Kindergarten Kickstart Part One: Self Care Skills




Thanks for joining me in the first part of our Kindergarten Kickstart series: A Practical Guide to Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten. As a former kindergarten teacher (now stay-at-home-mom) I’m very excited to share with you some tips and insights as your child begins his or her first year of school! Whether your child is attending public, private, or homeschool, the preparations we discuss will make your child’s next step toward becoming an independent thinker, learner, and leader much easier.



{Disclaimer : I come from a public school background, but I support each family’s decision to educate their kids in the way that works best for your family during this season. My observations and suggestions will reflect the experience I have from the classroom, but can be applied across many educational pathways.}



Today we are discussing what I consider to be the most important skills for a child to have in a classroom environment. Your child’s teacher is prepared to teach her students everything from how to walk in a line to why it’s cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Yet these skills attained prior to entry to school will help your child be confident in him/herself and will help you to be confident that your child will be okay without you. {I know, I know...maybe you want him to need you - and he will always need you, just perhaps not for every little thing.}



The best way to see if your child has already mastered these skills is for you to be a little more ‘hands off’ in the weeks nearing the first day of school. This will help you to see where she may need some instruction and will help her to become aware that she has skills that she can rely upon.



Also, through all of these areas, your child’s teacher is not going to be completely hands-off. Nor will she expect perfect mastery of all these things. She will help, really. Just remember that she is having to help 20 kids, not just one. The more your child can do independently, the more she will be able to accomplish in a day...and not spend the day waiting.



Here are the major areas of self-care that I recommend focusing on before beginning Kindergarten.



Routine

Teachers rely upon regular routines to help their classroom operate safely and smoothly. It’s a way for all children to feel involved in the goings-on of their room and let’s them exert a great deal of self-direction and control. {Yes, it is a BIG deal to kids that they get to put their own backpacks/lunch boxes in the right place without any help.} This often requires that they remember and execute several directions in the right order and in a quick fashion. For example, in the mornings my kids would come in, unpack their backpacks and put them in their cubbies, put their binder on the counter, make their lunch choice for the day, and then move to their seat for their morning activity. Of course I spent WEEKS teaching this routine, but it was obvious to me that there were children for whom this was a very new expectation, thus making it difficult for them to begin the day smoothly and confidently.



You are likely already helping your child prepare for this, even if you don’t know it. You’ve been doing a bedtime routine since the early months of your child’s life. Dinner, bath, brush teeth, comb hair, pajamas, bedtime story, prayers, and lights out. {You know, perfect world.} See if your child can do it on his own. After dinner, let your child go through whatever routine you’ve already established and tell him you’ll meet him in bed. Try not to remind him of each step and then when you do meet him in bed, go through the steps to see if all things were done. If not, gently and lovingly have him go do that thing he missed, but celebrate ALL the things he remembered! You can also try giving multi-step directions and then watching her follow through. “Julie, please clear the table for supper and then make sure everyone has a plate, fork, napkin, and cup at their seats.” “Becca, before you can go outside, you need to get dressed, brush your teeth and your hair, and feed the dog.”



See you’re already relieved aren’t you? You do this all the time!



Bathroom

All kids, unless there are medical reasons, need to be fully toilet trained before kindergarten. This includes being able to pull down clothing, accurately aim :), wipe sufficiently, put clothing back in proper position, and FLUSH. {I never mind helping someone maneuver a snap or button...those can be tricky for little hands.} It also means communicating the need to use the restroom in a timely fashion and using the restroom when given the opportunity. Kids will have accidents. They get busy. The game on the playground is way more fun than going to the bathroom. Kindergarten teachers totally understand this and they are never {in my experience} belittling toward children in these situations. If your child does happen to have an accident, you’ll have provided a change of clothes for the occasion. Your child will be responsible for going into the bathroom, cleaning him/herself up, putting on new clothes, and depositing soiled clothes into a bag provided by the teacher. This may seem like a lot to expect of a five year old, but let’s be real, in the lawsuit-crazy climate of our country, no teacher is going to be in a bathroom helping a partially clothed child. Personally, I always stand right outside the door and hand the child clothing and a plastic bag, giving somewhat blind instruction and reassurance.



Ideally, kids will know how to wash their hands, but I always do a hand-washing lesson or two at the beginning of the year. Your child’s teacher will, no doubt, do the same.



In the coming weeks, try to only give reminders to use the bathroom if you are planning to go somewhere. {This will be the case in school. We always take a trip to the bathroom before leaving for lunch, special electives/assemblies, and recess.} Otherwise, leave it up to your child to know when to go.



