It’s been awhile since I last blogged, but since our Kindergarten enrollment opens up this Friday, and since this is my second go-round with it, I thought this would be a great way to jump back onto the blogging wagon. By the way, since everyone else seems to have fun nicknames for their kiddos… I’m going to start referring to mine as Lil’ Miss Louboutin and Mister Chucks (they’re 7 and 5 now!).
Our district holds a Kindergarten Orientation for parents enrolling their children for Kindergarten in the fall. The age cut-off for Kindergarten in California is those who turn 5 years old by September 1st.
The orientation is an opportunity for the faculty to engage the parents, level-set expectations, answer questions, hand out necessary documentation, and do some marketing for the PTA and after school care options. It is also an opportunity for parents to get a tour of the school and get introduced to the Principal and Kindergarten teachers. Ours is at night to accommodate working parents, but I know some schools in other districts hold theirs during the day.
Our agenda included these topics:
- Welcome
- PTA (Parent Teacher Association)
- School Readiness
- Kindergarten Curriculum – what they’ll be learning in Kinder, and what they should know by the end of the year.
- Health Information
- Enrollment Process
- Question & Answer time
In order to get ready for the first day, our district had these recommendations:
- Get the child acquainted with the new school – in order to foster this, I took Lil’ Miss Louboutin and Mister Chucks to the school’s playground a lot over the summer before Lil’ Miss Louboutin started Kindergarten. I also just talked it up a lot, took her back to school shopping, and made Kindergarten sound really exciting. I don’t really feel the need to do this as much with Mister Chucks because he’s already well-acquainted with the school through his big sister. Everything really is so much easier the second time around. He is already so excited just at the prospect of being at the same “big kid” school as his big sister.
- Don’t act anxious around your child because it will make them anxious.
- Read The Kissing Hand – we already owned this book, so read it more regularly before the first day of school.
The face of a kid who is Kindergarten ready!
Our district only offers half day Kindergarten, so a total of 200 minutes, or 3 hours and 20 minutes of instructional time. As a full-time working parent, that meant I still had to enroll Lil’ Miss Louboutin in our school’s on-site aftercare program to make it work. Definitely didn’t save as much money coming out of daycare/preschool as I had hoped!
Our enrollment process begins through a portal. We register online and fill out all needed information. However, we also needed to hand in these documents in-person: birth certificate, immunization records, identification, and proof of residency. We also needed to hand in a form indicating our preference for an AM or PM Kindergarten slot. Your enrollment isn’t official until all of this is in, and they decide the time slot based on a variety of factors. We lucked out the first time around and got the AM slot we requested, and this second time around, we will have some priority because Mister Chucks’ big sister is already enrolled at this school.
We also need to fill out a physician’s form that requires a physician’s signature and office stamp. This form cannot be completed sooner than 6 months prior to the start of Kindergarten – this means anything before March wouldn’t count. My children have January and February birthdays, so this year I made sure to schedule Mister Chucks’ well check in March so that I wouldn’t have to go back to his pediatrician twice.
Other things worth mentioning:
- Lil’ Miss Louboutin has a peanut allergy, and although this is a public school and not nut-free, they have designated nut-free tables for snack and lunch time. Her Kindergarten teacher was also really great, and sent an email and letter home the first month of school making parents aware of kids who had allergies in the class. She kindly requested that we not pack these allergens in our children’s lunches for the sake of all. Lil’ Miss Louboutin’s class had 3 students with peanut allergies and 1 student with a fish allergy.
- Mister Chucks was never exposed to peanuts because Lil’ Miss Louboutin is allergic and we avoid nuts at all costs. However, I needed to find out whether or not he has a peanut allergy before Kindergarten, so we finally introduced him to peanuts via a peanut butter cup at the pediatrician’s office during his 5 year well check. (Relief! He does not!)
- For every medication you want the school to dispense/administer, you need to fill out a medication form with a doctor’s signature and office stamp. For Lil’ Miss Louboutin, I filled out a form for benadryl, and another form for her epi-pen.
