Are We Ready for Kindergarten?

Dear Parents,

Leaving the comfort of the JCC Pre-K family and entering the world of the kindergarten is an exciting and important milestone for a five year old. As with any big transition however, it is natural to experience feelings of sadness, and even some fear, amongst the joy of watching your child enter this next stage. We are all too aware that kindergarten today is much more academically focused, bringing with it a new pressure on accountability and measurable performance. This increasing emphasis on formal instruction and acquisition of skills puts greater maturity demands on our children, and unfortunately so much of what is precious about a child’s early years may be lost amongst what feels like a frantic frenzy to achieve.

Our goal here at the Parent Resource Center is to help you enjoy this first step into this wonderful stage of life, while also helping you to prepare your child as best we can for this next big milestone. A parent’s key job at times of transition is to support their child’s growing independence, let go gracefully and enjoy the journey by being present in the moment. We hope we can assist you in feeling fully prepared for the journey into Kindergarten, so that you may have the opportunity to truly enjoy the exciting stage you and your child are experiencing right now.

The following are a number of helpful tips and answers to your questions on how to take advantage of these last few weeks of summer, while also helping to prepare your child for the coming fall:

Tips for Kindergarten Success

What skills will my child need to posses in order to succeed in Kindergarten?

School success requires young children to:

Understand their own feelings and the feelings of others

Be able to separate comfortably from parents

Cooperate with both peers and adults

Resolve conflict successfully and control their own behavior

Be enthusiastic about learning

Be able to communicate

Acclimate to being in a group situation learning with others

Have self-help skills needed to get through the day

Have strong fine motor skills

Have basic alphabet and number awareness

How can I help ensure my child will be successful in these areas?

Children feel secure when they know what to expect. You can help set them up for success by making the transition easier:

Visit the new school a few weeks before, ask for a tour or show them their classroom

Show them their bus-stop both near home and at school

Discuss new bed time and morning routines

Pick out a first day of school outfit together

Find out who is in the class and, if possible, and arrange play dates with some of the  children                    

 Begin a countdown to the first day so it doesn’t come as a complete surprise the night before

Please remember: it is important to do each of these a little at a time so as not to overwhelm them!

How else can I help lay down the foundation for my child to succeed in this new academic environment?

You can prepare your child while enjoying time with them by doing the following:

Saying their full name, address, and phone number

Printing their own name or at least the first letter

 Use a scissor, glue, pencils, etc.

 Play card games such as Crazy Eights or Go Fish to help with patterning and sorting

 Give concrete opportunities to count things – not just memorize counting numbers

 Play board or playground games where there are rules to follow

 READ DAILY! This is the single most important step in laying the foundation for academic success! 

For those wishing to gain a little more guidance and understanding of this monumental moment in time, a workshop on Getting Your Child Ready for September will be held on Wed. August 8^th at 10:00am at our Oceanside building.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about your child’s readiness for kindergarten. I would be more than happy to discuss this transition with you.

All the best,

Karen Horowitz

Director of Parenting Resource Network

khorowitz@friedbergjcc.org 634-4192