Helping Your Child Get Ready for the First Day of Kindergarten
We’ve nurtured our children and watched them grow into wonderful little people in awe of the world and their surroundings. Now it’s time to prepare for them for the first big step in their lives – preparing for the first day of kindergarten.
Getting ready is probably the most difficult part. You have likely already been working to instill good, healthy habits into your child’s life but it’s even more important as they prepare to enter school to instill healthy habits, such as getting enough sleep (at least 10-12 hours per night) and eating right (a healthy breakfast and lunch will help your child get through the day).
Once your child is in school on a full-time basis, it’s common to think that after school activities are all part of the process. We want our children to be well-rounded and involved and in our quest for making this happen, we tend to allow our children to get wrapped up in too many after school activities. Children can become as burnt out as adults can so it is important to fight the urge to let them get involved with too much and keep after school activities to a minimum.
The next step in helping your child adjust to school is to help them foster independence. Allowing your child (within reason of course) to pick their outfit and dress themselves will allow them to feel independent and confident. Keep in mind that this doesn’t include tying their shoes. It is not uncommon for children to not learn to tie their shoes until their kindergarten year.
You also want to address things like making sure your child understands the importance of putting away things when they are done using or playing with them, putting the lids back on paints and markers, and putting the crayons back in the box when they are finished.
Finally, make sure you have the “potty” talk before your child heads off to the classroom. Make sure they are able to take care of themselves after using the potty and don’t forget to stress the importance of washing their hands when they are finished.
Talking over these tips with your child will help them be better prepared for their school day.