Ready or Not, Its Time to Transition to Kindergarten (Art of Education)

As the days get shorter and cooler winds blow, it is time return indoors to quieter play and work. For many families, this is a time of transition. For those headed to Kindergarten, it is a significant time of change. In such a time of transition, it is easy to think of readiness ? Are we ready with our supplies? Are we ready with transportation? What about school lunches? These are important pieces of the transition process. It is also important to reflect on the inner changes a time of transition brings. This is a time of transition, not just of readiness.

My own family is navigating this time of change as our son heads to Kindergarten. I find myself riding a wave that rises with the high energy of readiness and the quieter dips of nervousness, expectations and unsteady excitement. In my reading and online searches I came across many articles on readiness, many quite informative. I found little guidance on ways in which I can make space and time to notice how this transition will shape me as a parent, my family as a unit and our son. In an effort to hold space for my own family and the many I worked with this last year, here are my thoughts on creating space and time in the coming weeks and months:

• Check-In with Yourself: Turn first to yourself. Ask yourself, ?What expectations do I have for my child this year? What goals do I have? Are these my goals or are they goals apt for our 5 year-old and for who she is?? Write down your answers and put them in an envelope. Make it a time capsule. Open it at the end of the year. Your answers might prove revealing and invite a reflection on your expectations of education, of your child and how you show up as a parent in your child?s educational journey.
• Transitions Take Time: A transition does not necessarily happen over a single day, a few hours or even a week. I hear from veteran parents that children take months, nearly a whole year to settle into Kindergarten. Give this transition the time it deserves. Let it unfold. Allow your child the space and time to get to know a new place, people and culture. This means that dear darling might not be demonstrating a new set of skills in the first weeks or even months of the school year. She is however learning. She is learning to make friends, to navigate the school space, to know its rules and subtler cultural tones. And, she is learning what it means to be a learner -- a lesson that will inform her work in years to come.
• Slow it Down: Kindergarten can be exhausting. An elementary school teacher once told me that she would sometimes have to carry Kindergartners out to the car because they had fallen asleep at the end of the school day. If you can, keep after-school time free of activities. Even if your child has been engaged in an activity for a long time, give her a break from it for the first few months of Kindergarten. Kindergartners need and deserve down time when they step out of school. Expect to see a tired, maybe even cranky child. Be patient and be with your child. This also means you might have to lower your own commitments those first few months.
• Be Gentle on the Teacher: Kindergarten teachers work hard! They work hard for children and they work hard with parents. Imagine having to care for and respond to the dear darlings of 15-25 families. We parents have 1-2-3-4-5 dear darlings. The teacher has 15-25. That?s a lot of precious people to inspire, respond to, play with and work alongside. Set real expectations and partner with the teacher. Consider the littlest stuff you do can make the teacher?s life easier. If you have five minutes, do something to make his day easier instead of asking for more for your child.
• Build a Bridge and Live on it: School and home will dominate your child?s life for the next several years. In this time, it is easy for school to takes it place and for home to be separate from school. Strong learning and growing happens when school and home connect to give a fluid experience. Fluid experiences depend on strong relationships and on daily rituals that connect school with home. Consider simple daily rituals to start building the bridge -- Walk to school to literally connect home and school with the line of your walk, reach 10 minutes early and stay an extra 5 minutes after drop-off to connect with other families, stay after pick-up to play on the playground ? playground is a powerful place for children ? experiences there can make a child in deep ways, find a spot on the school grounds that is your child?s safe place at school then go there every few days to talk about the school day or just to be together on the school grounds, write a note and stick it in the lunch box. When these rituals feel natural, extend yourself to partner with teachers, to ask important questions, advocate for your child and other children and give to the school.

I hope these ideas inspire other ideas for you and that together they set you on the path of seeing school-entry as a process, a transition. I hope these invitations help you see this time as a step in a lifelong journey ? the journey of lifelong learning. It can be a lifelong journey if it is seen that way ? as a journey, not as a destination for which we need to be ready.

Here?s to you and to all the other parents steadying themselves for the start of school!

SEPTEMBER 2012 NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

Source: http://www.artofeducation.net/2012/08/ready-or-not-its-time-to-transition-to-kindergarten.html

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