First day of kindergarten - take child in or no?

[Anonymous]

My son starts kindergarten this year. On a normal day, I will have to take him in early for before care because school starts late. What did you all do for the first day of school? Do you take in to before care? Drop off at the regular time for the first day of school and then do before care on day two? I don't think my kid is together enough to do anything like a drop off line even if they had one.

[Anonymous]

Do what you would do every other drop off. So if its you dropping off at before care, then do that on the first day. Stick to a routine.

[Anonymous]

Ask the principal. If the first day is a special event including parents, stay. If not, go with the flow.

[Anonymous]

I'd start your normal routine from day 1.

[Anonymous]

We are trying to stick with the routine for the first day. My DD will take the bus and I will drive over separately for the little welcome party. Then everything else will be the same.

[Anonymous]

Start as you mean to go on. On the first day, there will be lots of staff eyes and hands ready to help lost/confused/uncertain kids and get them where they need to go -- and lots of kids will be doing this for the first time. On the second day, there will be lots of kids who know where they're supposed to go, plus your kid who's new to the game.

[Anonymous]

They may not let you even if you wanted to. My school purposely intercepts kids at the door to avoid drawn out tearful goodbyes that come with parents walking their kids in.

[Anonymous]

In our school, most parents take the kids on the first day so they can get the photos. That is what most of my friends do too.

[Anonymous]

Does your school do an "open house" day during the week before school starts? Most do. That's the time to bring supplies and get the child introduced to the classroom and the teacher. If you can go to that, then I'd say take the child to the before care program -- they will be very careful about getting him/her to the right classroom.

If you cannot go to an open house day, then I would take the child to the before care room to show him/her where it is, then I would personally take the child to the classroom on the first day. Most kids do just fine until later in the week when they realize this is the plan EVERY DAY!!! And they are no longer intrigued by the newness.

[Anonymous]

My son just finished kinder and was in the before school care. I took him the first day to the before school care program at the time he would normally be dropped off. I spent 15 min. with him and told him I would be back to walk him to his kinder class in 45 min. I went back to my car and waited. Then I went to the before school care got him and took him to his kinder class with the other parents and took pictures. I explained that the following day he would walk with the before school teachers to his kinder classroom.
At the end of the school day I was there waiting 30 min. before the bell rang to get parking. I met him after school and walked him to the after care program and explained he would go there with 5 other kids in his class. I was able to meet some of the parents and take pictures that day.
The next day I dropped him off at the before care center and picked him up at the aftercare center without any problem. I couldn't fathom not seeing his teacher or his classmates on the first day of kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do what you would do every other drop off. So if its you dropping off at before care, then do that on the first day. Stick to a routine.

No, first day of kindergarten is special.

Take the morning off work. Have a leisurely morning, big/special breakfast, photo ops, etc.

Then take them to school, get a picture in front, and if the school lets you, walk your kid to the classroom.

Having done the kindergarten thing several times, there are very few kids, if any, who do not have a parent dropping them off the first day.

It is a special day. Enjoy it. It won't happen again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your school do an "open house" day during the week before school starts? Most do. That's the time to bring supplies and get the child introduced to the classroom and the teacher. If you can go to that, then I'd say take the child to the before care program -- they will be very careful about getting him/her to the right classroom.

If you cannot go to an open house day, then I would take the child to the before care room to show him/her where it is, then I would personally take the child to the classroom on the first day. Most kids do just fine until later in the week when they realize this is the plan EVERY DAY!!! And they are no longer intrigued by the newness.

Only do this if you have no other options.

You don't want your kid to be the only kindergartner in before care, or the only kid in his class without a parent dropping off/taking pictures.

Start the normal routine on day two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Having done the kindergarten thing several times, there are very few kids, if any, who do not have a parent dropping them off the first day.

?

This is not true at my school, where they tell you to put the child on the bus. Which I did. (Though of course, since I put my child on the bus, I can't rule out the possibility that every other child got dropped off by a parent.)

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. Seems like the first day routine varies by school.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 1:17