Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music 
Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love and Kindness, Inspiring Creativity and Joy.
August 29, 2012—The First Day of School! 
Every town does things a bit different, but for the town where I live, today is the first day of the new school year. I always ask my piano students as the new school year approaches if they are excited about it or not. Most of them say yes, while others vehemently shake their heads no! No matter what their thoughts are, today is the day, like it or not.
Many towns sponsor “Meet and Greets”. This is when the teachers go to school before opening day and children are allowed to stop by just to meet their new teacher and say “Hi.” I think this is an excellent idea. Hopefully the children whose parents bring them to “Meet and Greet” will feel a bit better and lose some of their nervousness.
When my children were just beginning their new school life adventure as an incoming Kindergartener, I would do two things. First, I always took advantage of the “Meet and Greet.” I wanted my children to recognize and feel comfortable with their new teacher. However, I added a second event. On a different day, after the “Meet and Greet” had taken place, I would bring my child, (just the two of us), back to the school grounds. We would calmly walk around the building, talking about the school, discussing how he/she felt, and then I would let my child play on all of the toys and equipment on the school playground. I explained where the bus would stop and which door to go in. I think going back to the school and doing this when other children were not there, made my child very comfortable and allowed him/her to absorb the new surroundings in a peaceful way. I did that for each of my three children before their first day of Kindergarten.
The first day of Kindergarten is huge for a 5-year-old. The bus is filled with “big kids”, it is loud, there are tons of children around and a whole new world is suddenly thrust upon them. Making it an exciting adventure opens up this whole new world in a very positive light, paving the way for a wonderful experience of learning and making new friends.
When that school bus rounds the corner for the first ride to school and you wave “goodbye” as the bus takes off, though tears may be in our eyes as we watch our child ride off into a new experience, we can have confidence that we have prepared them for this day in the best possible way.