Parents’ Back-to-School Survival Guide

When Your Child Attends Day Care or Kindergarten For the First Time Is your child attending day care for the first time? Perhaps your child will be transitioning into kindergarten this fall! Parents will experience many different feelings, from happiness that their child is growing up, to worrying about how she will adapt and fit in, to pride in her capabilities. Changes to the routine will be needed as parents figure out how to budget their time between work, day care or school and the home routine. This is an exciting time for families and Invest in Kids has prepared a survival guide intended to help parents and their children to adjust to all the changes that are happening. This

Survival Guide includes:

* Ideas that will help parents to manage their time, prepare quick and nutritious meals, and make the most of the time they have for interacting with their child.Tip sheets on how to find child care options best suited to your child’s needs.
* Information about recognizing and choosing quality care.
* Suggested ways to prepare your child for kindergarten and to support his school readiness.
* Web links for provincial ministries of education as well as links to information about other education options (e.g., Waldorf, home schooling)
* Recommended picture books to share with your child that will encourage her to talk about starting school and share any questions or concerns she might have.
* Ways for parents to acknowledge their own feelings about their child’s transition into school.

Starting day care or kindergarten for the first time can bring about many changes – for children, for parents and for families. Invest in Kids hopes that this Survival Guide will support parents and their children as they cope with these changes and provide useful ideas and information that will help them along the way.