Have you started preparing your child for Kindergarten? Does your school operate similarly to ours or are there some key differences?
pomelo / 5621 posts
Tonight is the open house for our designated school. DS is so excited to start kindergarten. We’ve been to a couple open hoses already as we want to get him in French immersion but that is more of a lottery. We should know after Easter if he has a spot v
persimmon / 1390 posts
I am so excited for this process! We were originally going to red shirt (10/31 bday with a 12/1 cutoff) but DD1 is so excited to go to school and is nearing boredom at daycare/preschool so we have decided to send her. We live very close to the school so they are familiar with the playground, and we’ve attended a few events open to the community to help her get more familiar (and because they’re fun and mostly free!). She is so excited and I actually find it frustrating when people say things like “Are you nervous?” Or “It won’t be scary!” because then she’s like “Wait, is there something I should be nervous about?” We have a parent night coming up too and I’m most curious about transportation options and after school activities, and learning about what they do all day.
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
This was really helpful – thank you! Our son is turning 5 in July, and we’re pretty sure we’re going to redshirt him (or enroll him in a private school kinder and then have him go into public school kinder a year late). BUT I’m not 100% sure so I should probably look into registration just to be safe. I’d love to hear more about what they said about kinder curriculum!
pomegranate / 3768 posts
First of all, how did your boy get so big?! Thank you for sharing your Kindergarten process. DD will be starting full time Kindergarten this Fall. We’re looking into a few schools right now but will likely send her to our neighborhood public school. I know she’s going to be really bummed about leaving her current preschool though.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
Kinder info night was back in January. We took DD with us because we lost our babysitter last minute and she was sooooooo excited. Everything was the same as your night, except they didn’t go into the curriculum. They went through what the day is like and we did a school tour. We also signed up for a program where education students come to your house for 4 pre-k sessions to get your kid excited about everything. She’s going to be bouncing off the walls excited by September.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
Just went to the kindergarten meeting at the school for my first. May have teared up the entire time. . .
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@ALV91711: I wish our district had some sort of language immersion school – that sounds like a fantastic option! Good luck and hope you get it!
@Becky: She sounds like she’s ready!! It’s such a fun and exciting turning point for both the parents and child! Our school doesn’t have bus or other transportation options.
I was so disappointed when I found out.
@Mrs. Peas: Even if you don’t plan to enroll him now, it definitely doesn’t hurt to know what to expect so you’re ready when it’s his time.
Kinder curriculum – hahah that’s a good idea for another post!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@dolphin: @dolphin: I don’t know – I blinked and he became this big kid!! If the school is good, in general I think there are so many benefits to sending children to their neighborhood school. For example, we often run into her school pals at our local park or just around the neighborhood (at local restaurants, at the supermarket, etc.), it’s easier to make new mom/parent friends with parents who are also sending their kids to the same school bc not only are your children friends, but you live close to each other too and can easily coordinate carpools and playdates. I could probably write a post about this… haha.
@Grace: That sounds like a great program!! Honestly, I don’t know who was more excited when we first enrolled Lil’ Miss Louboutin – me or her, hahah
@Mommy Finger: *Raising hand* that was me too! I felt so bittersweet but proud at the same time. You get the sense that you (and them) “made it” in some ways. They survived babyhood, and are entering the big leagues now.
apricot / 279 posts
Wow I think the last time I read your post or seen a pic of him, he was still a chubby baby! Growing to be really handsome =)
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Yes!!! Thank you for coming back to blogging and ESPECIALLY for writing about this topic!!!!
The transition to Kindergarten makes me so anxious, but I’m trying not to let Xander see that. He’s been at the same daycare since he was a baby and has had the same best friends since he was two! But none of his friends will be attending the same Kindergarten as him.
I’m still waiting for information about our school’s enrollment process. Last year it happened in April, so I’m assuming the same will be true this year.
I’m ordering that book right now!