My two-year-old is about to move to a room with older kids at her daycare. How can I support her developing social skills? And what should I watch for to make sure she’s thriving socially?
Katy Smith
Katy is a parent educator and early childhood teacher. She has spent thirty years in classrooms, big and small, as a parent educator, supporting parents in the journey of raising their children. She is also the 2011 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Katy Smith: There’s a lot of noise and worry out there about the importance of socialization and the struggles some kids might have, especially over the past couple of years. What I’d ask is for you to step back, unplug from that noise for a minute and trust your child and your choices. In this case, she’s two years old. Two-year-olds are wildly curious about the world they live in and the people in it. She’s moving to another daycare room that’s designed for her. Trust her environment. Trust her caregivers. When kids enter a new space, some will take it all in for months and then boom, they engage with everything. Other kids enter a space right away as if it were made just for them. I wouldn’t worry too much about your child’s socialization skills as she transitions. She will find her way. So just step back and watch the magic happen. Enjoy it. Trust her.
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