Kindergarten is Scary

She'll be a little older when kindergarten actually rolls around. It will all make more sense and seem a little more normal when other kids her age are around and ready to start a new school year. It's weird at first, but before you know it, you'll be excited right along with her.

I sent my oldest to kindergarten in september it was the hardest thing I had ever done. It is much harder for you than it is for them. I'm sure you will make it through it though plan on crying all the way home for the first week. Good luck.

I put my oldest on the bus to kindergarten this fall because she so badly wanted to ride it. As I watched her board the bus, it started to move before she had found her seat. My last image was of her terrified face as the bus roared down the road. I bust into tears and cried for the next hour straight. When I asked her about the incident after school, she had no idea what I was talking about.

I had SO many issues with school and still clearly recall every trauma, I'm going to have a hard time pretending it's going to be fun! Exciting! Wowee! I am so not looking forward to that.

Hee. My kids go to a tiny rural school that has kids from pre-kindergarten to grade 8 and those grade 8's are lulking huge proto-adults! But you'll be surprised by how little the older kids and the younger kids end up mixing together. In Canada, kids start school at four. FOUR!

Oh I FEEL you on that one! We're still waiting to find out where CJ will go. then the true nightmares can begin.

With my first two kids, who are now in 5th and 3rd grades. Kindergarten was hard - for me! (And their school was K-12 because it is a small community school.) After the eldest was finished with 3rd and the younger finished with 1st, we began to educate them at home. This fall we'll begin Kindergarten with the youngest, here at home. It should be interesting! I know it's not for everyone, but it works well for our family. :) They do grow up so quickly! I don't know if it's harder on them, or on us MOMS! :)

I remember your feelings well. I think I teared up just filling out the registration form when my oldest was ready. It gets easier and I was pleased to find that at my son's school they really go out of their way to keep an extra eye (and hand) on the kindergarteners. But oh my heart, it was still so very, very hard to take him to kindergarten. It was a couple of weeks after it started that I finally stopped feeling like I was going to cry every morning.

when my oldest started kindergarten, i felt like i was sending him to the wolves. i cried on and off the first week for sure, even once when i was talking to the teacher. sending the second this year was only slightly easier. since then, we've decided to homeschool and so it may not be an issue for my future kindergarteners (or their mother!):) good luck. i'm sure she'll be fine and you will eventually be, too!

It doesn't seem to make any sense how we have to throw our kids into school so suddenly. I suppose everyone thinks that every child is at day care from 3 months on. That's just not the case. It seems that children would have an easier time if we could attend together for a few few weeks, like an educational play group. Then the time together would cut back until both parties feel comfortable and the teacher can take over. I am personally concerned for myself and my son who will attend this upcoming year as well. He's been with no one but me, and so, I worry. If he makes a fit and the school is unsympathetic I just might homeschool for the first year.

It is scary, but this is one more way that Laylee will amaze you. She will take on big kid school like a pro and you will wonder why you were ever so worried in the first place. And it's some precious one-on-one time with Magoo that he hasn't had yet. Kindergarten is wonderful, believe me.

I don't mind the idea of kindergarten, but I HATE the idea of all day kindergarten. 5 year olds do not need to go to school all day. Where we are currently living they only have all day. We will be moving in the fall and I'm hoping to find a decent half day, afternoon, private kindergarten. Otherwise we are totally homeschooling. No way am I sending my sweet girl away for 35 hours a week. It is completely unnecessary, IMO.

There is a reason that sending our little ones off to school is scary for us moms. It is not natural, it is not necessary, and its not usually in their best interest.

In our small rural school we have grades K thru 8. Half the school has the grade schoolers and the other half has the middle schoolers plus kindergarten. Each child in kindergarten is assigned an 8th grade 'buddy' who watches over them. They help them put their things away in their lockers and get to their classroom. They will sometimes eat lunch with their buddies and if they have a free period when the kindergarteners have recess, they can even go out for a little while to spend time with them. They watch over them to make sure the older gradeschoolers aren't picking on them and help them learn the ropes of school. For me it was MUCH easier letting my oldest go off to kindergarten knowing that my older niece was her buddy and would be watching out for her. Good luck Laylee in the coming school year! And good luck mom!

Oh, I could hardly send M to the nursery at church 2 weeks ago. I can't imagine kindergarten! In 2nd grade I was bussed to a school across town for the gifted program (I didn't know what that meant at the time). My mom got in her car as soon as I got on the bus and followed the bus to school. Nearly every day.

I teach kindergarten. I have taught half-day kinder and I am currently teaching full-day kindergarten. I love kindergarten kids. They come to school so excited about school, new friends, and life in general. And at my school, I like full day kindergarten. But that is mostly because it is an at-risk school, meaning that most of our kids come from low income homes. That in and of itself isn't bad, but typically the parents have less education themselves. Many of my kids have little to no exposure to books prior to school. Some of their parents are functionally illiterate, even in Spanish, their primary language. I NEED the extra time to help them be ready for first grade. I need to try to cram all of that stuff into their little heads that mom and dad either didn't or couldn't. I know that in this forum, parents have strong feelings about to school or not to school. If you are actively involved in your child's education, at school or not, then that goes a LONG way towards insuring that your child gets the best education possible. Schools, would prefer to place your child where ever it is convenient for the school. They don't always have the best interest of your individual child at heart. They are trying to make the bigger picture work for the school as a whole. I would tell parents to check out the teachers, talk to other parents who have already had children in that grade and see who and what they like about the school and teachers. Don't be afraid to get pushy about what you think is best for your child. As much as I like and respect most of the teachers at my school, some of them I would not have teach my children or grandchildren. Some of that is because they are not strong teachers and some of that is because sometimes personalities clash. Some teachers are crappy teachers, and some are wonderful. You need to look out for the best interests of YOUR child.

I am so chicken that I wouldn't let my son go into speech therapy without me. He is 2 years old and still not speaking, so I am afraid to let him be in a little locked room with a stranger. I'm hoping that it will be different when he gets to kindergarten and can speak so that he can tell me that it was fun or scary or whatever it is he's feeling. On the other hand, maybe I'm just a big chicken and I still won't want him to go. I liked the idea that kids that haven't been in daycare/preschool should get to have that primary caregiver come with them for the first few weeks. I need to see that he is doing ok. Maybe webcams?

I cried the day I took my son's registration packet to school. I'd like to tell you that the first day was the hardest, but for me the first 3-4 weeks were equally as hard. I had so many concerns.......... "Will he find his classroomm okay?" "Will he wander outside unnoticed to look for me?" "Will he get on the correct bus to come home?" "Will the bus driver allow him to get off at the wrong bus stop?" haha I can tell you now that my son amazed me. He took to kindergarten like a pro and has grown so much since September. The teachers and principal really do work hard to keep every child safe and where they should be. (I'd like to think that it helped that I also taped a big yellow piece of paper to his backpack with his teachers name and bus number on it so that in thee event that he did wander the wrong way the teachers could read the note 15 feet away. haha) One way I helped my anxiety was to volunteer in his classroom once a week. I wanted to see for myself that he was adjusting and doing okay without me there. It's bittersweet, it really is.

Your daughter will love kindergarten! Her teacher will love her and care for her to the best of her ability. And you will get used to it and feel comfortable as soon as you see your daughter is happy. Don't let your worries dampen her excitement. I remember being so scared and worried about sending my oldest to kindergarten. Those 5th graders seemed so BIG! Well, now she IS a 5th grader and she doesn't seem all that big to me! She is still the same sweet, wonderful, smart little girl who I sent off to kindergarten and she has always loved school from the very first day. Your daughter will be fine and you will too.