and motivated to come to school. Therapy dogs can also improve executive functioning skills. Tasks like planning, organizing, and prioritizing may become easier as students engage with these animals. The presence of therapy dogs has been found to enhance cognitive abilities and increase attention span in students of all ages from elementary school to college! Additionally, reading skills can greatly benefit from the presence of therapy dogs. Many schools have implemented programs where students read aloud to these non-judgmental and attentive companions. This practice not only helps build confidence in struggling readers but also creates a positive association with reading. Lastly, problem-solving skills tend to improve when students interact with therapy dogs. These animals offer unconditional love and support, providing a safe space for students to work through challenges they may be facing, like big changes at home or moving up to a new grade in school.  It’s the last day of Pride month – but it’s never too late to stand up for our values and shout out what makes us great! At Heights Cooperative, we believe that diversity makes us stronger and that celebrating love and self-expression is a year-round activity.
Diversity in Books Starting with Circle Time in our classrooms, we introduce different types of people, families, and cultures with books from diverse authors and communities. At Heights we make sure to talk about all different kinds of stories! Children are naturally curious about their visible differences like skin color, clothing, hair, braces, glasses, visible disabilities, etc. It’s also important to talk about the things we can’t see on the surface, like invisible disabilities, family dynamics, and more. Some of our favorites that speak to LGBTQ+ diversity are Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer, Teo’s Tutu by Maryann Jacob Macias, ABC Pride by Louie Stowell and Elly Barnes, Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, and Pink, Blue, and You by Elisa Gravel with Mykaell Blais. In this article for the Buckeye Flame, Mx. Taryn says, “It’s important to have books where the LGBTQ story isn’t the entire focus. Why can’t there just be a book where two dads pick their kid up, or you’re at a birthday party with two moms? It just needs to be normalized, kids need to see that as much as they see heterosexual examples.” On this note, we love books like Federico and All His Families by Mili Hernandez, Cookies and Cake & the Families We Make by Jennifer L. Egan, Gabrielle’s Gift by Lerone Landis, and Miss Molly Learns Responsibility by Kathleen S. Pero. And we also want to shout out the book Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder – which is about body diversity including size and ability, but can easily incorporate education about gender expression in different bodies too. Every Family is Different At Heights, you might have noticed a few changes to the words we use to describe family members. Not every student has one mom and one dad, so we talk about people’s grown-ups! This covers so much more than LGBTQ+ families too – if a student lives with an aunt or uncle, grandparent, or other adult, we want their families to be recognized just as much as students who live with mom and dad. The assumption that everyone has a mom and dad, and that they are happily married, isn’t true for many people, so we celebrate all kinds of families and encourage our students to appreciate their own unique family structure. This includes friends of the family and non-related aunties and uncles too! Maybe this summer, you could invite all of your family (blood related and not!) to share in celebration of everything you’ve accomplished and built together. Kids Understand and Celebrate Differences! It’s so beautiful to see the ways that our students learn about and appreciate the differences between themselves and their friends. Whether that means using different pronouns, recognizing cultural and racial differences, or finding ways to accommodate and include disabled friends, at Heights we are all about celebrating the things that make us different and bring us together! Photo by Alex Jackman on Unsplash Kari BurchDr. Kari is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Transformational Parenting Coach. She loves following her heart and helping others do the same, especially when it comes to changing the way we parent the next generation of leaders and learners.  When you get down to brass tacks, small children do not yet have enough language and verbalization skills to let us know exactly what they want or need. So, when they are having a hard time, sometimes what we see are “behaviors” like tantrums and acting out.
What if instead of seeing “behaviors” that need to be corrected, we try to get to the bottom of what’s going on for the child? How to Look Under the Surface Consider an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is the behavior you see (maybe a behavior like crying, biting, hitting, or saying ‘no’). But underneath the tip of that iceberg are the causal factors. Beneath the waterline, we find all the reasons WHY the behavior may be occurring. It could be many things such as:
Underlying any behavior could be one, or a combination, of the above factors! So, instead of only correcting behaviors or explaining WHY they can’t do something - explore underlying needs that may be present that you can address. In other words, don’t just look at the tip of the iceberg, look beneath the surface too! Simple Ways to Connect and Communicate We will address more communication strategies in a future blog, but here’s a simple starter for when a behavior is occurring: the AVR. (Acknowledge - Validate - Reassure).
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