How To Ready Your Kindergartener For Class

Get your cameras ready. Kindergarten is a special time that marks the start of many children's academic careers.

Yes, it’s the back-to-school time of year already. With the short summer we have had in Renton, it makes it even that much harder.

Area teachers offer some suggestions for easing your kids back into school — and a long-time kindergarten teacher offers her tips for the FIRST trip to school for your son or daughter’s first classroom excursion.

When Schools Start:

The  has two dates for starting time.

• K-5 students start August 31.
• If you have a Renton address your kids might go to either the Kent or the Issaquah School District. Issaquah starts on August 30, while the Kent School District starts on September 1.

Advice for parents of kindergartners:

"A relaxed parent makes a relaxed child!” said retired Renton School District teacher, Kathy McBeth. “If the parent is calm about getting the child off (and not hovering, wanting to stay the first day, making a big deal about parting) the child usually has a great day!” 

McBeth knows kindergartners. After all, she taught in the Renton School District for 35 years, and sometimes it is the parent—not the child—with the separation anxiety.

“Every year I had some parent who could not BEAR to leave her child,” McBeth said. “I would let her walk with us to the door of the classroom, help her child hang up his coat and backpack, and then escort her out to the hall,” Mc Beth chuckles.

McBeth says that she felt like a “Mean Teacher” but she would then phone the parent within the hour to tell them their child was happy and having a wonderful time.

McBeth suggests taking your child to the for story time prior to school starting so that they are more comfortable with group settings. In particular, if the child didn’t go to preschool. Another good suggestion is to take advantage of your school's open house — designed for first-time students.

There are other things that a parent can help the child with before kindergarten, such as writing their name. “Don’t use all capital letters,” McBeth suggests.

“In school, a child’s name is always printed with a capital letter for the first letter and the rest of the letters are in lower case,” she said.

Kindergartners should be prepared to go to the bathroom without assistance and wash their hands, button their coats and tie their shoes, or at least use Velcro, if at all possible. McBeth has stories of kindergarteners stranded in the bathroom waiting for "assistance" in completing their bathroom duties.

McBeth suggests talking to your child’s school about what supplies are needed. Many welcome tissues, hand sanitizers, and other school supplies that are needed.

Kindergartners aren’t the only ones that need to get ready for the transition to school. Even middle school and high school students need some transition time getting ready for the new year.