How To Get Ready For Kindergarten

Help them to develop independence at home. Encourage your child to dress themselves, take their coat on and off and hang it up, use the bathroom without assistance and wash their hands without constant reminders, and put on their own shoes. Provide serving utensils so your child can serve themself at the table and clear their own dishes. Make sure your child can close any lunch containers that you pack. These skills will take them from the coatroom to the lunchroom and beyond.

Focus on self-help skills. Your child should know how to wipe their face after lunch without prompting and blow their nose without assistance. But be sure they are also comfortable asking an adult for help when necessary.

Teach responsibility. Start transferring small responsibilities over to your child, if you haven’t already. After a family trip to the pool, you might put your child in charge of emptying the backpack, refilling the water bottles, or hanging up their wet swimsuit. Even when it may be easier for you to complete these tasks, let them accept the responsibility.

Develop and follow routines. Set up morning routines that will transfer into a school setting. Getting up around the same time every day, getting dressed, and having an early breakfast together is a great way to transition to school.

Read aloud to your child. Get your child a library card, take them to the library to check out books, and be sure to read to your child every day. Read a variety of books, read the captions under pictures in the newspaper, even share the comics. Just read!

Engage her in meaningful literacy activities. Encourage your child to help you with thank you cards, shopping lists, or notes. They may start with scribbles or pictures, move into scattered letters, and finally some recognizable words as they enter school. Appreciate their attempts and watch their skills develop with practice.

Acknowledge their feelings. Avoid talking about school too much, or wait until the end of summer is near. Your child may express being nervous, not wanting to go or, alternately, feeling very excited to start school. Whatever they feel, take time to appreciate where they are.

Label everything. Make sure all of your child's personal items are labeled. It is gauranteed that items will get mixed up sometimes throughout the year. Labels keep it easy for everyone.

Pack Extra. Pack extra clothes in a ziplock bag in case of a bathroom incident.