Help Make Kindergarten a Positive Experience
Preparing preschoolers for kindergarten is more than making sure the kids know their ABCs. The switch to kindergarten is often a complete change in environment for children: new structures, new faces and new fears.
3 Tips to Prepare Kids for Kindergarten
Help Your Child Become A Good Friend
Kindergarten places a lot of emphasis on kids working together, sharing and caring. While children can be on very different levels academically, it is important that socially they are similar. It is very easy for little ones to feel bullied in an unfamiliar territory - or to become bullies themselves by being selfish or aggressive out of fear.
Try to help your child become accustomed to sharing his or her toys, because in kindergarten, everything belongs to everyone. Kindergarten brings children together more often and for longer hours, so it's easy for them to miss their family or quiet time and feel like others are encroaching on their space.
Help Your Child Follow Directions
More structure in kindergarten requires more rules. Teachers need children to follow rules to help build a safe and welcoming learning environment and other children in class need a safe environment to make their learning more effective.
Give your child easy tasks to complete and help your child realize the importance of doing things the way you ask them to be done. For example, remind your child that while it may seem simpler to throw all the toys in the toybox, it's safer and nicer to walk them over to the toybox and put them away.
Teach Your Child to Express Feelings
At a young age, children learn quickly that yelling or stomping their feet can get a reaction. When they are confused or frightened, sometimes any type of reaction will do.
Encourage your little one to explain to you why they are upset when they get angry or sad. If they are happy or excited, let them tell you what was special about their day. This way, when something is bothering them at school, you can work together to try and fix it.
Kindergarten is a huge milestone for children. Help your little one prepare for a positive experience.
