Worried About Daughter Starting School

Hi! I'm a Kindergarten teacher and my recommendation is to read some great books about going to Kindergarten. There are quite a few out there - Countdown to Kindergarten is one and there are quite a few of the Mrs. Bindergarten books. Make her feel special about it and let her know that she can come home and "teach" her younger siblings what she learned. She will be learning letters, sounds, numbers and lots of songs. Get her used to the school by playing on the playground there so that she is familiar with the area. Maybe take her for a tour of the school. This might help to settle her nerves a bit and make her feel more confident on the first day of school. If all else fails, use a reward system. She will love it when she gets there!

If it were me, Id attend school with my daughter until I could see that she was comfortable with her teacher and friends. Sometimes parents need to take more of an active part in making sure there kids are safe at school and with their teachers. Not saying you would not do this. but I think once a child starts to get involved in activities w friends and the teacher then they say "Mom you can go home now" . most times its the parents who are freaking out about sending their baby to school more than the child freaks out about being there..

My daughter will be attending Kindgergarten next year as well and she also has days that she doesn't want to go ... and she has been going to PreSchool for two years. One thing I have started putting in place is getting to know the parents and children of the kids that will be in her class and setup play dates with them. Then when it comes time for Kindgergarten she will already know people and have friends to go through the experience with.

One other thing I would suggest (her doctor also recommended it) would be to take her to the school a few times to get use to the environment and to meet her teacher(s). Good luck!

Maybe have a play date with some of her classmates, so she can get to know them a little better. This might help her to feel more comfortable when she sees these familiar faces at school. I've also heard of kids putting pictures of their family in their backpack. That way when she gets lonely, she can look at her picture and feel better.

It's hard to send are kids off to school and especially if they are having a hard time. I would suggest that you meet with her teacher and voice your concerns. Maybe have your child have some time with her teacher. Maybe theirs another child close to you that will be in her class that she can become friends with and then you'll also have their parents to support you. My sons first teacher was very involved and kept us informed that was a comfort to me. Some times it can be hard being the oldest and your daughter sounds so sweet worrying about her younger sisters. I hope it will be a good experience for her and that she can be excited about sharing her day with you and her sisters. Maybe once she gets more adjusted you can volunteer and become involved as much as possible in her learning. I have volunteered in my son class and it helped me to relate with who he was taklking about and aware of what his day was like. I wish you luck and hope others will give you advice.

Hi! I wouldn't worry too much yet...you still have several months to go. I would suggest putting her into a summer school program at one of the pre-schools this summer so she gets used to a classroom, teacher and other kids. She'll probably have so much fun, she'll realize that although being with her sisters is great, it's pretty awesome to be with other friends without her sisters, too. Then you can use the time to tell her, "see, kindergarten will be like this, you get to meet so many new friend, you're just going to love it!" And whenever my pre-schooler (who is also going to start K in the fall) gets clingy when I try to drop her off at school, we play the "push mommy out the door" game. I drop her off, hug and kiss her, then say in a confused voice "what do we do now? don't we push..." then she finishes off with "mommy out the door" and literally pushes me out the door, while I pretend to want to stay. "oh no! I'm being pushed out the door !!" etc. It really seems to work! Also the suggestion about setting up playdates with future classmates is a great idea. Then she would already know some kids in her class. If you can't set up playdates before school starts, then set them up as soon as school starts so you can get to know other parents while your daughter gets to know the children. Contact the school to see if there will be any "socials" before school starts or open houses for the kids to meet the teacher and classmates before school actually starts (a lot of schools do that these days). I think some schools may even let your daughter spend a morning in the classroom this year, just to check it out. Again, contact your school and ask them about this. The most likely scenario will be that she'll be shy and unhappy for the first couple of weeks, then meet a couple of friends, then narrow it down to that one "best" friend and then you're all set. She'll soon be running away from you to get to her classroom even faster. At least that was the case with my 2 older kids who were also very apprehensive about starting school. Good luck!

You have months before she needs to be excited about school. But you might want to take her on a visit to the school she will be attending and maybe even the different classrooms. If you know of other children that are her age and going to be attending that school and grade level, see if you can start a play group now with those parents and children. I would ask her questions get her opinion on school and what she is scared of or excited about. This will guide you on how to help her get excited about it. HOpe that helps, C.