Tips on the Transition to Kindergarten

I recently was asked to attend a Kindergarten Workshop at Griffin's school to share our experiences with Alicia's transition to Kindergarten.  Here are some tips/pointers for those of you getting ready for this big transition.

• Kindergarten starts brutally early (8:15 for us) and on time.  Your days of waking up post-sunrise and taking your time in the morning are over.  You will find yourself chanting "Hurry up, we are going to be late!" throughout the morning.
  
  
• Apply to Kindergarten on time.  We didn't.  Our public school opened for registration on Feb 1.  Being as clueless about these things as I was, I moseyed in on Feb 20th and wound up on the waitlist (we were #90 out of 80 spots).  That put us in a panic, as the other schools in our district are really not very good.  So we started looking into private schools and discovered that most of them had closed their admissions by January!  Wow, who knew?  Well, apparently the other 89 parents who signed their kids up on Feb 1.  :(
  
  
• Naptime is no more.  This was actually not a problem for us at all.  Ally spent the last 3 years of pre-school sitting for 1+ hours per day on her mat, wide awake and bored.  So when we told her this summer that she was going to start Kindergarten soon, her first question was, "Is there nap at Kindergarten?"  When we responded no, she started cheering.  But I know lots of parents are concerned about this.  Sorry, no tips to be offered here.
  
  
• Parent participation is highly "encouraged."  Basically, you will either volunteer and donate money willingly or be shamed/guilted (by other parents and your own child) into doing so -- either way, you will do it.  Get used to it.
  
  
• Parent/Teacher interactions are limited.  At our preschool, we got to spend a fair bit of time with the teachers at dropoff and pickup, and we got to hear a lot about how Alicia's day went.  At Kindergarten, we don't even see the teachers because Alicia goes to afterschool care.  Occasionally we bump into the teachers, but they always seem in a rush.  Maybe if I volunteered more ...

Buzzy Buzzy Bees

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend a Kindergarten workshop at the Wetlands (Griffin's school) as an "Alumni" parent to talk about our experience with the transition to Kindergarten.  As I was finishing up a meeting and getting ready to go to the Wetlands, I got a call from Alicia's school. The office manager called saying Alicia had been stung by a bee -- she was fine (no allergic reactions, phew), but she was crying and hyperventilating.  I was a little surprised I was being asked to take her home, but the office manager kept emphasizing, "She's upset and hyperventilating."

As I drove to her school, I was picturing myself walking into the Kindergarten workshop with a sobbing and hyperventilating Alicia and saying to the parents, "This is what you have to look forward to with Kindergarten!"   But of course, when I got to Alicia's school, she was sitting there drawing and smiling.  Uh, ok.

Anyway, her experience with bees turned out not to be terribly traumatic.  She has drawn several pictures documenting the event, and she has also quite enjoyed telling everyone about it.  Check out the picture below, I especially love the tears streaming from her eyes and the flight path from the bee to the bite on her hand.