5 things I’m doing to prepare my son for Pre-K

So my four year old is ready to prepare for Pre-K and while I am super excited for him I also know he has been home with me for some time now, and transitioning may be a task for him. In no way am I concerned with him being ready “academically” because we work on that daily in our 30 minute home school.

I’m more concerned with his re-adjusting to the dynamics of the classroom and being used to how a normal classroom functions.

[Read: How to make sure your toddler is ready for preschool]

So, I am doing 5 things to help him prepare for Pre-K.

Create Routine
During the summer our school time routines have gone completely out of the window. I mean we stay up late, sleep in, eat lunch at 3pm LOL…and the list goes on. But this week I will be getting him back into our daily routine. In my opinion, kids need routines to function optimally. It helps when they know what to expect and what is coming next. Getting back to our homeschool days will get him back into that routine he will need for Pre-K.

Read More
I am getting him to read on his own a lot more. I have him choose and book and read it aloud to me. Obviously, he doesn’t know all the words but he can look at the pictures and tell me what he thinks is going on in the story. He loves to do this with digital books on his Kindle from the Epic digital library for kids. This is essential for his confidence. The goal here is to just get him comfortable telling me what he thinks and getting used to explaining his perspective.

There are also several read to me audiobooks for him to enjoy as well. Sometimes his sits with his sisters and they all listen to the books together.

I will also read to him more. It will be fun to go through our collection and read familiar stories and also read new stories to him from Epic. Epic is like the Netflix of kids books. There are over 25,000 books, videos and games for kids. This is an awesome program because it allows kid to read and learn anytime, anywhere on any device.

Getting him to answer questions at the end of the story or tell me what he thought of it. This all will also help him learn to sit and listen to a story. You’d be surprised how this can become an issue in a Pre-K classroom.

[Read: 8 Books to Help Your Child Get Over the First Day of Preschool Jitters]

Cleanup After Himself
Now my little one is pretty amazing at this but he can get a bit relaxed with it at time, especially when he’s too busy playing to be bothered.Though he means no harm, I know that he will be expected to do so in Pre-K therefore, I will continue to encourage him to be responsible and clean up his mess.

Be More Independent
In Pre-K the student to teacher ratio could be as many as 20 to 1. That means my son could be in a classroom with 19 other children vying for the attention of 1 teacher. So at home I am teaching him to be more independent. I am allowing him to do more for himself instead of doing it for him.

One of the main things we are working on is clothes. He loves me to put on his clothes for him however he needs to get used to doing that on his own. In the event, he has a random accident at school or needs to change for an extracurricular activity I want him to know how to dress himself. But overall just being more independent will help him adjust better.

Encouraging Communication
Sometimes my son can be quiet and shy and will not speak up and say what he needs. This goes back to me building his confidence so that he will speak out when it’s his turn. I am working to get him to using his words instead of whines and whimpers. So we talk everyday during breakfast, car rides and in our nighttime routine.

All in all I want my son to be ready emotionally for the transition. If he knows what to expepct in terms of structure and atmosphere I know he will be fine.