Preparing My Toddler and Myself for Preschool in Bangkok

My son is almost two and started preschool this week. I’m sitting here on day 3 still taking it all in. It might not seem like a big deal to send your own kid to school because every kid does it. It’s so normal. It’s so expected.

But one thought has been hitting me in waves repeatedly over the last year or so as I began to think more about when and where my son would go to preschool: This will be my son’s first official step into the real world — starting preschool isn’t something I can take back so I better be sure it’s something we are both ready for. 

It’s a bit scary how quickly planning for my son’s preschool and future education crept into my life very shortly after his first birthday. He went from being a baby who needed only food, sleep and simple play to a little child who needed some preparation for the real world as his own curiosity for it started to grow. Personally, I knew that I didn’t want to just show up on the first day of preschool without having done some preparation for him and myself too. 

Selecting a preschool

I started by doing tours of a few preschools close to home and selecting one that made sense to me in terms of location, budget and education philosophy (Montessori, play-based, Reggio Emilia, Early Years Foundation Stage etc). And then after my tours I spoke to a few friends and contacts whose kids attend my selected list of preschools to get more information. I also spoke to friends and contacts who are international school teachers in Bangkok to get their thoughts about each of the preschools and how well they prepare kids for a bigger international school. With all this information and my own feelings about each school, I was able to finally select one.

It might sound a bit ridiculous that I began planning so far in advance for a 1-year old and I used to think the same way when I would hear about others planning like this for their children. But having a long-term education view and doing so much research and planning for my son really helped narrow down which preschool made the most sense in the end.

Preparing for preschool

A lot of the preschools / schools in Bangkok run morning playgroups for children aged 1-3 years old (an adult is required to attend with the child), which usually last 2-3 hours. Once my son was about 14 months I decided to try one of the playgroups and ended up really liking it. So we went on average once a week for a school-based playgroup. I would recommend doing some research finding one that suits you. Read my post about playgroups here for some more info.

I think it was worth my time and money (playgroups can cost between 400 – 600 baht per session) to go because playgroup gave my son exposure to a school setting and the typical routines of a school such as circle time, eating a snack at a table, washing hands, waiting for your turn to play with toys etc. During playgroup there is a leader/teacher who leads all the activities such as music, arts and crafts and story time. By attending once a week over a long period of time (8-9 months) my son got really used to the idea of being in a classroom-like setting, listening to a teacher, and doing activities. This really helped reduce my stress and anxiety about sending him to preschool and leaving him alone on his very first day.

Preschool first day jitters

For the month leading up to my son’s first day of preschool I got anxious whenever the thought of dropping him off crossed my mind. A major part of that anxiety was just the idea that my little boy who is used to being with his trusted entourage, which includes his parents, grandparents and nanny, will suddenly be “alone”.

I think it’s very natural to get caught up in these kinds of thoughts but the truth is my son is not “alone”. He’s going to preschool where the teachers and staff work really hard to make sure he’s not upset (and it’s okay if he is for a few days or weeks!) and slowly win his trust to become a part of his extended trusted entourage.

For the first two days of preschool, both my husband and I went to drop off my son and we went early so he could have plenty of free play time and get used to his new surroundings. When it was time for us to go, we said bye and then the teacher distracted him while we left. I think it’s a given that every child will be upset and maybe even cry on the first few days or weeks of preschool — it’s only natural. On the third day, I didn’t go inside and dropped my son with his teacher right at the front of school and said bye and he was fine.

More advice from experienced teachers and parents 

I was given three pieces of really good advice from friends who are also parents and teaches for having a successful transition to preschool:

1. Don’t linger at school drop-off — it makes settling in for kids much harder because they then expect parents to be in school with them and when they don’t see the parents they get even more upset. So the quicker they get used to being dropped off, the better it is for everyone.
2. Avoid dramatic and long goodbyes at drop-off and dramatic hugs etc. at pick up — if parents don’t make a big deal out of these routines in a child’s day, they won’t make it a big deal either.
3. Be prepared for a delayed reaction/realisation/tantrums from the child about going to preschool — the first few days and weeks can be a “honeymoon” period where it’s exciting and the child may not have fully understood and absorbed the fact that going to school means leaving behind family for a few hours per day. So what can happen is after a few weeks of preschool the child starts throwing tantrums and getting extra upset about going to school — don’t worry just push through with the normal routine and make going to school a positive, happy experience and the child will begin to understand this too.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any other tips and tricks and wisdom to share, please comment below.