Kindergarten tips, post #2
Here are tips for clothing, personal items, bathroom habits, and first day/week drop-off/separation.
Clothes:
Please send them in easy up/down bottoms. Elastic waistbands are best, especially at the beginning of the year when everything is so new and exciting. It’s easy for even the most capable kindergartner to get caught up in a fun activity and not realize they have to use the bathroom until it’s an emergency. When they really have to go, buckles, buttons, ties, and zippers are the enemy! Other restroom challenges include overall buckles, rompers, and long skirts/dresses.
Send your child in tennis shoes; it’s so hard to run and play in anything else! Open-toed shoes are a big no-no; Crocs depend on the site. Slip on style, Velcro, or tieless laces are awesome! If you’re going to send them in lace-up shoes, double knot them (laces dragged across the bathroom floor are so gross!).
If your child wears a dress or skirt, please have them wear a pair of shorts underneath.
When choosing pants, please have them do a sit test before sending them off to school in them. Sit test: Have your child sit cross legged after running around for awhile in the pants/shorts in question. Does their butt crack show? If yes, those aren’t good for school.
No jewelry, please! Necklaces will get broken, bracelets will fall off, rings will end up gifted to the best friend du jour.
Personal items:
Label it all!! Put your child’s first and last name inside their backpack or inside the shoulder strap so that it can be found but doesn’t advertise his name to strangers. Better yet, put your phone number, too!
Label all jackets, hats, sweaters, and gloves that you’d like to see returned if lost. Same with lunch boxes and water bottles.
If you send a disposable water bottle, please label that as well so that your child’s drink doesn’t get mixed up with a table mate’s.
Assume that your child will somehow lose/break everything you send. Don’t send toys, comfort animals/blankies, or electronics….absolutely nothing of sentimental value should ever go to school unless prearranged with the teacher.
Bathroom:
Your child needs to be potty-trained and in underwear. No pull-ups.
Make sure they’re independent on the toilet and know how to wipe. The teacher is not going to wipe any part of your child’s private areas. The only exception would be something written into an IEP.
Keep an extra set of clothes in the backpack. A FULL extra set! It’s impressive how pee gets on everything when a child has been holding it too long! That tucked in shirt will wick up the front, pee will run down their pants legs and get their socks and shoes wet, too. Even if there’s not a true accident, you’d be amazed at how often kids accidentally pee on the front of their pants while on the toilet or whose skirt/dress gets trailed in the toilet bowl.
First day drop off (or first week!):
If your child is a stage 5 clinger to a specific parent, have someone else take him, if possible. Once he knows how fun school is, it will be easier for him to separate from you at the gate.
Make sure you know the rules for first day drop off. Some schools have a gate drop off that you can walk to, other schools let you into the playground, some might allow you to the door or classroom. Please don’t be that parent that throws a fit and wants an exception.
If your child cries, just give a hug, blow a kiss, and go. If she sees you become agitated or sad, it will make it that much harder for her to separate. And if your child is crying, we promise it won’t last. Most of those that do cry at drop off stop within a few minutes.
