Countdown to Pre-School Activity Timeline

The change from being at home to starting pre-school is a major transition period, both for the child, and for the whole family. The transition to make the change takes time and planning in order to make the move to pre-school as smooth as possible.

It is helpful to start with transition activities and planning even a whole year in advance. If a year is not possible, as time does fly by too fast for most of us, even using the summer to begin a countdown to pre-school will help when the first day of pre-school arrives.

Some of the transitional activities include:

Attend informational school sessions before and after registration, meet the school staff, get to know what is expected by the pre-school program

Attend classroom preview events where you may be able to see your child’s future classroom, meet their teacher, the school staff, and check out all the areas, including the play area, where your child may be involved in.

Take your child if permitted to all school planning events

Plan early for any testing, meetings, and evaluations if your child has any special needs, has sensory processing deficits, behavioral or emotional issues, or needs special accommodation.

If your child is going to need an IEP, 504 Plan, or educational plan, start early to be sure all testing, meetings, and plans are in place before pre-school begins.

If you know your child is going to need special help or accommodation, but not sure just what, ask for testing and evaluations. Ask for direction even a year in advance of starting pre-school so that there is plenty of time to put what is needed in place well before your child walks into the pre-school classroom.

Find out the school and pre-school guidelines:

o   Can you visit during the day?

o   Can you walk your child to class?

o   What is the daily schedule like?

o   What is used for parent / teacher communication?

o   How are snacks and lunch time handled? What kind of food can you send? Is there a cooler or a way to heat food?

o   How are difficult behaviors handled (for any child)?

o   Is there an area for quiet time when sensory overload happens?

o   Are fidgets allowed?

o   How is bus seating assigned? Is there an aide on the bus?

o   Who will be responsible for any medications your child takes? Are their special forms to fill out?

Activities to Get Ready and Begin Countdown to Pre-School

o  Start creating routines like setting a bedtime and wake-up time – you may need to slowly adjust their times by 5-15 minutes backwards or forwards to get to the time you are wanting to stick with

o  Read books and watch movies about going to school – check out your local library for help in finding books for your child’s age and attention level

o  Sign them up for their very own library card and then make weekly (or daily) visits to check out books, attend story time or other library events

o  Start promoting some independence in letting your child select what clothes they will wear – you may want to have them pre-select their outfit the night before and then get into the habit of having them ready their clothes and stick with their choices!

o  Work on and practice zipping, Velcro closures, putting on a jacket, and so on

o  Count the number of steps to the bus stop, or from the car to the school’s front door

o  Try to replace TV and game console time with paper/pencil activities, arts and crafts, reading time, park time

o  Plan a “school spot” with your child so they will know where jackets go, backpacks are placed, where they can work on any school/home work; before school even starts let them spend some time each day in their “school spot” to color, do crafts, read, or sit and talk about events of the day

o  Try to arrange some playdates at your house, another child’s home, the park, the library, and so on

o  Try to get your child used to you not being there. Arrange a sitter, time with a family member, a playdate, and so on where you leave for a time

o  Practice saying “hello” and “goodbye” and let them know they will see you after school time

o  Get your child used to gathering their school items, like their backpack, lunch box, jacket, and be ready to go in a certain amount of time – you can use a timer or other system to let them get the feel of getting ready within a certain time frame

o  Playtime and sharing with others can be practiced at the park, during playdates, or other social situations to get them used to circle time, group activities, turn-taking, and group play

o  Try to find group play times that your child can start to participate in – tumbling or gymnastics classes, horseback centers, meet-up play groups at the park, library story time, music or art classes as examples

o  Go with your child to purchase a backpack so they have some choice in what they will like to use and it helps to let them know they are a “big kid” now

o  Have your child participate the best they can in labeling all their school items (backpack, lunch box, jacket, art box, etc)

o  Walk or ride the route to school pointing out all the landmarks along the way – let them know the way back home too!

o  Talk about what the day at pre-school may be like and what they may expect. Let them know you will be seeing them again and that they will be safe and everything will be ok.

o  Set up a “count-down calendar” that your child can help X off the days on – you can post pictures of the school, their classroom, their teacher, the bus, and them wearing their backpack, and so on right onto the calendar!

o  Let your child help pack their backpack and lunch box – help soothe any fears and talk about their day at pre-school in a positive light

o  If they want to include a favorite stuffed animal, photo of you, or a book in their backpack it may help them have less anxiety about leaving you and adjusting to all the changes

o  Develop a “good-bye” routine to help with the transition – examples could be singing a little song, a kiss on the top of their head, a high-five, showing them what their after-school snack will be, or anything that works for you both

Keep a positive tone and attitude to help your child through the changes and transition – This is a difficult, emotional time for the whole family - Stay calm – you may get tears in your eyes as you say goodbye for the first couple of weeks, but it will get better – your child is growing up!

Following this series on Pre-School Readiness will be the next big transition, Kindergarten and School Readiness, and our Series to develop those skills and abilities!

Please share!

Thanks for your support of TheraPlay4Kids.com