Rest

Check with your child’s school as to what the nap/rest policy is for kindergarteners. Unfortunately, this much needed time in the day is becoming obsolete in the name of rigor and maximizing classroom time. In my opinion, there is little to maximize upon when little heads are nodding off during afternoon math lessons. Ah, but that’s a conversation for another day. Most kids coming into kindergarten still take a nap or have a definite rest period in the afternoon and it is extremely difficult for them to stay alert and active all day at school. If your child’s school offers no rest time, help your child to prepare for this eventuality by planning afternoon activities that require focus and movement. Please know that your child’s teacher wishes it could be otherwise and she will plan lessons that are fast paced and highly interactive to try to combat the nodding of heads.



The Nose

This usually becomes a problem a couple of months into the year when all the kids have had an opportunity to share all of their germs. Noses pour with yellowy-white snot and instead of grabbing a tissue, many kids just use their tongues to wipe it away. {Y’all, I wish I was kidding, but alas, I am not. I gag as I type this.} Kids in my room had to ask to use the restroom, but never to get a tissue. Teach your child how to fold a tissue {‘cause you know they are probably going to be one-ply}, blow, and then pinch off the snot. {So sorry, but sometimes you just have to say it.} Repeat if necessary. Then dispose of the used tissue in the trash can, not the floor or back in the tissue box. Hand sanitizer is usually a good idea at this point. Because kids could get tissues at any point, it meant that I wasn’t actively coaching them through this process. It really helps when kids can go through all of the steps independently. So, go blow!



Time to Eat

The following are the skills, in my estimation, that will help your child tremendously in feeling successful and energized while at school. Your child will eat at least twice and perhaps three times while at school. Certainly he will have snack and lunch, but may possibly have breakfast. Many schools have universal breakfast, which means all kids get free breakfast. This may be in the cafeteria or, more likely, their classroom. Because eating is essential to your child maintaining energy during the day, and because the time given to eat said meals is short, your child truly needs to master these skills early in the kindergarten year.

  1. Opening Packages and Containers - So many parents spend lots of money and time packing these super cute, highly desirable, and delicious lunches and snacks, but their children can’t open any of it by themselves. Teach your child how to open their packs of crackers, bags of fruit snacks or chips, and CapriSuns. If you buy a Thermos to send soup or leftover spaghetti, make sure they know how to open it. When you head to Chic-Fil-A and McDonalds, let your child open packets of ketchup and BBQ sauce. I know it is much faster and cleaner for you to do it and you may well be met with resistance {‘I caaaaan’t. It’s too haaaarrrrrrd. You do it. Please?’}, but he will not die trying to open ketchup. Promise.

  2. Eating with a utensil - The spork. Ah that fickle thing. Tines not long enough to stab through a chicken nugget and not round enough to efficiently scrape up the last bite of mashed potatoes. {But perfect for punching holes in a styrofoam tray.} Whether your child’s school allows real forks or requires students to use this weird hybrid, encourage your child to eat with a utensil and not her hands when appropriate. Pizza? Nope. Tinned peaches? Yes, please.

  3. Take Smaller Bites - This helps prevent choking and The Joker look when biting into a PB&J. {You know what I mean, peanut butter from ear to ear.}

  4. Use a Napkin - For spaghetti sauce, chocolate ice cream, or skin-dyeing pink cupcake icing that misses your mouth. Or that really greasy pizza on your hands. It’s really more about self-awareness. Most kids actually don’t realize that food on their face and then, if they do, they typically don’t care. Talk about using your napkin and wiping your face and hands with it {not your shirt, your pants, the chair, or the underside of the table}. If you draw attention to the fact that you do it, your kids will notice you doing it, and usually will follow suit.

  5. Eating and Talking - Times for eating are one of the best chances for chatting in the day. Many times, kids are so busy talking that they forget to eat. Then when it’s time to pack up, they are scarfing down a turkey sandwich or chugging a half-pint of milk. I watched kids throw completely unopened or untouched food away because they spent all their time talking. {On that note, if you do choose to send your child’s lunch, don’t over pack their lunch box. One drink, one main item, and two small sides are usually enough without being wasted.}The best way for your child to become accustomed to this is for you to talk to them at meal times. Ask interesting questions or tell interesting stories, encouraging your child to eat in the mean time. I often advise my students to eat first, then talk. Especially because time is so short {lunch may be as little as 20-25 minutes TOTAL - that includes time for serving and opening of all the packages} it’s important that kids take full advantage of this opportunity to eat as it may be their last one before they get home.

They Need to Know...

...Your Name! It’s so important that your kids know your first and last name.

...What kind and color car you drive. As simple as “My mom drives a white van” will help so much in the carpool line.

...How they are getting home each day. Always send a note in case of transportation change, but make sure your child is aware of it, too.

...That you believe they are ready to go to Kindergarten!



That was long and perhaps a little exhausting. I hope it gives you some things to think about, feel good about, and work on before your child starts Kindergarten!

Tell Me What You’re Thinking!
About what things are you wondering, “Does my child need to…”? How have you adapted these things to homeschool? Do you think these skills are expecting too much of a five/six year old? Or do you think that kids are ready to do these things at this age?

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