KINDERGARTEN READINESS
Helping families feel confident and prepared for the exciting transition to kindergarten.
WHAT
MATTERS MOST?
Kindergarten readiness means your child can participate in routines, follow
simple directions, and begin building independence — not reading perfectly or
sitting still all day.
Your Child’s First Daycare
A parent guide to starting daycare with calm confidence
Starting daycare is one of the first big transitions for both a child and a parent. Children take their cues from us — the calmer and more confident you are, the safer your child will feel. This guide walks you through how to prepare, what to expect, and how to support both of you through the adjustment.
The core idea: smooth transitions are built before the first day, not on it. Preparation at home shapes how your child experiences the new environment.
Before the first day — preparing together
• Visit the daycare beforehand. A walk-through, a meeting with the educator, or even a stop at the gate helps your child connect a face and a place to the word “daycare.”
• Talk about it positively and matter-of-factly. “You will play, eat snack, take a nap, and then I will come back.” Predictability reduces anxiety.
• Read books about daycare or starting school. Stories give children a script for what is coming and a way to ask questions.
• Shift sleep and meal times in the week before. Align bedtime, wake-up, and nap to the daycare’s schedule so the body is already prepared.
• Practice short separations. Leave your child with a trusted family member or friend for a couple of hours. Predictable returns build trust.
• Label everything. Clothes, bottles, blankets, shoes. It saves the educators time and prevents lost-item stress.
• Pack a comfort item if allowed. A small blanket, soft toy, or family photo eases the day for many children.
About the integration period
Most Quebec daycares offer a progressive integration over several days — short visits with you present, then short stays alone, gradually building to a full day. This is standard practice and supports secure attachment. Plan time off accordingly, and follow the pace your educator recommends. A slower integration almost always produces a calmer, more confident child.
The daily drop-off — do’s and don’ts
DO
✓ Establish a short goodbye ritual: one hug, one kiss, one wave at the window. Repeat it every day.
✓ Hand your child to the educator with a smile and clear words: “Have a great day. I will be back after snack.”
✓ Keep the goodbye brief — about 30 seconds. Long goodbyes increase distress.
✓ Trust the educator to take over. They are trained for this moment.
✓ Project calm even if you feel emotional. Save the tears for the parking lot.
✓ Always say goodbye before you leave — even on the hardest days.
DON’T
✗ Sneak out when your child is distracted. It breaks trust and makes future drop-offs harder.
✗ Linger, peek through the window, or return after saying goodbye.
✗ Negotiate, beg, or bribe to stop the crying. It teaches escalation.
✗ Show your own anxiety. Your child will read it as a sign that daycare is unsafe.
✗ Promise something that depends on a behaviour (“if you don’t cry, I’ll bring a treat”).
✗ Drag out the goodbye to ease your own feelings.
What is normal in the first weeks
• Tears at drop-off. Almost universal. Most children settle within minutes of you leaving.
• Increased clinginess at home. Your child reconnects with you after a long day apart. Extra cuddles are not a step backward.
• Disrupted sleep or appetite. New routines and stimulation are tiring. Expect a temporary adjustment.
• Minor regression. Toileting accidents, baby talk, or wanting to be carried more often are common and usually resolve within a few weeks.
• More frequent illness. A first daycare year often brings a string of colds. This is the immune system learning.
• Stronger emotions in the evening. Children often hold it together all day and release it at home. This is a sign of trust, not bad behaviour.
Supporting yourself
• Acknowledge your own feelings. Guilt, sadness, and relief can all coexist. They do not mean you made the wrong choice.
• Trust your decision. Quality daycare supports social, emotional, and cognitive development. Your child is gaining something, not losing you.
• Build a relationship with the educator. Share what you know about your child — sleep cues, comfort strategies, words they use. This is a partnership.
• Resist comparison. Every child adjusts on their own timeline. Some settle in days, others take weeks. Both are normal.
• Plan a soft return after drop-off. A coffee, a short walk, or a moment to breathe before your day begins. The hardest part is often the first ten minutes.
When to reach out to your educator
A short, calm conversation with the educator solves most concerns. Reach out if you notice:
• Distress that is not easing after four to six weeks of consistent attendance.
• Significant regression that is worsening rather than improving.
• Your child consistently refusing to go in, or showing fear (not just sadness) at drop-off.
• Physical complaints (stomach aches, headaches) that map to daycare days.
• Anything that does not feel right — your instincts matter, and educators expect open communication.
Based on early childhood education best practices in attachment, transition, and family–educator partnership. This guide is general information and does not replace personalized advice from your daycare team.
Raising Adventurous Eaters
A parent's guide to picky eating — rooted in occupational therapy
You're Not Alone — and You're Not Failing.
