Helping Your Child Get Ready for School continued...

What About Kindergarten?

The activities in this book can help your child from birth to age 5 get ready for kindergarten. As the first day of school approaches, however, you may want to do extra things to make the school seem a friendlier place for both you and your child. Find out as much as you can about the school before your child enters it. You will want to learn

• The principal's name;
• The kindergarten teacher's name;
• When to register for kindergarten and what forms need to be filled out;
• What immunizations are required for school entry;
• A description of the kindergarten program;
• The kindergarten yearly calendar and daily schedule;
• Transportation procedures;
• Food service arrangements; and
• How you can become involved in your child's education and in the school.

Some schools will send you this information. Or they may hold an orientation meeting in the spring for parents who expect to enroll their children in kindergarten the following fall. If they don't, you can call the principal's office to ask or to arrange a visit.

Find out in advance what the school expects from entering kindergarten students. If you know a year or two ahead of time, you will be in a better position to prepare your child. Sometimes parents and caregivers don't think the expectations are right for their children. If that is the case, you may want to meet with the principal or kindergarten teachers to talk about the expectations and ways to change the kindergarten program.

Visit the school with your child so your child can become familiar with it, and it won't seem scary. Walk up and down the hallways to learn where things are. Observe the other children and the classrooms.

Talk with your child about school. During your visit, make positive comments about the school--your good attitude will rub off! ("Look at all the boys and girls painting in this classroom. Doesn't that look like fun!") Tell your child about what the children do when classes begin.

Talk about the teachers, and how they will help your child learn new things. Encourage your child to look at the teacher as a wise friend toward whom children should be courteous. Explain to your child how important it is to go to class each day.

If possible, consider volunteering to help out in the school. The staff may appreciate having an extra adult to help do everything from passing out paper and pencils in the classrooms to supervising on the playground. Volunteering is a good way to learn more about the school and to meet its staff and other parents.

When the long-awaited first day of kindergarten arrives, go to school with your child (but don't stay too long). And be patient. Many young children are overwhelmed at first because they haven't had much experience in dealing with new situations. They may not immediately like school. Your child may cry or cling to you when you say goodbye each morning, but with support from you and the kindergarten teacher, this can rapidly change.

As your child proceeds through school, you will need to continue your encouragement and involvement. But for now, celebrate all that you have accomplished as a parent. Share your children's enthusiasm. Let them know how proud you are as they leave home for their first day of kindergarten. Let them know you believe they will succeed.

Good Television Habits

Children in the United States have watched an average of 4,000 hours of television by the time they begin school. Most experts agree that this is too much. But banning television isn't the answer, because good television can spark curiosity and open up new worlds to children. Monitoring how much and what television children watch helps them, starting at an early age, to develop good viewing habits. Too much television can be harmful because

• It can expose children to too much sex and violence;
• Children can be unduly influenced by junkfood and toy commercials;
• It can give children a poor model for good behavior before they have developed a clear idea of right and wrong;
• Young children do not have the experience and wisdom to understand complicated plots or scary scenes; and
• Sitting passively in front of the set for extended periods of time can slow young children's social and intellectual development.

Here are some tips to help children develop good television-viewing habits.

Keep a record of how many hours of TV your children watch, and what they watch. Generally, it's good to limit the amount to 2 hours or less a day, although you can make exceptions for special programs.

Learn about current TV programs and videos and select good ones. As parents, you know your children best. So, select TV programs and videos that are meaningful to your family. Some TV programs you may wish to consider include "Captain Kangaroo," Eureeka's Castle," "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," Sesame Street," and "Shining Time Station." Many other good children's programs, such as Disney and Nickelodeon, are on public television stations and on cable channels.

If you have a VCR, you may wish to seek out videos made by Linda Ellerbee's Lucky Duck Productions. Of course, videos vary in quality, but versions of classic children's books, such as Babar or Snow White, are a good place to start.

Parents who would like help in finding good TV programs for children can subscribe to Parents' Choice, a quarterly review of children's media which includes television programs and home video materials. Write to Parents' Choice Foundation, Box 185, Newton, MA 02168. A subscription is $18 a year. A sample copy is $2.

You can also read about programs in TV columns in newspapers and magazines. Cable subscribers and public broadcasting contributors can check monthly program guides for information.

Plan with your children (starting at age 3) what programs to watch. After selecting programs appropriate for your children, help them decide which ones to watch. Turn the TV on when these shows start, and turn the set off when they are over.

Watch television with your children so you can answer questions and talk about what they see. Pay special attention to how they respond so you can help them understand what they're seeing, if that's needed.

Follow-up TV viewing with activities or games. You might have your child tell you a new word he learned on television that you can look up together in the dictionary. Or you might have him make up his own story about one of his favorite TV characters.

Include the whole family in discussion and activities or games that relate to television programs. Older siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents can all contribute. Make certain that television isn't regularly used as a babysitter. Instead, try to balance good television with other fun activities for your child.

Choosing Child Care

More and more children are in preschool or other child care settings before they enter kindergarten. Choosing the right child care is important because it can affect how prepared your child is for school. Some tips to guide you: Think about the kind of care you want for your child. Possibilities include (a) a relative; (b) a family day care provider, usually a woman who takes care of a small group of children in her home; (c) a child care center; and (d) a caregiver who comes into your home.

Figure out what suits your budget and what you can expect to spend in your community. For low-income parents, the federally funded Head Start program (and in some communities Chapter 1 programs) are available. State-subsidized child care programs also are available, although most often more people need the subsidized care than there are spaces available. Many families are entitled to the child care credit on their income tax forms.

Recognize that there are many ways to find good care. Ask friends and neighbors. Look in the Yellow Pages of your telephone book under "Child Care Centers." Look in the classified ads of your local newspaper, or place an ad of your own. Put up notices on your church or synagogue bulletin board, in grocery stores, local community centers, or at the employment office of local colleges or universities. Look for notices that other people have put up.

If you are looking for a family day care provider, a local licensing agency can provide you with local listings. Many communities have resource and referral agencies that help parents identify the options that best meet their needs. Start looking early, particularly if you have a special program for your child in mind. Some programs have long waiting lists. Some may even require you to get on a waiting list before your child is born.

Gather information. If you are looking for a family day care provider or for a person to come into your home, interview the person at length and check references. Before you meet with them, develop a list of questions. If you are looking at day care centers, visit them--more than once, if possible. Just because a person or a program worked for someone else doesn't mean it's right for you. With any kind of child care, check references.

No matter what kind of child care you are considering, look for caregivers who

• Are kind and responsive. Good caregivers are affectionate, enjoy children, are energetic enough to keep up with your preschooler, patient, and mature enough to handle crises and conflicts.
• Have experience with preschoolers and like them. Find out how long they have worked with preschoolers, why they are in the early child care field, and whether they provide activities that are appropriate for your child's age. Observe the caregivers with children. Do the children seem happy? How do the caregivers respond to them?
• Recognize the individual needs of your child. Look for caregivers who are considerate of different children's interests and needs and who can provide your child with enough attention.
• Share a child-rearing philosophy that is similar to yours. Find out what kind of discipline is used and how problems are handled.

Be certain that the child care facility is clean and safe and is filled with things to explore that are appropriate for your child's age.