Today I need a favor…
Hanna’s going to Kindergarten next year, and it appears as though she’s pretty scared about the whole thing. This fear has manifested itself in a few ways that I won’t go into here…
She has a “practice” day next week, where she’ll actually go to her new classroom and spend a couple hours in class ~ with some of her classmates, getting to know her new teacher.
I’m hoping this introduction will help alleviate some of her fears ~ she’ll at least realize she’ll know people there (her friends from preschool are moving up too), and will get to meet her teacher, and familiarize herself with the new classroom.
I would like, in addition to have some books to read with her over the summer about going to kindergarten. I did order a get set for kindergarten pack of books from Scholastic this month… the pack included:
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It is a set put together to help alleviate worries/fears about going to kindergarten. My favor is this:
Can you tell me what are your favorite kindergarten books or books that help kids deal with change? (specifically or not ~ about going to kindergarten?)
Update: My kiddo is now going into the 3rd grade. We found these books immensely helpful, especially at just starting conversations about what Kindegarten was going to be like, and the things she was worrying about. We’ve retired most of these books… but as I was updating this post she walked by and said “Oh! Wmeberly Worried… I love that book! I still read it!”. So, yeah, some of them are definitely still in rotation at the Lee house. 🙂
Such a fun time of life… and such a big transition for child and parent! 🙂
I can’t say I’m familiar with any of the books in the pack yet I’ll bet they will each give her some good stuff to ponder. One of my favorite Kindergarten books is one called, Starting School by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. I love it because it is a story of real children (as opposed to anthropomorphic animals, which I know kids seem to love but me, not so much LOL) and takes you through the first week of school day by day… then continues up to the winter holiday break. It paints a very realistic picture in a fun way…
It starts out:
“Gavin and Errol and Sophie and Sushma and David and Kate and Robert and Alison are… (next page) Starting School.” There are adorable little pictures scattered throughout each page. One page on the Second Day of school says,
“At play time Robert loses his hat… and Alison finds it. Errol bangs his knee, and the teacher rubs it better. Gavin and Sushma and David go climbing. Kate THINKS about climbing.” I love this because it helps flush out some of the concerns a child going into kindergarten might not even be able to articulate that they have… and offers reassurance as it does so.
Just love the ‘realness’ of the story… there is even a page that says, “Sometimes the teacher is not cheerful either.” That bit of text is surrounded by images of the teacher dealing with some of the challenges that come with hanging out with 5 yr olds… and those pictures have provided some insightful, if often hysterical, conversations from the kids in my life that I’ve shared the book with.
Okay… that’s probably way more than you wanted to know… but that’s why I like STARTING SCHOOL. 🙂
oh Mary K,
Thank you so much for such a wonderful comment. 🙂 I will make sure we grab this one, because it sounds perfect!
Our kids LOVED “Wemberly Worried” along with all of Kevin Henkes’ other books, and also “Tom Goes to Kindergarten” and “Rachael Parker, Kindergarten Showoff.”
Two others I can recommend are “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn, about a young racccoon anxious about his first day away from Mom (his mom helps him by planting a kiss in his palm as a talisman against being afraid), and “Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten” by Joseph Slate. It’s about a kindergarten teacher and each of her 27 students (alligator through zebra, as this is also an alphabet book) preparing for the first day of school. There are more Mrs. Bindergarten books, too, if Hanna connects with the first one.
Oh, and of course, the entire Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park, the first of which is “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus,” about Junie B.’s first day of school. These books are so hilarious, so much fun to read, I think I miss reading them more than the kids miss hearing them.
Will,
Thank you so much for your recommendations. I too love Kevin Henkes and was excited to see one of his books in the pack. I’ve heard of the Kissing Hands, abut the rest of them are new to me, which is wonderful. I love finding new books! Thanks we’ll add those to our list. (Stay tuned for “Book Reports” through the summer)