How do you prepare your child for kindergarten?

Starting school is a huge milestone in any child's life. What does your soon-to-be kindergarten student need to know before she starts school? What did you tell your children?

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By javata gross

- Posted on Dec 8, 2011

my son went to day care then to Pre-K, so it wasnt hard for him to adapt, but I did keep him active during the summer and bought flash cards and I bought 1st grade work books to try and give him a head start, and like the other mom stated told him to let the teacher know when he had to use bathroom. And always reminded him of being a leader and not a follower, peer presure starts early.

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By Jari Scott

- Posted on Dec 7, 2011

I told my daughter she was going to learn lots of new things, and make lots of new friends. I made sure she could print and recognize her own first name and last initial. She knew colors and shapes and was counting, we'd also worked on letter recognition woth most of the alphabet. Any step up advantage you can give your child is going to be an asset for them.
I take my 4 yr old grocery shopping, and she counts items into the cart, or I'll have her pick out a certain letter from her name or identfty off a sign or package of groceries ("Where's the letter "L") We make a game of it and she's building a strong education base without even knowing it

  • Stephanie - commented on Dec 17, 2011

    Wonderful advice Jari!! My son started Kindergarten in August. A few days before his 5th birthday, so he's the "baby" of the class. His teacher has a list of survival skills that all kids should know. Recognize and print their first name, recognize most letters and numbers to 20, and some things that we may not think of for school such as being able to zip their jackets and tie their shoes.

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By Samantha Steenkamp-Farrell

- Posted on Dec 7, 2011

We got her excited about Kindergarten by purchasing a few silly stories about the first day of school and Kindergarten in general. It helped us have a discussion on what to expect. We also talked about telling the teacher if anything is wrong and not being afraid to ask questions or ask for help. So far so good...we are 6 months into Kindergarten and although we have encountered a bump or two, they have been minor and quickly dealt with as we talk every evening as a family at dinner about what was good/bad about our day.

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25 Blogger by Tina from Shopaholic Mommy

- Posted on Sep 21, 2012

Getting them in a good routine is essential. Let them pick there clothes out, buy them an alarm clock so they wake up on time. Make learning the ABCs and 123s fun. We always would count items in our cart at the grocery store and sound out words together. We also have quite a few educational toys that we use together as well as using an online service that helps with basic reading and math skills.

http://www.shopaholicmommy.com/family-life-2/preparing-for-kindergarten/

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25 Blogger by Christine from MommyMatter

- Posted on Sep 14, 2012

We taught the kids the basics. Kindergarten it isn't mandatory to come in knowing anything and the teachers do not expect it. All they ask is that your children know how to dress themselves and use the bathroom with zero assistance!

http://www.mommymatter.com

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By Lorraine Bollard

- Posted on Dec 7, 2011

I think the most important thing I told my daughter was to make sure she tells the teacher when she needs to go to the toilet!!! And also not to be cheeky!

  • Stephanie - commented on Dec 17, 2011

    Totally agree Lorraine!! My son can be very shy and I made sure he knew that his teacher and other adults in his classroom were there to help and didn't want to see him hurt or upset (or wet) lol and that it was ok to ask for help.

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