for those who have btdt with kindergarten, what should I know?

[Anonymous]

I have a kindergartener starting in MCPS this year. We both work full time, so she's been in daycare/preschool forever. I'm planning to put her on the bus (though we live only a few blocks from the school and can drop her off), but am now debating. I'm a little worried she won't get on the bus the first day of school, though she does know some of the neighborhood kids (they're older though). If she gets on, I plan to follow the bus to school to see her off. I'm not sure how that will work, because I'm sure the school bus dropoff on the first day is fairly chaotic.

DD is not the overly anxious type, but she can be reserved and quiet in new situations, which is what I fully expect the first day. She's also been a little clingy to me lately, which is kind of unusual. She even cried for me yesterday afternoon at preschool, which is very odd (though I think she's getting a little cold, so it may be related to that).

Anything else I should know about this day? Any suggestions for preparing her without stressing her out, or for me?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Put on a big smile and show her that it's exciting. The bus will be late dropping off for the first week b/c the driver is getting to know the kids and will make sure every kid on the list is getting off at the right point.

Put her on the bus the first day. Meet her if you wish on the other side, but know that they will have teachers and patrols meeting kids to get them to the right room. Also, she will go to the open house, right? That will get her used to the room and teacher (a little).

hundreds of thousands of 5 yr olds go to kindergarten every year.... they survive and thrive. Your child will too. Be prepared for the second week of school to be the "I don't want to go" part. The kids think it's all cool and fun the first week, but when they realize THIS IS THE DEAL FOR EVERY WEEK, some of them freak out and resist school with tears and drama. Since your kid has been in daycare, she will probably be just fine.

[Anonymous]

Also, don't put your child in clothes that she doesn't know how to work. Or -- make sure s/he knows how to get out of those clothes. It's happened on occasion that a boy or girl is put into some cute outfit (especially with belts) and the kid cannot get out of the belt part and ends up pooping or peeing in their pants only b/c they couldn't get out of their clothes in time! I can only imagine the stress on that kid!

[Anonymous]

Expect your child to be really tired by the end of the day. Even if she's used to full day daycare, kindergarten is different. So make as few demands on her as possible in the evening and plan on an early bedtime.

[Anonymous]

She will do great! Depending on the school they have different procedures on letting parents in/dropping of etc.
First of, if you are close to school, make sure you qualify for the bus, I believe it is 1+mile or major intersections?
Second, I would put her on the bus first day and pick her up from bus first day, no following, etc. That way you establish new normal and stick to it. If you both work full time, I assume you are staggering the schedules because bus pick up at my tier 2 school is like 9:05 and drop off is around 3:50. An adult has to be present at bus stop for K'ers.
Otherwise, my DS didnt have any issues, first week or so they wore pins on their closes indicating the classroom/bus so anyone at school can help. I think this varies by school, but at ours they have open house 1 hr prior to official one just for K parents, so principal can address all concerns like that. They explained the whole bus/drop off/ process there.

[Anonymous]

Ha! Yes, 1020, I was actually planning on the third day being the I-don't-want-to-go-back-there phase.

And yes, we are going to the open house. She's also been to the playground several times, so she has some familiarity with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Expect your child to be really tired by the end of the day. Even if she's used to full day daycare, kindergarten is different. So make as few demands on her as possible in the evening and plan on an early bedtime.

+1000

It took a couple months for my child to really adjust. I had registered for afternoon/evening activities as well because I never anticipated how tired she would be and we had to drop them.

[Anonymous]

The bus can be crowded and unhelpful. Just check it out. I was surprised by the meanness of the older children.

[Anonymous]

The thing you need to know is that she will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bus can be crowded and unhelpful. Just check it out. I was surprised by the meanness of the older children.

I guess it depends on the kids and bus driver. Bus ride was highlight of my DS days for good half of K and even now. He made friends with bunch of older kids (patrol) and they really looked out for Kers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Expect your child to be really tired by the end of the day. Even if she's used to full day daycare, kindergarten is different. So make as few demands on her as possible in the evening and plan on an early bedtime.

+1000

It took a couple months for my child to really adjust. I had registered for afternoon/evening activities as well because I never anticipated how tired she would be and we had to drop them.

Agree. DS quickly wanted to drop every extracurricular activity he'd been doing in preschool. We dropped them and then added back 1 thing in Spring (soccer).

[Anonymous]

Why would you follow the bus in your car? And why is she taking a bus if you're only a few blocks away? Is she physically disabled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you follow the bus in your car? And why is she taking a bus if you're only a few blocks away? Is she physically disabled?

Are you mentally disabled?

[Anonymous]

OP, begin as you mean to continue. That saying was really helpful to me with my kids. One thing I did differently with my younger one was made sure he learned how to buy lunch the first week. I always pack school lunches and my older one really wanted the Friday pizza (I know, I know) but because she'd gone the whole year without ever buying, she was really intimidated by the process, even though there were teachers to help and I came in to show her a few times. It took her till almost the end of 1st grade before she felt confident, so with my younger kid, I made sure he bought the first week. Maybe it's my kid, and other kids wouldn't have that problem...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, begin as you mean to continue. That saying was really helpful to me with my kids. One thing I did differently with my younger one was made sure he learned how to buy lunch the first week. I always pack school lunches and my older one really wanted the Friday pizza (I know, I know) but because she'd gone the whole year without ever buying, she was really intimidated by the process, even though there were teachers to help and I came in to show her a few times. It took her till almost the end of 1st grade before she felt confident, so with my younger kid, I made sure he bought the first week. Maybe it's my kid, and other kids wouldn't have that problem...

The teachers really emphasized the "start as you mean to go on" concept when DCs began K. My younger DC had to be pulled from my arms and put on the bus, even though her older sister was on the bus and she was very familiar with the routine. She was crying, I was crying, it was terrible. That afternoon she bounced off the bus, excited about her first day and laughing that she had cried in the morning. I figured it was better in the long run for DC to learn the bus routine while all the other kids were new to it -- and would have extra help -- then for me to start putting her on the bus the 2nd week of school.

Also, PP had another good point about buying lunches. There is so much support for K students the first few weeks of school and then that gradually fades out. Your DC really needs to take advantage of that time to do as many firsts as possible, including buying lunch.