For little ones (young PK applicants might be just turned 3)
I went ahead and bribed. Worked like a dream.

We also said we were looking at potential schools for our child for the next year (this was for 1st). To go and have a good time and remember to be herself/himself as usual in class.

I did do a little coaching on a behavior that we had been dealing with at home because I knew they would be asking some academic-like questions. Our child at the time had a little bit of an attitude if told or asked about something "academic" that he/she already knew. We reminded DC to answer questions like that politely (this was nothing new - we were doing that all the time anyway). We reminded DC that children learn at different rates and are exposed to material differently across schools and families. We highlighted that these new teachers were getting to know everyone and would be asking questions as part of that process. It ended up working out well.

Our DS just finished his 5th (and last) pre-k/k visit, and all indications are that each went well. We used the very low key approach, and it worked for him/us.

We told him that we needed his help picking his next school. And each visit would give him a chance to have fun with some other kids, possibly make new friends, and meet new teachers at each school we're considering for him. After each session, we then asked him whether he had fun, and did he like the other kids, the teachers, and the classroom.

Anonymous wrote: My DD does not always separate well . . .

We had the opposite separation problem; "I want to stay longer" was his usually response. After the first one, we had to work with him a little so that he wasn't too disappointed when each play date was over!

Admission people are very friendly and easy to be with. These play dates should be fun for children and not high pressure. Don't worry!

Yikes sorry for auto fix late night typos above. Hope post makes sense.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Ditto. Do mot express stress or tell child how to nehave other then to tell them to enjoy and listen. The best thing is s good nights rest, a nutritious breskfast and not rushing. Dress neatly but nothing like lil Lloyd Fauntleroy.

Since parents aren't allowed down in the room, I explained that I was doing a visit with all the parents and he was doing a visit with the kids. We were both going to be making some new friends. Then I explained when you make new friends, you are nice and polite. It worked.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Lol! I suspect most parents say this.