Preparing Your Future Kindergartener for Back to School Season

Preparing for kindergarten at home: Adapting a daily routine
One of the hardest parts of the back to school season is getting kids out the door on time. You can make this easier for your future kindergartener by adopting a daily routine that has her getting up each day at the time he will have to rise for school. Make sure to change bed times too, if necessary. Your child may need ten or more hours of sleep in order to be healthy, so be sure she is in bed early enough at night. Schedule a rest time for a nap or for quiet play or reading. Schools that have a full day program usually do this after lunch. if your child is attending half-day kindergarten, you can ask the teacher when the nap time will be.

Have your future kindergartener go through the morning school preparation each day, just as if he were going to school. This means not only having him up at the same time each day, but getting him to eat breakfast, dress and groom himself, and do any morning chores he is expected to do before school. Have him put on his school clothes or uniform, instead of wearing play clothes. This is a good opportunity to look for any items that may need alterations, and to teach your child to be careful not to soil the school clothing, and to make sure it finds its way to the laundry basket once used. If you have messy activities or outdoor play planned for later in the day, having your child change into play clothes is an excellent way to get him used to the idea of changing after school is over.

Once she has unloaded the dishwasher or taken out the garbage, your future kindergartener will be looking for an activity to do. You can spend a few minutes each day looking at the calendar, observing the weather and discussing appropriate outdoor clothes for the time of day, or perhaps reading a story or singing some fun educational songs. You may want to put your own shoes on, and take a short walk with her before coming back home and settling in for the day. All of these activities prepare her for getting tasks done on time, and for making good decisions when it comes to appropriate clothing and outer wear. They will also make her familiar with some of the typical "circle time" activities kindergarten and early elementary teachers use to begin the daily school routine.

Preparing for kindergarten with your child's school
Many schools offer future kindergarten students and their parents to visit the classroom in the spring during school registration, but a visit just before school begins is even more helpful. Our school always gave appointment times to children entering kindergarten. Students would come in with their parents, get a chance to meet a small group of classmates, and have a quick tour of important places in the school - like the lunch room, bathrooms, and schoolyard.

In the classroom, they could do quiet activities such as drawing, building with blocks, or doing jigsaw puzzles while parents talked to the teacher. Afterwards, parents took a bit of a guided tour and kids were left for a short time with the teacher. This was very helpful for kids who were nervous about being away from their parents, as it was a smaller group setting where the teacher could give them more individual attention, and it was only a few short minutes before they rejoined Mom & Dad. It allowed each child to begin school on a safe footing, with a good feeling about the kindergarten teacher, and it gave parents a good feeling about their child's successful adaptation to school routines as well.