How to Help Your Child Prepare For Kindergarten and Preschool
Separation for the first time can be difficult for both the child and the parent because of the emotional state brought on by this rite of passage. Leaving your with strangers can be an unnerving time for first-time parents, however your child will be better off in kindergarten if you help them to prepare. You will also feel better if you know that you did everything you could to support them.
This first step is to get used to separation from your child. This may be tough, but it will get you used to being away from them. If your child is not enrolled in day-care then ask a trusted friend or family member to baby-sit for a couple of hours a few days a week. Although leaving your child on the first day of kindergarten won’t be easy, getting used to separation will help to ease the sorrow. Only practice makes perfect.
If your child takes daily naps then it might be a good idea to synchronize their naps to the school’s lesson plans so that their school day will not be disrupted. You don’t want your child to be tired or crabby during preschool, or else they will not get the full benefit.
Ensure that your child is potty trained before you enroll them. This may be obvious but there are occasions when parents send their children to school who are not properly potty trained. Not only does this put more pressure on the teacher, it also singles your child out as undeveloped compared to his peers.
When your take your child to their first day at kindergarten, be sure to talk to the teacher with them. Introduce them to your child as this will help to lessen some of the first day tension.
Stick around for the first recess if you still feel a little uneasy. It may calm you down if you see your child playing happily and making new friends and it might help your child to feel more comfortable.
There are also a few questions you should ask yourself about your child to ensure they are ready to mingle with other children on a day-to-day basis. Can they hold a pencil correctly? Can they write their name? Can they dress themselves properly and tie their shoelaces? Do they know their numbers? They will mostly be working on printables or their own colorful projects so other questions you may need to ask are can they draw shapes and cut out neatly?
Talk to your child about all the activities they will be able to do there and relate this to their interests for example “there will be loads of toys there!” or “you’ll enjoy reading time”.
Be prepared for separation anxiety which is an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of leaving your child at kindergarten or preschool. But by following these tips and preparing yourself and your child, you will feel more at ease when their first big day comes.
Juile Majors has been a classroom teacher for over twenty-five years. She is a writer for the elementary worksheets section of Worksheet Library. Worksheet Library has helped hundreds of thousands of teachers and parents with printable learning resources. They have one of the largest creative writing worksheets resource centers available anywhere.
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