by Rita Holowenko

I remember walking my son to the bus on his first day of kindergarten.  He got on without even looking back, and I was full of apprehension as I watched the back of his head disappear while the bus drove away.  I followed the bus to school.  My husband was already there awaiting the arrival of our son to make sure he didn’t get lost on his way from the bus to the school.  I’ve taken his picture every first day of school since then.  Slowly, his grin diminishes with the thought of returning to school, while mine gets bigger.  (I love buying back-to-school supplies.  I sometimes buy them in July.)  The point is…first day of school can be scary for the parent and the child.  As years go by, I hold on to that memory because, before I know it, I’m going to have that feeling all over again when he enters high school.

There are lots of ways to prepare yourself and your child for your new adventure.  There are ample amount of books on this topic.  I think I must have bought every one.  We went to the school for an orientation with the teacher.  I met some of the other parents, and we actually had a chance to have a play date with another child before school started.  He picked out his backpack and his lunch kit.  We drove by the school a few times and sounded excited about seeing it.  We talked beforehand about what kindergarten will be like and what he can expect.   I didn’t let him see my apprehension.

At that time, I didn’t turn to the web, but I can tell you now that there are lots of resources on the Internet for fun colouring pages and activities that you and your child can enjoy in preparation for the first day, such as Kiboomu.

It’s a day that will come and pass too quickly, but the lessons learned this coming year will last a lifetime as Robert Fulgham says in his poem, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”.

Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum.