Beginning kindergarten is an important milestone in the lives of both you and your child. There are a range of things you can do to help your child transition into kindergarten:
- Reading to your child every day.
- Gradually giving them more time by themselves, to encourage independence.
- Packing a change of clothes for your child, or leaving a spare set at their kindergarten.
- Labelling all their belongings.
- Encouraging your child to start dressing themselves, so they can be more independent when needing to take off a jumper or a jacket.
- Practice a goodbye ritual, which becomes gradually shorter so your child becomes less dependent.
- Keeping the staff at your kindergarten informed of any changes in your child’s life that may affect their experience.
- Create opportunities for your child to interact with other children of a similar age through play dates and playgroups.
- Talk about feelings with your child.
- Talk about ways to express different emotions (e.g. you are laughing because you are happy; you are crying because you are sad).
Remember that some children, just like parents, will take time to settle into a new environment. These tasks will assist your child not only at the commencement of kinder, but throughout their program and will help prepare them for their transition into school.