Preparing for Kindergarten

Preparing for kindergarten is such an exciting new time in your child’s life! But, understandably, it can also be pretty nerve-wracking. Make the transition a little easier for your child by taking these small steps to prepare them for their first day.

The best thing you can do is to talk to them about what to expect. Walk them through what their day will look like so it doesn’t come as such a surprise. When they know what to anticipate, that can help calm any anxieties they might have about going to school for the first time.

Tour the school

Typically, schools will have opportunities for new students to tour the school. Definitely take advantage of that! Being familiar with their school layout helps your child learn where their classroom will be.

Be sure to help them map out how to get to their classroom from the carpool or bus drop off area. This will help them know exactly where to go on their first day and it won’t seem so scary.

Meet the teacher

On top of knowing where their classroom is, make sure you introduce them to their teacher prior to the first day of school. Schools will typically hold a meet the teacher event, which will allow your child to also meet some of their classmates. So, it will help them see a familiar face on their first day.

Use this time to also express any concerns to the teacher that you might have. It is great to provide feedback to them for how your child best learns and what their challenges might be.

Establish bedtime & morning routines

One of the biggest challenges of going to school is getting out the door on time. Establish a new morning routine and practice starting about a week before school starts.

In order to make morning routines easier, make sure your child is getting plenty of sleep. It is helpful to create a consistent bedtime routine to guarantee they go to bed around the same time each night.

Explore More: Need help establishing routines? Check out my post with tips and tricks for creating morning and bedtime routines.

Back to school list

Make sure your child has everything they need for the first day of school. These lists generally are distributed by your kindergarten teacher.

Most importantly, get your child a backpack and a lunchbox. Help get them excited about going to school by allowing them to pick out their own to express themselves.

Walk to the bus stop

If you child is taking the bus, as part of practicing your morning routine, walk them to the bus stop. Connect with other kids in the neighborhood on the same bus so they have familiar faces to sit with.

On the first day of school, be sure to introduce yourself to the bus driver and learn their name. I generally find bus drivers to be very kind to you and your kid if you create a positive relationship with them.

Also, help your child to remember what bus number they are so they know which one to get on at the end of the day.

Read every night

Increase your child’s attention span and vocabulary by practicing reading to them every night. Reading to your child will help them learn about pacing, inflection, and allows them practice their sight words.

My son struggles with reading comprehension so we have made it part of our routine at bedtime to read to one another. Even if your child isn’t at the age to read to you, you could have them just read the sight words they might know.

Hot Tip: Read a book about going to kindergarten to help them get excited and know what to expect.

Memorize sight words

What are sight words? Those are the little words that don’t necessarily follow typical language rules, but can quickly be memorized.

Sight words might include: the, it, she, he, like, am, and go. Learning basic sight words can then help your child learn simple sentence structures like “I see the cat”.

Hot Tip: Get some flashcards for an easy way help your child learn sight words.

Know how to spell their name

One thing your kindergartener will be asked to do every day is write their name on their paper. Help them be prepared by learning how to spell their name.

If you want them to practice writing, invest in a few handwriting workbooks. These help children learn the proper way to write their letters before the start of school.

Learn to count

Other basic academic skills to learn before school include counting up to at least twenty. Kindergarteners won’t learn addition and subtraction right away but they will learn how to recognize numbers quickly.

Set your child up for success by reviewing their basic numbers before starting kindergarten.

Behavior skills

There are some behavior skills that naturally come with heading to school. At a minimum, your child will be expected to sit still, listen, and take turns.

While accidents might still happen, your child will also be expected to have proper bathroom habits. Practice these behaviors with your child in the months leading up to their first day of school or be prepared to get a lot of calls from the teacher.

Hot Tip: In kindergarten, your child likely won’t get a nap time anymore. If you child is struggling with the change, make up for this loss of sleep by moving their bedtime earlier by an hour or so.

First day of school outfit

Let your child pick out what outfit they want to wear on their first day of school. It will help them feel confident and excited for their first day of school.

It is a tradition in our house for my kids to go shopping before the start of school. My favorite year was during Covid when they both picked out pajamas for their first day of virtual school.

Quick healthy lunches

In the morning, pack your child a healthy lunch to keep their energy up all day. That first day of kindergarten will be especially draining.

Keep lunch prep easy by creating a grab-n-go system. Include a main dish, fruit, vegetables, and a snack.

I like to use a bento style lunchbox, which helps create a balanced lunch for my kids.

Explore More: Use my guide to quick lunches to make prep in the morning a breeze.

Last thing is to remind yourself to just relax! It is probably harder for you as a parent to send your child off to kindergarten than it is for them. They will more than likely come home extremely excited to go back the next day.