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All summer long parents wait for the first day of school to arrive. We wait. And we wait some more. And we are so excited when it finally arrives! Until we put our little son or daughter on that big yellow bus. Our little one, who going off on his/her own for the very first time seems so small as he uses all his might to climb those black plastic treaded steps of his chauffeured ride to school. As we stand and wave goodbye, to our seemingly much too young child, terrible thoughts seem to race through our heads. "What if he can't find his classroom when he gets to school and is left to aimlessly wonder the halls?" or "What if he gets left on the bus?" Worrying is natural for all parents but there are ways to quell parental nerves on your child's very first day of school. Take comfort in knowing that most likely your child has completed kindergarten and a lot of children today attend preschool so it isn't like your child is wondering into a sea of oblivion. Most children will have an idea of what to expect on their first day of school. So with having attended preschool and kindergarten your child has already prepared for his first day of all day school without really knowing it.

One particular challenge that many parents face the summer before their child starts first grade is getting their almost first grader to give up naptime. Most children by first grade are taking shorter naps and some have given up naps altogether yet still, a few children take full naps in the afternoon. If your child is still taking full naps or cat naps in the afternoon at the start of summer before first grade, it is a good idea to shorten his naps gradually over the summer so when school begins he is accustomed to going without one. Attending school all day is hard for a six year old child, even one who has long since given up naps. Your first grader will come home extremely tired for the first few weeks after school begins. To prevent exhaustion and poor grades, his bedtime should be set earlier starting a few weeks before school starts.

Over the summer, rainy days provide a good opportunity for reviewing what your child has learned in kindergarten. Scholastic requirements for starting kindergarten and first grade are much tougher than they were when today's first grader's parents were in school. Your first grader will no doubt leave kindergarten knowing how to read! Spend the summer checking out easy readers at the library to keep your soon to be first grader brushed up on his

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