Your Child’s First Day of Kindergarten

The first day of kindergarten is a crucial step towards setting your child up to develop independence, social skills and build personality skills that will only grow with time. It is truly the biggest learning milestone for any child.

There are a few things you can do to help your child get ready for this special occasion.

• Let your child pick their breakfast and enjoy it together with the family so they can feel the support and encouragement.
• Try reading them a story about the first day of school that help them feel less nervous and worried about this new environment they are about to step into.
• Add a note to their first-ever school lunch box so they know that despite not being with them, they are always on your mind and never too far away.

Here are some common kindergarten activities that your kids are likely to participate in on their first day. You could take a proactive step and help your kids prepare for them, so they are more familiar and comfortable at school.

• Colour matching: Asking the kids to segregate objects like blocks or balls based on their colours.
• Paper tracing: To get the kids started with writing, they might be asked to trace shapes or letters to begin familiarizing them with the alphabet or drawing common objects.
• Learning sounds: This will be a group audio activity where all the students in the class call out different sounds that the letters of the alphabet make. Sometimes, these could also be for sounds made by different animals or objects.
• Building with blocks: Many kindergartens also offer activities like building blocks that help develop the child’s problem solving and shape recognition abilities.
• Hand painting: Teachers often get the whole class together to create trees using the handprints of all the kids. This helps them feel part of the group and generates a sense of accomplishment that gives them the encouragement needed to participate in activities more often.

What to expect from kindergarten can vary depending on the school you choose. The first day would focus more on getting all the kids familiarized with the new world around them.

• Introductions: Teachers often start off with getting kids familiar with who the teacher is and learning the names of the other kids in class.
• The classroom: Next comes learning more about the classroom itself. Helping kids get familiar with everything around them and learning about what each part of the classroom is for.
• Hearing the kids: Teachers often try to start a dialogue with each of the kids individually to get them to open up about things they love and don’t. This is more to build trust with the kids and establish that the teacher is someone they should always feel comfortable talking to.

Early childhood education creates the foundation of every child’s learning curve. Creating a supportive environment is crucial to keep them interested and motivated to learn more and grow. This applies to their intelligence, abilities and even their personalities.

The first day of kindergarten is just as difficult for the parents as it is for the kids. Your child depends on you to determine how he or she should feel about something. So, when you are excited about their first day it automatically translates to them looking forward to this new adventure.

References:
https://www.parents.com/kids/education/kindergarten/first-day-of-kindergarten-ways-to-prepare/
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/starting-kindergarten-8-survival-skills-sarah-richard
https://www.simplykinder.com/first-day-of-kindergarten-plan/