Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten

By Deborah Lambeth

It's that time of year when you'll be holding your little one's hand and leading them into that public education abyss where they will be staying for at least the next 12 years and turning into the people you hope they will be. Yes...it's time to take your child to kindergarten. As much as you've prepared yourself for this day, it's suddenly just around the corner and you're not quite sure what to do. You know that this transition to another area of childhood is an important step. So how do you prepare yourself for the transition? How do you prepare your child?

Obviously there is one thing you need to do so that other things will fall into place. You must register your child for school. Some parents opt out of kindergarten because in most states, kindergarten is not mandatory. However, in this day and age, there's a lot that a child misses out on if he or she is not enrolled in some kind of preschool program. Every state is different in the requirements for registering a child for kindergarten. In North Carolina, for example, a child has to be 5 years old by October 16. In California, children need to be 5 by December 2, and in Kansas, by September 1, in order to attend kindergarten starting in the year they turn 5 years old. In most states, children need to be immunized and a health assessment done before they can go to a public school.

Once you've gotten the "have to's" out of the way, now it's time to work on the separation anxiety. In one way or another, you and/or your child will experience this. Here are 10 suggestions for working together to curb the anxiety.

• Usually your child's school will have lists available to parents for school supplies that will be needed throughout the year. Once you get the list, go shopping for school supplies together. Have your child pick out their own backpack or book bag. Encourage your child to find the items that they need for school. You may want to let them pick out something special that is not required that they can take to school as a reminder of their shopping day together with you.
• Talk about school at different times through the days and weeks leading up to the beginning of school. Talk about it in an encouraging way. Tell your child happy and fun stories about your school experiences.
• Help your child pick out a new outfit for the first day of school.
• There may be other children in your neighborhood or your church who will be going to the same school. Get together with them and their parents for a "play day" or cookout so the kids will get to know each other a little, and so the parents can share ideas or discuss any concerns about their children starting school.
• Go to the school with your child on a day before the start of school. Walk around the playground. Look into a couple of the windows, if they are at ground level, so your child can see what the classroom looks like.
• Make sure you go to kindergarten orientation.
• Help your child to meet new friends by giving them an incentive to do so. Promise your child that after they get home each day during their first week, you will award them with a quarter for each new name they can give you of children they have met that day.
• Fix your child's favorite dinner the night before school. Fix their favorite breakfast on the first day of school, or go out for a special breakfast that day.
• Walk your child to the front door of the school building and let them go in by themselves. This will give them a sense of independence and will give you a chance to say your goodbyes and go back to the car. (You don't want them to see you if you start crying!)
• Be on time to pick up your child at the end of the school day.

Of course, being interested in your child's day is one of the most important things you can do to ensure his or her success. When you drop your child off to go to school, do your best to think happy thoughts and not worry about your child. Keep in mind that no matter how much separation anxiety you and your child go through during the first few days of school, things will eventually even out and you and your child will be okay. One of these days your little munchkin will no longer want to hug you goodbye in front of their friends, so savor every moment you can! The most important thing to remember though, is that by laying the foundation now, you are giving your child one of the best gifts you can give-an education.