5 ways to prepare your child for kindergarten

There are many advantages to establishing routines at home: they provide kids with a sense of security, improve their sleep quality, and help them maintain a sense of balance. Routines also play an important role in the classroom, as they help students stay organized and get an idea of what to expect throughout the day. When your child enters kindergarten, they’ll have to adjust to a new daily routine. To facilitate the adjustment period, it’s a good idea to establish routines at home that your little one can continue to follow once school starts. For example, their afterschool routine could look like this:

• Hanging up their coat when they enter the house
• Putting their boots away in the proper place
• Washing their hands
• Helping unpack the groceries
• Etc.

Potty training usually takes place between the ages of 2 and 4. This means that by the time your child enters kindergarten for 5-year-olds, they should be able to listen to their bodies and go to the bathroom on their own. 
If your little one still needs to be accompanied by an adult when starting kindergarten for 4-year-olds, you can let their teacher know. Here are some potty training tips you can use to help your child:

• Teach them to wipe themselves properly
• Show them how to flush
• Demonstrate proper handwashing
• Post images of this routine in a strategic location
• Explain the importance of privacy
• Etc.

Many parents believe that their child should be able to tie their shoelaces on their own before they start school. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t a requirement, as this skill is usually acquired between the ages of 5 and 6, while children are in kindergarten.
However, your little one should be able to get dressed without help (naturally, parents can still help with tasks that might be difficult for kids at this age, like doing up buttons or zippers). Try the following strategies to encourage your child to tackle getting dressed on their own:

• Make up rhymes to help them memorize the order in which they should put on their clothes
• Race each other to see who can get dressed the quickest
• Play games to help them tell the difference between the front and the back of their clothes
• Provide wardrobe items that they can easily put on by themself (e.g., Velcro shoes)
• Etc.

Using scissors, just like using a pencil, requires good motor coordination and very good fine motor skills (i.e., the ability to use the small muscles in your hands and fingers to make precise movements). To support their motor function development, you can encourage your child to do the following:

• Draw while lying on their stomach
• Play with modelling clay
• Draw with different writing instruments (e.g., wood pencils, felt-tip pens)
• Use scissors to cut out paper shapes
• Etc.

To achieve that level of precision, your child must first strengthen their gross motor skills. Here are some activities that can help boost their gross motor development: 

• Go to the park and encourage your child to jump, run, climb, crawl, etc.
• Give them different objects to play with (balls, hoops, etc.) to improve their coordination
• Choose games and activities that involve using their balance (e.g., riding a tricycle)
• Etc.

Learning to be independent is vital for your child to develop outside the family bubble. To help them become more autonomous, you can do the following:

• Give them age-appropriate responsibilities
• Encourage them to do things on their own
• Ask for their opinion
• Let them make decisions
• Acknowledge and praise their efforts
• Etc.