The Psychologist's Child/Gently Supporting Children to Transition into School or Preschool

  • $47.99 or 2 monthly payments of $24

Gently Supporting Children to Transition into School or Preschool

  • Course
  • 36 Lessons

Do you have a child who will be starting school preschool? Join now, and each week you will receive bite-sized actionable content. This course contains all the tools and information you need to make this transition as successful as possible for you and your child.

You will leave with actionable strategies including:

  • Tools to prepare your little one for childcare or education, including:
    • What books I recommend.
    • How to incorporate themes of separation, connection, worries, and trying new things into conversations, stories and play with your child.
  • Tools to nurture a relationship between your child and their new caregiver.
  • Ideas that will help your child feel connected to you while apart.
  • I will walk you through exactly how to navigate "the goodbye"

What You Will Get

Bite-sized actionable content delivered to you on a need-to-know basis to help you and your child prepare for starting school or preschool.

Lessons include a short videos (never longer than 15 mins time commitment per week) and some tips and tools to try THAT WEEK as you prepare your child for what's ahead. These modules have been kept short because I know as parents we have zero time.

We will cover:

  • Understanding what might make starting school trickier for your little one.

  • Contacting the school to request a gentle start for your child (email template).

  • A Gradual Transition.

  • The Goodbye.

  • Strategies to support your child:

    • Making the unknown known to reduce worries.

    • Matchmaking a relationship with the new teacher.

    • Bridging the connection to you while apart.

    • Tools your child can use to regulate themselves.

    • Books to read with your child.

    • Games to play with your child.

And more!

BONUS CONTENT

When worries show up.

  • What to do if your child says "I don't want to go!"

  • I answer your most frequently asked troubleshooting questions including

    • What if my child cries inconsolably at the goodbye?

    • How long should we persist if the transition is tricky?

    • How to advocate for my child without being disrespectful to the setting.

This course will empower you to understand...


  • Why attachment makes separations tricky for little ones and how best to support them when separation anxiety presents.

  • Why separations are particularly challenging for some little ones (and not others) and why that is absolutely not your fault.

  • Why a gradual transition into education is beneficial, and what I recommend as best practice.


I am so glad I purchased this course. I cannot tell you how validating and reassuring it was to hear that my instincts for what I thought my son would need are right and worth advocating for. I really appreciate the personal touch with accounts of your own son. I'm sitting here almost crying actually! Feeling so much more empowered and informed going into this transition. 

So thorough. Built an understanding of attachment theory in an applied way, as well as giving so many useful strategies to use. I am a Psychologist too and still gained so much from this course! It increased my understanding of attachment in very practical terms, provided a model and strategies to manage transitions to new care arrangements, and left me feeling so much more confident in managing separations. Thank you.

Includes two bonus topics:

Working through some of the key challenges that I support families with.

  1. What I recommend if your child "doesn't want to go!" (A 15 minute video from my Worries Webinar")
  2. I answer your worries and concerns including:
    • What if my child is inconsolable at the goodbye?
    • My child settled well initially but is now reluctant to go. Help!
    • How to make suggestions to the setting without seeming disrespectful.
    • How long should we persist if it is tricky in the beginning?

I am ready to invest


I want the tools to help transition my child into school or childcare with confidence.

Frequently asked questions

What age child will this be relevant for?

This course was created with parents and educators of children aged 2 months to 8 years in mind. 

However, parents may choose to use the strategies discussed with younger toddlers and older children depending on their individual needs.

What qualifies you to speak to this topic?

I have a Doctorate in Child, Adolescent and Educational Psychology and have worked as an Educational Psychologist within daycares, preschools and primary schools for many years.

This course pulls together my clinical experience with my personal experience of parenting a child who has always found separations tricky.

These are the strategies I have personally used to successfully support my son to transition into preschool.

What is the time committment?

Minimal. Around 15 mins per week. I have designed this course to be delivered to you in bite-sized actionable chunks! Each week you can access a short audio, a short video (no longer than 15 mins) and/or some key ideas to work through with your child ahead of their transition.

What format does the course take?

 It consists of audio and video lessons, written information, quizzes, and links to helpful websites, podcasts and online videos. 

I live in another part of the world. Will this course be relevant for my child?

Absolutely. This approach is not tied to any one education system and will be relevant to families living all over the world.

Is this guide relevant for all forms of childcare?

Yes. 

This guide can be used for any childcare setting as well as 
  • nannys
  • sitters
  • care from a family member or family friend 
  • home based childcare centers 
  • and more formal education such as Preschool, Kindergarten, PreK, Nursery school etc.

My child already started and things aren't going well. Will this help?

Whilst this course is designed to support children ahead of a transition into school, it aboslutely can be used to support your child to transition to a new class, teacher, setting etc. Equally, the model can be "worked backwards" to think of ways to support a child who is having a tricky time.

Dr Kimberley Bennett

BA, PsyD


PsyD. Child, Adolescent and Educational Psychology

Parenting young children is tricky. I can help.

The Psychologist's Child was created to support other families to feel confident in their decision to parent from a place of connection, to nurture their relationship with their child, to nourish their child's neurodevelopment while navigating the challenges of infancy and early childhood. I want to share what I have learned with you.