Ways to Prep Your Kid for Kindergarten
Your baby is heading off to kindergarten—real school with a real teacher, crowded hallways and (gulp!) math homework. Read on to find out how to get your kid (and more importantly, yourself) ready for this big step.
- Start talking to your kid about school early. If you can, attend the school's open house or arrange a tour so your kid can start getting used to the idea.
- About two weeks before school starts, start going to bed—and getting up—a little earlier.
- Teach your child your name and contact information.
- Call the school and ask for a copy of the daily schedule. Start giving your kid meals, snacks and quiet time on a similar schedule.
- Practice "napping"—or having quiet time—on a nap mat at home.
- For a kid that's never had to ask (or wait) to go to the bathroom, kindergarten can be quite a shock. Teach your kid to ask to use the restroom well before it's an emergency.
- Take your kid on a special back-to-school outing to pick out school supplies and talk about what school will be like.
- Set up a school-morning routine (for example, comb hair before Froot Loops) that gets your kids out the door—dressed and ready—on time. Do several practice runs.
- Set up a school-night routine that includes homework time.
- Practice eating lunch from a sack or lunchbox. Wrap your kid's sandwich and fruit in baggies and let him practice getting them out, eating them and throwing away the garbage.
- Read educational books and practice your counting and ABCs at home.
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