Preparing Your Child to Stay Home Alone

Leaving your child home alone for the first time can be quite daunting for parents, but there are lots of things that you can do to help prepare your child so that everything runs smoothly. First of all, you’ll need to assess whether you think your child is actually mature enough to handle being left alone. Think about whether or not they are good at solving problems and how they might manage a difficult situation. With careful planning and plenty of rules to follow, both parent and child can feel more confident about this new experience. Here are some tips from a prep school in London.

• Chat to your child beforehand and find out how they’re feeling about being left home alone. Ask them if there’s anything they’re worried about and if there is, try to put their mind at ease.
• · Make sure your child has several contact telephone numbers that they can call if there’s an emergency. Of course, one should be yours but if you aren’t able to take a call, there should be a couple of other options, like a neighbour or someone else that your child trusts.
• · Talk to your child about what they might get up to whilst you are out and make sure they have everything that they need. If they would like to play some video games, make sure the TV is set up for them so that they don’t end up breaking anything.
• · Check with your child that they know how to use the kitchen equipment, like the microwave, toaster or kettle, just in case they would like to make a snack or a hot drink. If you are worried, it would be wise to prepare the food before you go so that they don’t have to.
• · Teach your child about internet safety and some of the dangers that might be out there if they don’t use their technology sensibly. They should also be told not to share with anyone online that they are home alone.

*Collaborative Post