All about kindergarten: How to prepare your child and what to expect

Sending your child to kindergarten is full of exciting firsts, but it can also come with some common concerns and questions. What skills should my child know before entering the classroom? What if my son or daughter is afraid of school? How can I support my kid’s teacher?

To get answers to these and other questions, we asked Durham Public Schools to provide some insight into the kindergarten process. Casey Watson, DPI’s communications specialist, shared the following tips.

What can parents do at home to help prepare their kids for kindergarten?

We know that families are our students’ first and most important teachers. Families can support their young learners by establishing family routines around reading and sharing stories together.

Families can also help prepare their child for kindergarten by helping their child learn the letters in their name, playing rhyming games together, counting together on family walks and in the store, and supporting your child’s vocabulary development by talking to them often and including them in family conversations.

The summer before kindergarten is also a great time to practice fine motor skills like using scissors, glue, crayons, and pencils!

What skills or knowledge should a child have before entering kindergarten?

DPI has a great resources called “Foundations for Families,” available in both English and Spanish, that show some of the skills students can work on at home prior to entering kindergarten.

How do you help kids who struggle with separation anxiety or fear when they come to school?

We encourage parents to making the first week of school something to look forward to with their child. If you are able to drive, walk, or take the bus to visit the playground at your child’s school that can help them to feel familiar in the space.

You can also point out the yellow school busses you see around Durham and share the excitement of riding the bus as a kindergartner. Many families also make a plan for their student to have time to share about their day, so families can start getting in the routine of making space to share about their day prior to the first day of school.

Some families who have not been separated from their children for a prolonged time may decide to have short “practice sessions” away from their children and work up to longer periods of time without a parent present. This might include playing with a cousin for a short time, staying with a trusted neighbor while parent goes to the grocery store, and building up to longer periods of separation.

Validate and honor your child’s fears, but also remind them that you are excited to see them when you are back together again!

How can parents best support their child’s teacher?

Communication is the No. 1 way to support a teacher. If information comes home, please be sure to read and respond. If you have a question, email the teacher or call the school.

How is discipline handled in kindergarten?

A lot of kindergarten discipline is managed through re-directing students, celebrating positive behaviors (with tools like Class Dojo), and providing time out to process big feelings. Our youngest learners are just learning about school, so teachers provide frequent reminders of the class expectations and school procedures to keep everyone safe and engaged in learning.

What aspect of kindergarten do kids usually struggle with the most, and how do you help them?

Students who have not been in person will need extra care, love and support as they adjust their daily routines to be away from family and friends.

What kinds of books should parents read to their children? Any recommendations?

Any book your child loves is a great book to read together! The best thing you can do is build a habit of reading together and model the joys of reading and sharing texts with your child. Here are some resources:

• The North Carolina Children’s Book Award has some great books to try!
• The Durham County Library has a kindergarten reading list of books they recommend.
• The Children’s Book Council is the only national children’s book award selected by kids! Here is the 2020 list.

How do you measure students' academic progress?

There are multiple measures used to help monitor the academic progress of kindergartners. Teachers use the Early Learning Inventory to monitor many facets of a child’s development from language, numeracy, and pre-reaching skills to social, emotional and physical skills. Teachers monitor progress over a continuum that is composed of skills between birth and 3rd grade.

Teachers will also closely monitor a student’s reading ability through diagnostic measures. This upcoming year will be monitored by mClass where teachers closely listen to students read and monitor their growth over time.

How important are playing and social interactions in kindergarten?

Social learning is critical to success in elementary school – playing and socializing support students’ cooperation, communication, imagination, critical thinking skills, and more.

We know that students who learn through play will experience increased confidence as it reinforces their academic learning and self-esteem. Durham Public Schools has an Outdoor Learning guide to support outdoor learning through play as well as indoor play. While the work of kindergarten is serious, it is also fun.

Kelly Hinchcliffe, a longtime education reporter, is a mom and lives in Orange County.