I told my son when he was applying for K that these visits were the single most important thing in his life and that if he was not on his A game he would most likely end up a homeless meth head.

I just told my kids we were going to look at schools and meet some people. They are pretty well behaved normally so I didn't add any behavior suggestions. My son did announce that he really hated a school in front of the AD. Whatever. I am sure he isn't the first and won't be the last. Obviously, we crossed it off the list. People make this process far more stressful than it should be.

Back to the original question: I told DD that we were going to visit the school where she might go to K, so she could see the school and meet some of the other kids and teachers. To explain why they'd be asking "testing" questions (draw a picture, math/reading exercises, whatever it is they do), I added that they were trying to figure out what the right class for her would be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

i completely agree. Even young children know when they need to be on their best behavior: at church, during a play or musical performance, when they meet new people. Children rise to the occasion when they have an opportunity to 'show what they can do' be it sit in circle time, raise their hand to ask a question, treat another child with kindness, or use good manners when addressing an adult.

Amen. It is up to us to teach them that there are expectations in society. Going off topic a bit, but it drives me crazy that so few people teach their children common courtesy - please, thank you, excuse me...etc. They need to know at an early age that there are times that - even more than other times - they need to step it up. I am not advocating for making them a nervous wreck by telling them something like their whole future depends on it (that's nuts), but they need to know what's up.

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

i completely agree. Even young children know when they need to be on their best behavior: at church, during a play or musical performance, when they meet new people. Children rise to the occasion when they have an opportunity to 'show what they can do' be it sit in circle time, raise their hand to ask a question, treat another child with kindness, or use good manners when addressing an adult.

A good night's sleep and ensure they are well fed-- most important.

My DD does not always separate well, I explained that I'd be in a boring meeting and she was really lucky b/c she'd be with other kids and able to play. Helped her to know I'd be nearby and that she was the "lucky one".

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

Are you trolling?

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

I set a bar of decent behavior for my child every day, so I wouldn't need to explain that to my child for them to know it's an expectation.

My child went on several playdates that were poorly organized and where he came out and told me "I decided no on this one". I wouldn't have wanted him to have had the idea that behaving badly would get him out of going there.

Keep it low-key. It's only kindergarten!!! Life will actually not hinge on this.

Remember that when we were looking at schools, this poor little boy just burst into tears before the day even started. And his parents were freaking out. What ever the result was, that's far too much pressure at such a young age. Really truly it is. If it wasn't meant to be, so what?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

Tell a kid this and they'll likely get nervous and blow the whole thing.

Not a well-adjusted one . I agree with this approach.

Anonymous wrote:I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

Tell a kid this and they'll likely get nervous and blow the whole thing.

I would let them know the stakes are a bit higher than the PPs. Say the child needs to be on her best behavior so the school can see what a great little girl she is. Let her know the school can only have well-behaved children in its classes. I am sure this will be flamed, but children do need to understand there are expectations of them in life and setting a bar of decent behavior is far from flameworthy.

Agreed. I told my daughter that I was taking her to a play date at the school to see if she liked it for Kindergarten. I told her that only think I asked of her was to have fun and participate. She loved it.

I just told my son we were looking at different schools for him to go to, for kindergarten, and he would hang out for a couple hours at some of them, just to see what they were like. I told him to have fun, and if he needed anything, just ask the teacher. I'd pick him up at X time.

I kept it very low key.

What to do to get DD ready other than explain what she will be doing that day?