I can’t believe my first born is heading off to Kindergarten in less than a month – time sure does fly by. She’s so excited to be going to the ‘big” school and has been counting down the weeks until the first day of school. I know she’ll be fine and do great but there is a part of me that wishes she’ll want to stay with mommy and not want to go. But I’m talking about a kid that kicked me out of the room when she took her first dance class, she looked at me and said, “You can go now,” with such confidence while her friend clung to her mom. She’ll be fine, I know she will. Me on the other hand…
My daughter has been in daycare for the majority of her life and she’s never had a problem with making friends, even at the mall playground she’ll find a buddy in minutes. But this year will be different. She’ll be going to a different school and will have to make all new friends. So every night we talk about going to a new school and how fun it will be to meet new people. How fun it will be to go school shopping and having a new playground to run around in. She seems to be really excited. I want to do everything I can to prepare her for the new “big” school.
So I decided to enlist the help of a seasoned Kindergarten teacher, my mother. Judy Brown is an elementary school teacher with 20 years of kindergarten experience under her belt. She is a highly respected teacher who lives by the words, “To teach is to touch lives forever.”
Mrs. Brown has a list of five things parents can do to prepare their child for the first day of kindergarten:
- Make sure the child gets a full night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast before coming to school.
- A few weeks before school begins, read books that pertain to the first day of kindergarten. Some suggestions are: "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate; "When You Go to Kindergarten" by James Howe; "The Night Before Kindergarten" by Natasha Wing; "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn; and "The Countdown To Kindergarten" by Alison McGhee.
- Have positive conversations with your child about kindergarten to include the teacher, following school rules, meeting new friends, using good manners, field trips, and new learning activities.
- Do a quick campus tour with your child to meet the teacher and to check out the classroom, their special seating area, the cubbies, the playground and the bathroom.
- Let your child help you shop for their kindergarten school supplies. They will feel like a big kid choosing their own lunchbox, backpack, etc.
For more tips on how to prepare your child for kindergarten check out, The Do’s and Don’ts of the First Day of Kindergarten.