Son starts K next month. He's excited but also getting anxious about new stuff. Any tips on making the transition smooth? He's a sensitive kid so I want to do this right.
Genuinely don't stress about the sensitive part too much. Teachers deal with anxious K kids all the time and they're usually really good at helping them settle. You doing right by preparing him shows he's got a supportive parent
Sensitive kids sometimes do better with like a "practice run" visit to the school before it starts if they haven't done that. Just walking around the classroom, meeting the teacher, seeing where his cubby is. The concrete stuff helps more than just talking about it.
One thing that helped us - let him pick out his own lunch box and backpack. Gave him some ownership over the transition. Plus he was excited to USE the stuff instead of anxious about the situation.
The book thing is huge. We also just kept talking about it casually - not making it into a Big Deal but reminding him about classroom stuff in a regular way. Seems to help desensitize it.
our kid's school did a whole "kindergarten readiness" week before official start - kids came for like 30 min sessions. If your school offers that, sign up immediately
My sensitive kid did SO much better once we read books about kindergarten leading up to it. We got "The Kissing Hand" and another one about starting school. Made it less scary because he knew what was coming.
Does his new school do a transition week or anything? Some K classes ease kids in with like half days the first week, that made a huge difference for my anxious kid.
Do a bunch of visits to the actual classroom if they'll let you. My sensitive kid was a wreck until we went 3x before school started and saw his cubby, met the teacher, knew where the bathroom was. Changed everything
Books help too. We read like 5 different "starting kindergarten" books the month before. Gave our son language for his feelings which actually calmed him down
This is such a sensitive kid thing - my daughter is the same way and the book recommendations actually worked way better than just saying "it'll be fine!"
Get the teacher's email NOW and ask if you can do an extra visit. Most kindergarten teachers are cool about it for anxious kids. Just one more walkthrough so nothing feels brand new on day 1
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lol same, i was prepared to have a nightmare but honestly once he saw other kids felt weird about it too he relaxed. the teacher said like half the class is nervous. kind of a relief