by Lynn Dancey Rudkin

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: October 17, 2009

Kinder kids have the world of excitement and new experiences ahead of them, and can look forward to their first venture into formal education with excitement or dread, dependent on how well mom and dad approach the experience.

Observant, careful parenting makes the difference. Confidence that your child will have a happy experience will go far into making the experience positive: If mom is upset about her baby leaving the nest, the child will react the same.

* Make sure your child is ready.

* Each school district has guidelines on how early a child may enroll. Our son turned 5 just two short weeks before school was to open. He's highly intelligent (but what child isn't?), and we wanted him to have every advantage. We checked with a kindergarten teacher for advice, and she said that if he was born in February instead of July she would recommend sending him the current fall session. If born later, her recommendation was to wait a year since typically boys take a bit longer to mature than girls do.

This wonderful lady provided the names of parents who had sent their children early, those who held them back a year, and still others who looked back and wished they had waited another year to send their child. After talking with them, we decided to see how he would do: actually that situation was a disaster waiting to happen since our child also had undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and had trouble settling down and focusing. In the end, he made some wonderful friends in that first class and they are still part of his life, even though we ended up keeping him in kinder a second year to allow him time to age.

THE BIG DAY APPROACHES

Prepare your child, and yourself.

* If you live near the school, walk back and forth a few times, preferably the semester before enrolling and again while school is in session. Let your child spend time with children who already attend.

* Acquire a list of what the child will need to accomplish academically during the first year, and compliment your child on already knowing his full name, address and phone number, teach him how to count to 20 when the requirement is only 10, work with him on repeating the entire alphabet or tying shoes.

* Boost the child's confidence before he ever enters the school. With list in hand of what they will be expected to master that first year, go through the list and say Wow, you are ahead of the game because you know how to do X.

(Explain to your child about tests he will take in school

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