There are many good resources for helping you, your family and your child prepare for Kindergarten. The staff at High Grove Early Childhood Center will be sending home packets of information to help with this process. Here are a few more tips:
CHILDREN'S BOOKS ABOUT STARTING KINDERGARTEN
Children's books about going to school and starting kindergarten may help prepare your child for the school transition. Here are a few of our favorite titles:
- Plan to attend the Kindergarten Roundup. Visiting the new classroom or school with your child will help make preparing for kindergarten easier for him/her. Make sure you include a visit to the cafeteria, gym, playground, etc. If possible, meet with your child’s new kindergarten teacher. Some of these may be included in an orientation that the new class or school provides. But, if not, try to arrange a school visit on your own.
- Keep informed of school happenings. If you child is leaving an early childhood education program, you may find that your child’s kindergarten experience may be less personalized than your experience in child care. You will have to act as your child’s advocate in some situations. Keep informed. Read everything that comes home. Occasionally visit the school or kindergarten classroom if your work situation allows you. Knowing the school secretary, nurse, principal, etc. and introducing yourself and your child to them may also help prepare your child for kindergarten.
- Establish bedtime routines. Resume the regular bedtime routines about a month before school starts to help ease the kindergarten transition. If you let your child stay up a little later during the summer, for example, gradually get back to the bedtime you will expect when kindergarten starts. Talk to your child about why you are doing this and how it will help his/her back-to-school transition.
- Establish a morning routine. Do a “dry run” of the new morning routine, whether it is walking to the bus stop with your child, driving to the new school, walking together to the new classroom, etc. to see how much time it will take. Remember, school preparation almost always takes more time than you think, especially when the unexpected happens (you have to go back for homework, sneakers for gym, etc.).
- Plan time for breakfast. Having a good breakfast before leaving for school is important. Be sure to adjust your morning schedule to account for the extra time for your child to enjoy breakfast.
- Create a lunch plan. If your child will take lunch to school, "rehearse" packing lunches in the morning or the evening before. That way you will know how much extra time it will take and what lunch and snack foods you will need to have on hand. If your child will buy school lunch, find out how much it will cost.
- Decrease or phase out naps. For preschoolers who still take a nap, begin decreasing nap time so that he/she will be ready for a full day by the time kindergarten starts.
- Make a plan for before- and after-school. Make sure you and your child know the routine for before- and after-school care if that applies. Discuss where he/she will go, how he/she will get between school and child care, how he/she will get home, etc. Have a back-up plan for what to do in case you are late. You probably had a plan for your current early childhood center, but be sure that your emergency pick-up people know where the new school or after-school program is located and what the pick-up routine is there. Better to prepare ahead of time than wait for an emergency.
- What documentation and information is neeed for Enrollment. Review the elementary handbook on the district’s website. Contact the school for opportunities to get involved! Take time to review the documentation and information needed for enrollment. This is a good time to check immunization requirements and compare them with your child’s immunization record.
- Connect with your child's teacher. Once the school year starts, it is important to give yourself and your child a chance to “bond” with the new teacher. This important part of the school transition process won’t happen instantly. The new teacher may do things a little differently than your child’s former teacher. Give time for the new relationship to develop between you, your child, and the new teacher as you all adjust to a different style.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS ABOUT STARTING KINDERGARTEN
Children's books about going to school and starting kindergarten may help prepare your child for the school transition. Here are a few of our favorite titles:
- "Curious George Goes to School" by M. Rey & H.A. Rey
- "First Day Jitters" by J. Danneberg
- "I am absolutely too small for school" by L. Child
- "I love school!" by P. Sturges & S. Halpern
- "Leo the Late Bloomer" by R. Kraus
- "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" by J. Slate
- "Mr. George Baker" by A. Hest & J.J. Muth
- "The Kissing Hand" by A. Penn
- "Will I Have a Friend?" by M. Cohen