Introducing Your Child To Our School

How We Introduce Children to OFS

At OFS, a young child’s relationships with their caregivers, parents and teachers, are sacred and essential for the well-being of the child. Secure attachment is fostered through continuity of care and trusting relationships.

In order to create a strong foundation to the development of the relationships between the caregivers-parents, children, teachers and the school, the OFS developed some strategies to ease the transition from home to school, knowing that this transition is one of the major separations a young child will experience with their primary caregiver-parent.

The book “Bambini,” states that helping a child and their family transition into a center is also an important focus in Reggio. As a matter of fact, educators in Italy use the word “Inserimento” to describe that type of transition.

“Inserimento (which can be roughly translated as “settling in” or “period of transition and adjustment”) is our term for the strategy of beginning relationships and communication among adults and children when the child is entering an infant-toddler center or a preschool program for the first time. The Italian concept of inserimento indicates the initial delicate process of the child’s adjustment into the new community.”

- Chiara Bove, Bambini

Strategies used for introducing children to OFS:

Everything starts with the Open House in January. Families are invited to come to the school to see the environment, to meet with the teachers, to hear about our philosophy and the approaches that inspire us, and to see some of the documentation work through short videos.

Once it is established that there is a space available for the child, the parents are invited to come in for an observation to see the environment during school time and to observe the interactions between the teachers and the children.

At this time, the parents can consider whether the environment and the philosophy of the school is a good match for their child. Once the child has been accepted, the parents will receive the school’s handbook and registration forms for completion. Before the child starts school, families will receive a postcard in the mail with their teacher’s photo, inviting them to visit the school. The teacher will also contact the family to schedule a home-visit.

Before school starts, the child and their parents are invited to spend time in the classroom and meet their teacher. During orientation, the teachers are focused on the child and the program director is around to answer parents’ questions and concerns. That day, the child also receives a book that pictorially describes the “routine” of the day. The child will be able to bring their book home to borrow for a few weeks. During the first days of school, we want parents to be immediately reachable if needed.

For the infants/toddlers, the parent is invited to come spend the day so the young child can safely explore the environment. For infants, toddlers and twos, the first day of school is staggered so children can have more individual attention from the teacher.