If your child treats a green bean like it personally offended them, welcome to the club. Most caregivers have lived through the plate inspection, the dramatic gagging, the sudden "I don't like that anymore" about a food they happily ate last Tuesday.
Here's the thing: picky eating is often completely normal, and occupational therapists have brilliant, pressure-free strategies to help kids build food tolerance — one tiny, stress-free step at a time.
Why Is My Child So Picky?
Food pickiness in young children is rarely about stubbornness. More often, it's rooted in sensory sensitivity — how a food feels, smells, looks, or sounds when chewed can be genuinely overwhelming for some children. Their nervous system is still learning to process all of that information.
Children with food aversions often need many small, pressure-free exposures to a new food before they'll eat it. The goal isn't to force a bite — it's to make the food feel familiar and safe. That takes time, and that's okay.
Your Mini OT Crash Course
Before we get to the step-by-step approach, here are the big ideas that occupational therapists use to help kids expand what they'll eat:
Food Chaining
Start with what your child loves and slowly bridge toward something new. Loves plain pasta? Try pasta with a little butter and parmesan. Then pasta with a tiny whisper of zucchini in the sauce. Baby steps, every time — each small change is a win.
Play With Food — Seriously
Let them touch it, smell it, squish it, name it something silly. A child who calls cauliflower "little clouds" is far more likely to eventually eat it than one who was simply told "just try it." Sensory exploration is the very first step toward tasting.
Exposure Before Expectation
Your child needs to see a food 10–15 times before they're even ready to try it. Just having broccoli on the plate — even if it gets completely ignored — is real progress. No pressure, no commentary. Just presence.
Steps to Food Tolerance
A gentle, step-by-step approach developed with occupational therapists for expanding what your child will eat. Find the step your child is comfortable with — and aim for the next one. Each step forward is a real win.
What to expect & how to support your child
Having it on the plate
What it looks like: The food is simply present at the meal, on your child's plate or nearby.
How to support: Serve a very small portion alongside foods they already accept. No expectation to touch or taste — exposure is the goal.
Touching
What it looks like: Your child uses fingers or utensils to make contact with the food.
How to support: Invite them to help set the plate, pass the dish, or use a fork to push the food. Model touching it yourself without pressure.
Smelling
What it looks like: Your child brings the food close enough to smell it.
How to support: Lift the food toward your nose first and describe the smell in neutral terms (warm, sweet, lemony). Invite them to try the same.
Lips / Kiss
What it looks like: The food briefly touches the lips without entering the mouth.
How to support: Suggest a "kiss" of the food. Keep it playful and brief. Spitting it back onto the plate is fully acceptable.
Tongue
What it looks like: Your child places the food on the tongue to feel the texture and taste.
How to support: Encourage a short lick or tap on the tongue. Allow them to remove it right away. Praise the attempt, not the outcome.
Biting without swallowing
What it looks like: Your child bites a piece off, chews briefly, then removes it.
How to support: Offer a napkin or small bowl so they can spit the food out without shame. This step builds familiarity with texture and chewing.
Eating
What it looks like: Your child chews and swallows a bite of the food.
How to support: Start with one small bite. Celebrate quietly. Repeat exposure across many meals before expecting a full portion.
Move at your child's pace — some children spend weeks on a single step, and that's completely normal. Avoid bribing, forcing, or making meals a battle.
Tips for Caregivers
Small habits make a big difference over time.
Repeat, repeat, repeat - Offer the same food many times without comment. It can take 10–15 exposures before a child even considers trying something new. Every sighting counts.
Keep portions tiny - A pea-sized piece is enough to count as a real exposure. Big portions feel overwhelming — tiny ones feel safe.
Eat the same food yourself - Children are wired to imitate. Watching you casually enjoy a cucumber slice is more convincing than any amount of coaxing. Monkey see, monkey (eventually) do.
Stay neutral - Avoid praise like "good job eating" — it adds hidden pressure. Instead try "you tried something new today." Low-key is the way.
Pair new with familiar - Always serve something safe alongside the new food. A familiar favorite on the plate lowers the whole stress temperature of the meal.
Division of responsibility - You decide what's on the table and when. They decide whether and how much to eat. Removing the power struggle removes most of the stress — for everyone.
When to Reach Out for Professional Support
Picky eating is common — but sometimes it goes beyond typical preferences. Talk to your pediatrician or ask for an OT referral if:
• Mealtimes are a regular, significant source of stress for your family
• Your child frequently gags, vomits, or panics around new foods
• Your child's accepted food list is shrinking rather than growing
• They eat fewer than 20 different foods
• Texture, colour, or smell cause extreme distress
A feeding-specialist OT can be a total game-changer. Don't hesitate to ask your pediatrician for a referral — early support makes a real difference.
The goal isn't a child who eats everything — it's a child who feels safe around food. 🌱