Things to Bring to School
Full Size Backpack (with transportation tag attached)
Lunch (choice to pack a lunch or purchase from school)
Daily snack and water bottle
Change of clothing to be kept at school. Please label all clothing
Crib sheet and blanket for nap OR a nap mat (your choice)
Diapers/Pull-ups/Wipes (if necessary)
Daily Reminders for Families
Check folders for schoolwork or memos
Ask your child about his/her day
Praise your child for their work
Check calendars for upcoming events
Check for changes in classroom studies
Reinforce studies at home
Preparing for Preschool
Establish a morning and bedtime routine. Here are some tips on how to help your child have a successful morning and bedtime routine. Many families also find creating visual supports for routines, schedules, and transitions can also be helpful.
Eating a packed snack or lunch from a lunchbox. The cafeteria calendars are linked here and can be found on our school website. Classroom teachers will send home a hard copy in your child’s folder at the start of each month as well. We follow a Whole-Child approach and we know nutrition matters and is an important part of cognitive and physical development! Learn more about how to shop for and prepare healthy meals for preschoolers at My Plate and this Healthy Eating Tip Sheet! Check out the I am 3 Booklet and the I am 4 Booklet for more age-specific nutrition information!
Personal Hygiene. Our students are required to wash their hands many times a day to help keep everyone as healthy as possible! Here is a resource to guide you through teaching proper hand washing at home: I Can Be Safe and Healthy by Washing My Hands!
Self-Help and Independence Skills. As your child starts preschool they are taught to become increasingly independent. There are a few ways that you can begin to teach and foster independence at home:
Practice packing and unpacking a backpack
Practice wearing a backpack
Teach your child how to request help from an adult and verbalize their wants and needs
Practice dressing, undressing (clothing as well as socks and shoes), putting a jacket on, taking a jacket off, and zipping the jacket
If your child is potty trained, please make sure to review with them how to wipe their own bottoms while at school.
If your child is not yet potty trained, the summer before preschool is a great time to start the process! If your child is still potty training when the school year starts, please communicate your plan/routine to your child’s teacher so that we can support you and keep consistent with what you’re doing at home.
Here are some potty training resources: Activity Sequence Visual , Establishing Toileting Routines for Children , Bottom Wiping Script for Practice at Home, Potty Training Visual Cards and Social Story
Identifying their emotions, self regulation skills and problem solving. To help your child prepare for school it is important to Help Your Child Understand and Label Emotions. When your child feels big feelings, you can teach them coping and problem solving skills. This story is a great resource for coping skills: Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think at Home. This story is a great resource for teaching problem solving skills: We Can Be Problem Solvers at Home!. Some other ways that you can prepare your child for preschool is to Teach Your Child to Take Turns and Help Your Child Learn to Share. Lastly, if your child is struggling with meltdowns, here is a great resource that you may find helpful: Teachable Moments: How to Help Your Child Avoid Meltdowns
Preparing for the first days of school. We welcome you to attend our Preschool Orientation on August 30th! You may consider reading them one of the following scripted stories starting a week before school starts: I Go to Preschool (Car) or I Go to Preschool (Bus). To prepare your child for what will happen once they get to school you can read the following stories with them: Our Preschool Rules, What Do We Do in Circle? and Cleaning Up My Toys. Lastly, your child will be making many new friends at school this year. You can teach them how to be a Super Friend: I Can Be a Super Friend!