7 questions about the kindergarten route

1. should four or five-year-olds really be walking on their own?

It is said that the journey to school is part of a school-age child's world of experience and learning. Which already includes kindergarten children. On the way to kindergarten, friendships are made, important things are discussed and snails are saved from certain death by being run over. But the point at which you can let your child manage the journey there and back alone depends on various factors. These include a child's emotional and cognitive maturity, the length of the journey and the conditions.

The shortest route is not always the best.

It makes a difference whether your daughter has to walk through a quiet neighbourhood or along a busy street. It is definitely worth practising the route before your child starts kindergarten. Perhaps this practice can be used as an opportunity to spend 1:1 time together with the child and discuss upcoming dreams or worries for the start of kindergarten.

The shortest route is not always the best and the more fixed rules there are, i.e. traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, etc., the better. It is advisable to equip your child with other items that can prevent an accident, such as light reflectors on clothing or a rucksack.

2. how is the route practised in kindergarten?

Even in the first few weeks, the kindergarten teachers discuss the most important traffic rules in class, but one lunchtime your son or daughter will announce in awe: «Daddy, the policeman is coming tomorrow!» And he or she will then practise the «wait, look, wait, run» instruction with the children in road traffic.

«If a vehicle approaches the children from the right or left, we instruct them to wait at the side of the road until the bike stops,» says Marc Besson from the Zurich cantonal police. The instruction is based on the fact that small children cannot reliably judge the speed or distance of an approaching vehicle.

If parents do not behave correctly in traffic, children copy this behaviour.

However, Marc Besson also appeals to parents as the most important caregivers and role models for children. If parents do not behave correctly, the undesirable behaviour will be imitated by the children. «But even drivers are usually unaware of the important role they play in connection with school and kindergarten children.»

The motto of the traffic campaign by TCS, the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) and the police, «Bike stops, child goes», is not adhered to by many drivers. «Many don't realise that a child of that age has no chance of correctly judging the speed or distance of a car,» continues Besson. In addition, many drivers make the mistake of waving to the child at the pedestrian crossing. The child then follows the adult's kind request and crosses the zebra crossing without looking again at the oncoming lane.

3. what to do if the child does not want to walk alone?

If a child does not want to walk to nursery or home alone, parents should talk to the child about it. Perhaps they are being teased on the way or something seems unpleasant. In any case, patience is the order of the day, because children are small and starting kindergarten is a major adjustment in itself. Perhaps a friend will be found with whom the child feels more secure, or the child will only be accompanied for a short distance and will walk more of the way alone from week to week.

4 And what if the Chindsgi route seems unreasonable?

School routes in Switzerland are on average less than 1.5 kilometres long, and over 40 percent are even shorter than 400 metres. In its fact sheet, the organisation Fussverkehr Schweiz states that a kindergarten route of up to 500 metres is reasonable, and up to one kilometre under certain circumstances. If the route is unreasonable, the school is obliged to organise a school bus or pedibus (a group of children is led by a parent). In the case of busy roads and junctions, pilot services or similar are used. Parent taxis, i.e. mothers or fathers who drive their children to school or kindergarten, are not a solution.

Do not exhort your child to hurry. It usually has a counterproductive effect.

Fabian Grolimund, psychologist

5 Not only traffic, but also conflicts with other children are an issue on the way to kindergarten. How should parents react?

The kindergarten path and the playground are places for social experiences. Disagreements are part of this. However, if a child regularly gets into trouble, is bullied or cannot resolve the conflict alone, parents can provide support: It may help to talk to the peers involved and their parents. Or the parents can seek dialogue with the teacher. A child has the right to feel safe on the way to and from school. Demand this right.

6. the child dawdles on the way to kindergarten and is late for class. What should you do?

There are children who are resistant to any kind of rushing. This is normal and age-appropriate, as children have no concept of abstract notions of time. These only develop with everyday experiences and cognitive maturation. Psychologist Fabian Grolimund therefore advises parents of dawdling children to consistently refrain from admonitions such as «Hurry up!». He recommends not hurrying, as it usually has a counterproductive effect.

More structure could help: pick out the clothes in the evening and lay them out in a course in the morning. Perhaps there is a bell on the kindergarten route that should always ring at the same time? Or you can invent a kindergarten route together with your child to get them from one point to another in a playful way. If nothing else works, the child can also feel what they are missing if they dawdle. Then there may not be enough time to go to the playground or something similar.

7 What are scooters and the like doing on the path?

In kindergarten: nothing at all! «Young children are often travelling far too fast on their bikes or scooters, they can't yet combine everything and react at the same time,» says police officer Marc Besson. Due to their development, children don't realise what is dangerous until they are about six years old. And in traffic, it's better to be overly cautious.