If you have multiple little ones close in age, have you ever thought about enrolling them together at one of the best preschools in NYC? Well, an overwhelming amount of parents have had nothing but positive things to say about sending their little ones to preschool together! Having a sibling in the classroom can help little ones feel a bit more comfortable trying new things. While it’s important to encourage them to make friends with the other little ones in their class to strengthen their social emotional learning, siblings at preschool can be a great source of support, especially if one of them has a more difficult time adjusting than the other. The beauty of Montessori schools is the encouragement of individual exploration and play. If your little ones are entering the same Montessori school, having the support of someone they know and love can help them feel confident doing new things for the first time at one of the best preschools in NYC.
I asked my mom if she had put my younger sister in the same preschool class with me, to which she responded “I didn’t but I wish I did because that would have helped her a lot. She did not like going and you loved it.” Being only 16 months apart, my sister and I were in an elementary school program from kindergarten through fifth grade, where 2 grades were combined in one classroom (kindergarten with first grade, second grade with third grade, and so on). Through this program, every other year we were in the same class. I remember having friends in my own grade and my sister’s, and always looking forward to the years we would be in the same class together.
At Playgarden Prep, one of the best preschools in NYC, we have so many families that come through our programs, from enrichment classes to preschool and pre-k. Seeing the support older siblings naturally and willingly give to their younger siblings is incredibly heartwarming. However, as anyone who has siblings knows, little ones are not always going to get along.
If your little ones are struggling to get along, you may be hesitant to place them in a class together. However, working on ways to solve problems and learning how to work together is a social emotional learning skill that can be practiced at home and carried with them into the classroom. One of the benefits of siblings is the ability to work on conflict resolution at home. Here are some tips:
- Encourage working the problems out for themselves and find resolutions with them, not for them. When they get in the classroom at one of the best preschools in NYC, you will not be there to find solutions for them, so teaching them how to work it out themselves gives them the social emotional learning tools to resolve issues in the classroom.
- Sometimes space away from each other can help resolve issues on their own, or at the very least give them time to cool down and work it out a little later. In the classroom, this can look like finding new activities to do separately and coming back to play together when they are ready.
If you’re new to helping with this kind of social emotional learning, here’s an example:
- Say your little ones are fighting over the same toy – encourage them to share it, and if they refuse to play with it together, or find that too challenging, put the toy away and invite them to find something else to do together or separately. I have found, given these options, they lean into sharing!
Working through conflict with siblings is great practice for dealing with conflict in day-to-day life, whether this social emotional learning starts at home or at one of the best preschools in NYC. Mastering how to listen to and respect each other are valuable skills that will serve them positively as they get older and work with others beyond the best preschools in NYC!
