Now Hiring Teachers For Our VPK & Toddler Programs! If you’re interested in playing a crucial role in shaping a child’s future APPLY HERE!
Each spring, caterpillars go through a major transition, changing to a pupa, then turning into a beautiful butterfly. This transition is much like the one a preschooler goes through during their first school year before kindergarten. The symbolism of your child’s growth during the past year at preschool and the new adventures that are about to start in kindergarten can help us as parents and teachers understand what our young students are dealing with.
Preschool graduation planning can begin in spring as students start discussing summer plans, taking readiness tests, and prepping for what lies ahead. Saying good bye to preschool can be an emotional process for both children and parents as it is often a child’s very first experience with a school environment.
Here are some helpful tips from our wonderful preschool educators that will help you ease the transition into kindergarten with grace & peace:
Helping Your Preschooler Cope with Feelings
Always be open to acknowledge both your child’s feelings and your feelings about them moving on to kindergarten. Let them know that it’s OK to be nervous but discuss all of the fun they will have and how many new activities they will get to do. Answer their questions and even share some stories about things that you enjoyed from your early years during school.
Read Books
There are a number of great books available at your library or local book store that will discuss how characters adjust to new situations and changes in their life. You can use these books to start conversations about what it will be like to graduate from preschool and move on to kindergarten. It’s a great idea to take cues from these books on how to help your little one get ready for the move to the next adventure of kindergarten.
Some good choices are The Night Before Kindergarten, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, Kindergarten Rocks!, and Look out Kindergarten, Here I Come!
Take a Tour of the New School or Talk with the Teacher
Smooth transitions from preschool to kindergarten depend on connections made between participants in the process. If your child’s kindergarten provides a daily schedule of activities ahead of time, go over it with your child. Take photos of the school, the classroom, and the new teacher, if possible and revisit these many times over the summer in order to get your child excited about the new adventure ahead.
The incredible educators and caregivers at Kids ‘R’ Kids Avalon Park offer an excellent preschool program that helps develop the social and academic skills your child will need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. If you’d like to discuss the benefits of choosing a program at our Avalon Park campus, contact us today!