All the parents have come and gone, and little Johnny is still waiting. If you want to stop parents picking up late at preschool, follow this tried & true trick so it never happens again!
In a daycare setting there can be a number of reasons why a parent would be late to pick up their child: working late, needed to stop at the store, heavy traffic… but with a preschool class there is a definite start time and a definite end time. There is no reason why a parent should be late to pickup their child after preschool class.
How The Meet & Greet Sets Up The School Year To Eliminate Preschool Late Pickups
About two weeks before classes start, hold a Meet & Greet at your home. At this event, the children will hang out with the preschool teacher while you meet with the parents in another room to go over your policies and procedures—especially the pick up and drop off procedures.
Walk them through the exact steps they will follow each time they drop off and pick up their children. Let them know that at the end of the class time you will have all the children line up outside and then they will each go home with their parent or caregiver. Any child who is not picked up at that time will wait outside with you for the person who is supposed to pick them up.
How Peer Pressure Keeps Parents From Picking Up Their Child Late
When school starts, follow the procedure you taught the parents at the Meet & Greet. If there are any parents who arrive late, they will see their child waiting alone outside with you, and their embarrassment will lessen the chances of that ever happening again.
The Conversation To Have With A Chronically Late Parent
If a parent is chronically late to pick up their preschooler, it is time to have a conversation with them. Explain to them that your preschool teacher needs to be able to leave on time. She has a family too and needs to be able to pick up her child from school after all the preschool children are picked up and their tardiness is making her late to pick up her child. By getting your teacher’s family involved you are making the parent realize that their actions are not only inconveniencing the teacher, but they are inconveniencing the teacher’s family as well.
Then ask them “Is there any reason why you are not able to pick up Johnny at pick up time?” Usually the parent will answer no. Then you will need to remind them that class ends at 11:30 and they are expected to arrive on time.
If the parent answers with something like, “Yes, there is. I pickup Susie at the elementary school and by the time I get her I am rushing to get here on time,” then say to them, “I can see the schedule is a little bit difficult for you. Would you pick up Johnny first, then you can pick up Susie?” It’s possible the parent might not have thought of that solution.
Always seek to be a problem solver and help those parents who pick up their kids late from preschool.
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