As the summer goes by, parents around the world will start to prepare their child for pre-school and kindergarten. Many of these children will be attending an educational programme away from home for the first time. Parents can help make their child’s first experience a success by assessing their own feelings and expectations, and by looking at how they can reinforce skills that the child is required to have at school. Articles about starting pre-school and kindergarten often focus on what parents can communicate to their child as a preparation for starting school. Looking beyond these conversations, there are other ways that parents can prepare themselves and their child for school.

  • Parents can consider and discuss amongst themselves what they think the first day and week of school will be like. Do they know the routine that their child will follow? Do they have a plan if their child cries and does not want them to leave during the first few days? Are they feeling emotional about this first day? Will they experience separation anxiety after their child walks through the classroom door? Sometimes these emotions come on suddenly and unexpectedly; however, a parent will often know the answer to these questions well in advance off the first day of school.
  • While touring the classroom and school in advance of the first day, parents can consider the classroom, playground, lunchroom and bathrooms facilities. They can imagine their child functioning in these areas. Are there ways in which they can help support their child as she develops skills to look after and change clothes; function in a setting with other children; use a washroom independently; and, eat in a group setting? Has their child spent time away from the parents or a family member? Does their child know how to listen to and follow instructions? Can their child remain focussed on a task for a specific period of time?
  • Parents who feel anxious about this new adventure can talk to parents of children who are slightly older than their child. They can ask these experienced parents how their family adjusted to the new routine at school. Once school has started, a parent can make an effort to get to know other parents and socialize on and off the school grounds.
  • Parents should pay close attention to the expectations that the school has of their child. Their child will be expected to bring in and care for belongings and items requested by the teacher; complete homework carefully and in a timely fashion; show up and be retrieved on time; be well rested and fed; and bring a nutritional lunch. Parents are expected to fill in forms and even sign up to help for events or to help out. An efficient and thoughtful approach to these requirements will help to create a firm foundation for a child’s education. The interest that a parent takes in their child’s education communicates a message to their child – that the child’s education is a priority for the parents. Recent research findings indicate that a child is well served if the parents focus on the child’s efforts at school rather than beliefs about the child’s level of intelligence. By making a concerted effort to pay attention to the many tasks connected with school life, the parent can set an example of how one can make an effort at school.
  • It is not uncommon for parents to relive old and sometimes negative feelings about their school experiences when their eldest child starts school for the first time. If one or both of the parents disliked school or felt uncomfortable in educational settings, these old emotions need to addressed. Attitudes towards teachers, administrators and homework need to be reassessed with a fresh eye so that old patterns that may have affected the parents’ school years do not return to haunt their child.
  • Most importantly, once parents have selected a school for their child, they need to put their faith in the teachers and administration. Pre-schools are often privately owned, and in many cities open boundaries allow parents to choose from a number of public kindergarten classes near the family home. In more restrictive school districts, some parents will move to neighbourhoods so that their child can enter a school within a catchment area. Ideally parents will choose an early learning environment that has an educational philosophy well suited to the beliefs and values of the child’s family. Many conflicts between parents and schools could be avoided if a careful matching of school and family took place during the screening process. As an example, if parents want their child to engage in free play in the pre-school and kindergarten years, they would be ill advised to enroll their child in a traditional Montessori programme. At a time when pre-school/kindergartens compete with other educational institutions down the road for students, it is often up to the parent to discern if the marriage of family and school will be a happy one.