First Day of Kindergarten - What to Expect| Back to School & Parenting

What can you expect on your child's first day of kindergarten? In an encouraging video, Natalie shares how to prepare your child to prevent separation anxiety, what your child can expect from their teacher, and how parents can prepare for a great first day of school

Video Transcript:

Hey, it's Natalie and welcome back to Primary Focus, the parent's guide to elementary school. I'm so glad that you are watching today. I want to take a little time to talk about your child's first day of school. I'm zoning in on parents that are sending their child to kindergarten for the very first time, but for some of you this might be a walk down memory lane.

I was a kindergarten teacher for five years, and I taught in elementary school for ten years. And the first day of school was such a special time. It was one of the times a year where, yes, I was a little bit stressed because there was so much going on, and I imagine at home you're feeling stressed too.

There's a lot of things to prepare. But despite that, and actually maybe because of that, it was also a very exciting, warm, fuzzy feeling time of year. I loved seeing kids on the first day of school with their fresh outfits, a new haircut, Even if they didn't go out and buy a bunch of new things, kids always seem to just look their best on that first day of school

you got this kind of warm, fuzzy feeling from the entire family coming in. And oftentimes you got to meet people that you might not see again in person for quite a while.

\ I'm going to balance this video with a couple of tips for you to prepare for that first day of kindergarten, and also just an idea of what your child's going to go through on that first day, so that you can prepare them for this experience.

Let's dive in.

I've talked to a lot of parents of rising kindergartners this summer, and again and again I've heard the concern about separation anxiety. Even children that went to preschool or daycare programs and had the summer off have been acting a little bit strange about going to kindergarten. And this is absolutely reasonable, it's a huge transition, and the kindergarten environment is a lot different than your average preschool or daycare environment.

For most children, this will be the first time that they're asked to really be focused on academics heavily all day. Yes, children have fun. Yes, they go to circle time. Yes, there are a lot of really awesome activities, but there are also long assignments, lessons that they need to pay attention to for longer periods of time, and expectations to sit still and act like a student for longer periods of time.

Kiddos are feeling anxious, which is why you want to prepare for that goodbye. Even some of the strongest, bravest, most independent kids can be shaken in their boots when it comes to leaving their parents on that first day of kindergarten. So to prepare for that goodbye, you might want to start in the weeks ahead, even months ahead of just preparing what a goodbye looks like in your family.

I would create a special goodbye routine, something where maybe they kind of know and feel like a hug lasts three seconds, or we do like a countdown, like three, two, one, have a great day, if you think your child would love a secret handshake, or maybe you say the same cute thing every time you say goodbye, just something like that, that signals a little bit of love, support, but also this is the end of the goodbye and it's time to go. One area where I see parents and kids get trapped is a prolonged goodbye.

And we've got kids saying goodbye to their parents and it's looking like it's a breakup end of a relationship on the first day of school. You want to try to avoid that. Okay. Listen, I know that kids can throw curveballs at us, but if you are used to saying goodbye in a special way and a concise way, it will make it that much easier on the first day of school.

And so, let's talk about what that first day of school is going to look like anyway. They're going to walk into that school. You might be with them, you might not be with them, and that's going to have to be a decision you make based on what your day looks like.

Now it's about 50 50 with parents going in or not on that first day and for some kids it can make it harder because that goodbye at the door is even worse than the goodbyes you put them on the bus. But if you can make the time to go in and walk your child in on that first day, I do think that's a special memory.

A lot of schools have tighter security, have closed their doors, and parents are not invited to walk their children to the class very often. Schools give a pass to kindergarten parents often on that first day, sometimes even the first week. So if you can take advantage of that, this one special time, I say go for it.

And if you can't, I You'll have so many other opportunities in your life to make a special memory. Don't you worry. When you walk into that building, let your kiddo walk a little bit ahead of you. You don't have to hold hands or have them really close to you. If they want that, sure, but if they want to walk ahead, let them walk ahead.

Let them be proud because what's happening is you are walking into their space. Most of the time in a child's life, when you walk into a new building together, they are walking into a space where you will be directing them.

And while they might not know where to go yet, This is going to be their space, and every time you walk into the school from here on out, your child's going to be the one telling you, this is where this classroom is, let me show you my cubby, and it will be their space. Let them start to feel what that's like to have ownership over the school.

If you're going in with your child, let them walk a little bit ahead of you. The next time you'll be back, they'll be showing you around the classroom like it's their second home.

As your baby walks in, they will be seeing tons of smiling faces from adults.

Now, I know a lot of families are worried about their child getting lost in the school, which is totally understandable, But what I can say is it is very obvious when a child is a kindergartner. First of all, they're typically a lot smaller, but they act a lot different because they don't know where they're going.

