The best way to deal with first day of school nerves is to minimize them as much as possible beforehand. Even if your child has seen their older siblings go to school, it’s still an entirely new experience to them and can be very scary. Thankfully there are lots of ways to help ease their worries and get them excited for starting school!

Being prepared is the most important part of helping your kindergartener. You must make sure that your child meets their teacher and is able to ask any questions about their new classroom or the rules. You can even practice waiting at the bus stop or looking for your car at the pick up line at school. This way, there will be no surprises on that first day.

There’s always strength in numbers and kindergarten is no different. Your child having a buddy to help navigate the halls or talk to on the bus can help enormously with first day of school jitters. Find out if any of your child’s friends are in their class or on the same bus route and try to develop that relationship more before school starts. See if you can coordinate with the friend’s family to have a special breakfast before school, or a big send off at the bus stop.

Some children feel overwhelmed with the idea of school. They feel out of control when their freedoms of preschool or home are replaced with a stricter schedule and more responsibilities. By allowing your child to make some decisions about school, you are giving them that the feeling of control back. Even small choices like the color of their backpack or what to pack in their lunch can feel huge to a five year old.

Even after meeting their teacher, taking a school tour, and picking out their school supplies some kids still have butterflies in their stomach for the first few weeks of school.The sudden changes in their lives and schedules can be a lot to deal with and hard for them to understand.  It is important to acknowledge those feelings and work with them together with their teachers on becoming more comfortable at school.