School Sparks - Kindergarten Readiness

Why I like this Back to School worksheet

A new school year often triggers a lot emotions in children. Some children are excited about the new year and look forward to reconnecting with friends. Some are eager to finally be going to school like an older sibling. But it is often the case that very young children feel apprehensive when they contemplate starting school, which is completely understandable. This will likely be a new experience for them. And even children returning to the same school may be meeting a new teacher and new classmates.

Talking about feelings with children (and listening!) is the best way to help them deal with their feelings and find comfort. By looking at this picture of a primary classroom, children can begin to imagine how it will feel for them on their first day of school.

In addition, auditory processing skills can be honed when children and parents sit down together to examine a large picture. Parents can verbally direct children to interact with the picture and follow directions that may include drawing lines, X marks, circles and other shapes, for example, on the page.

Finally, a large, detailed picture provides wonderful opportunities for children to practice visual discrimination skills. Asking children to look for specific details in the picture will help children learn to view a printed image and focus their attention on details. This is the same skill children will need to recognize the difference between an A and an H, for example, or a P and a B. It is easy to understand how strong visual discrimination skills contribute to success in not only reading, but in all academic areas.

Tips for using this first day of school worksheet

This Back to School illustration is accompanied by a guide for parents that highlights ways to help children practice auditory processing skills, visual discrimination skills, and emotional and social skills. I suggest that a parent first looks over the questions and suggestions for discussion before showing the illustration to his child. Then let your child look at the picture and tell you what he sees.

After your child has talked a bit about the picture, he will likely be ready to follow directions (auditory processing) or make keen observations (visual discrimination). Needless to say, parents do not have to follow the script on this guideline to the letter. The questions and directions given are great suggestions and a place for parents to start. But this worksheet can also an opportunity for you to tailor the interaction with your child based on his interests. For instance, if your child enjoys art, he will likely enjoy talking about the art projects seen in the picture. Or perhaps your child loves collecting leaves or is excited about his new backpack. Details in the picture lend themselves to discussions about a variety of topics.

Often, children are ready to talk about feelings after they have thought about the topic on their own. It may be more productive to come back to this page at a later time or on another day to begin discussions about feelings - either those your child assigns to the characters in the illustration or his own feelings. Begin by talking about the children in the picture and how they may be feeling in this classroom. Use the guidelines provided to jump-start your discussion. Again, it would be helpful for a parent to read ahead and be familiar with the guide so that she can give her child her full attention, rather than needing to glance away to read.

Additional activities to supplement comfort with the first day of school

Ask your child to draw a picture of what he believes his classroom may look like. He can look at his own illustration and point out details.

Read books about starting school to keep the discussions going and to provide additional opportunities to talk about feelings regarding the start of a new school year. Some recommended titles include:

• Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
• The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing
• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
• Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
• Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson
• First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
• Preschool Day Hooray! by Linda Leopold Strauss
• The Berenstain Bears Go to School by Stan and Jan Berenstain