Most of the other kids have gone to this school at least one other year, and so they walk in with more confidence. They know where they're going. So they're going to see smiling faces from adults, and there will be adults lining the hallways to direct the kids about where to go.

And this won't even be the first day, really the first month of school. Because a lot of kids come back from the weekend and they forget where their classroom is. There will be so many adults to help guide them to the right place, whether they have a smile on their face or they're crying.

Now, most schools will do this once they get in for the first day, but if you want to go ahead and do it ahead of time, put a tag on their backpack that says their first and last name and go. Kindergarten. This way, if your child is lost or not sure, they'll see the tag on the backpack and say, huh, well, I don't know who your teacher is, but at the very least, let's get you down to the kindergarten hallway.

As they walk down that hallway seeing smiling faces from adults and bright colorful bulletin boards, they're going to walk into their classroom and see a wonderful place set up for learning. They might run over and look at some interesting things in that classroom.

They may linger in the doorway feeling a little bit nervous. Some might not even want to step in, or if they've been to school before, they might walk right in and go sit down crisscross applesauce on that rug. And it's so interesting and surprising to see what children will do once they hit that doorway.

Once they're in that classroom, a warm teacher will be waiting for them and start circle time. The kids will go around, they'll say their names.

Some of them will shout their names proudly, some of them won't speak at all. And the teacher will give them the same morning routine for a while, so that when they come into school, they can feel a comfortable routine and understand that school is a safe place where they belong and their voice should be heard.

It will be a lovely circle time with hellos, and so much to learn about being a little independent person.

Their teacher won't teach much at first. And really for the first month or six weeks of school, they won't be getting a lot of new material at all. Because there's so much to learn about being an independent person. They'll learn how to write their name neatly at the top of a paper.

They'll learn how to unpack their backpack. They'll learn how to walk in line to lunch. They'll learn how to take a tray down the lunch line and pick out what kind of milk they'd like. they'll learn which slide they like to go down at recess, and how to pronounce the music teacher's name.

They'll probably even make a friend, somebody that they play with every day, although they can't quite remember that child's name.

They'll learn what bus number is theirs or how to get into the car at carpool time.

They'll learn how to say the Pledge of Allegiance, though they won't pronounce any of the words right or know what it means. They'll learn what makes teachers sad, happy, mad. They'll learn how to raise their hand. They'll learn what earns them a sticker.

They'll learn that they get a little rumble in their tummy before lunchtime, and they'll learn that they are ready and hoping for a snack once they get home. They'll learn that there's 26 letters, except there's uppercase and lowercase, and they all make so many different sounds. And they'll learn that by the end of kindergarten, they'll be able to count to 100.

And there's that one kid in class that's flexing because their older brother already taught them to count to 100. They'll learn that you can run fast on the playground, but in P. E. class we only jog.

And they'll learn that we're always trying to eat a healthy snack, but if it's somebody's birthday, we might just have a little cupcake.

There will be so many little things and nuances that your child will learn about school. Even though the academic work isn't that hard, we know that they need an adjustment period so that your child can actually feel comfortable in school. Every good teacher knows that if you don't have a strong relationship built with your students, you won't be able to teach them at all.

And we want your child to feel confident and happy when they're in the classroom.

Now, that's what your little will be up to at school, but turning the attention back onto you, I know that there is a lot of preparation that leads up to that first day of kindergarten. You've been searching for the right school, touring, you might have even bought a house in the neighborhood of the school that you want to go to.

You've been comparing schools with other people, and then once you finally got in, the rest didn't stop there. You had a school supply list, maybe a uniform that you had to order, doctor's appointments the same way that you have been preparing and waiting and anticipating for school to start.

There is a teacher out there that has been daydreaming of their new class. They've been coming into school standing up on unstable tables to put their bulletin boards together. They've been dusting off old boxes displaying their favorite kindergarten books for all the kids to for all the kids to see

and they've spent so much time writing name tag after name tag to label your child's desk, and their cubby, and their folders.

This teacher got to sit and daydream of all the sweet moments that your child will have in school, all the growth that they will make this year, and how they are going to exit kindergarten as a beautiful reader and a mature, ready for first grade child in just a few months.

And so, as you get ready to send your little off to school for the first time, I hope you know that there is a school that is so ready for your baby to show up every day and get a little bit better and a little bit smarter every single day.

No matter what you're feeling, no matter how worried you might be or excited you might be, you have an entire school environment that has been waiting for your child to come in there.

I hope that you have a fabulous school year, and I hope you subscribe to Primary Focus for more information about how to keep your kids thriving in school. Wherever your child goes to school this year, I want you to know that I am here for you to support you thanks for watching Primary Focus. My name's Natalie. I'll see you next time.

I've picked out a few more videos that I think you'd like to help prepare your kiddos for kindergarten. I hope you give them a watch.