You will notice a shift in this blog. I am on sabbatical for a while and travelling to Alaska from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My intention is to relate my new Alaskan experiences to my life as an early childhood educator.

How does a child relate to time?

Day one has been a travel day. This is a new experience in distant and time. I have lost all sense of time traveling through time zones, sleep deprived. Young children have no concept of time. Yesterday, today and tomorrow have no meaning for young children other than it is not “right now”. It is common for many parents of preschoolers to withhold any travel, birthday or special event information from their children. Often information spilled too soon for the young child can cause stress for all parties involved! When no sense of time is involved, the nagging of, ”is it time” and “are we there yet” and at this time of year, waiting for Santa can be an exercise in frustration for parents.

Which leads me to the practice of preparing your young child for a known upcoming change. Can you prepare and reassure your child ahead of time? I will answer this by stating that I have known about this trip for several months and yet I am a bundle of nerves about the unknown.  Am I prepared, yes, have I been reassured, yes, am I excited, yes, do I still have fears, a resounding, yes! I am an adult I can do my own research, dig into my knowledge of change, and manage my stress after years of practice.  I have empathy for the young child whose life is full of the unknown with no sense of time.

Some children handle change with what looks to be ease. We all have different constitutions and capacities for processing what is happening.  Involve young children in any preparations that are age appropriate at the time when you think your child can handle the news. For some children more lead time will help, with others it will not help. Remember you know best how your child will react.