Extraordinary lives start here.
Getting Ready for Kindergarten
A Handbook for Parents and Guardians
Welcome
We welcome you and your child to Kindergarten – the first, exciting years of
school. Kindergarten is a time of wonder and imagination. We look forward
to our partnership – home, school and parish working together to ensure a
successful beginning to an extraordinary journey into learning and faith.
We strive to provide a safe, caring, inclusive and healthy learning educational
setting for your child. In a faith-based environment, we will build upon your
child’s experiences to cultivate their interests, encourage their creativity and to
guide your child’s learning through inquiry and play.
Faith Tip
Teach your child how to make
the sign of the cross.
Kindergarten marks the beginning of a journey that culminates when your
child leaves us in order to offer all their gifts and talents that have been
cultivated throughout the school years for the good of the local and the global
community.
In Dufferin-Peel Catholic schools, faith formation in the Catholic tradition is an
integral part of the daily life of students. Faith is celebrated through all aspects
of the school day. Working with parents/guardians as their first teachers, your
child will continue to learn Gospel values, pray, interact with the local parish
and take the first formal steps towards sacramental preparation. The liturgical
season (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time) will be celebrated.
As your child journeys through the school years in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board, we promise to do our part
to instill the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations – to encourage
your child to become:
• A Discerning Believer Formed in the Catholic Faith Community
• An Effective Communicator
• A Reflective and Creative Thinker
• A Self-Directed, Responsible, Life-Long Learner
• A Collaborative Contributor
• A Caring Family Member
• A Responsible Citizen
Follow us on Twitter
For the latest Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board news
and information on schools, programs and services, follow us on Twitter @
DPCDSBSchools
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Early Years
Children’s first six years of development set the foundation for their success in school
and future well-being. Children’s development during these first six years affects
their learning, behaviour, and physical and emotional health throughout adulthood.
A parent/guardian is a child’s first and most enduring teacher. Visit our Early Years
webpage for information on programs and services which help families give their
children the best start possible.
www.dpcdsb.org/CEC/Programs/Early+Years.htm
Support Services
In Dufferin-Peel, our Christ-centred world view invites a spectrum of services to
support all learners.
SUPPORTING DIVERSE LEARNERS INCLUDING SPECIAL EDUCATION
Parents and guardians are key stakeholders in supporting successful transition plans
for students with diverse learning needs. Dufferin-Peel is committed to supporting
our spiritual foundational principle that ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name
welcomes me.’ (Luke 9:48).
In support of student transitions, we strive to provide strategies that are universally
designed, are good for all, necessary for some, and essential for a few. Through your
child’s home school, and in an attempt to meet each student’s needs with aligned
program and support services, you are encouraged to talk to your child’s teacher
and/or other school staff to help with early learning opportunities.
English as a Second Language
A strong knowledge of any language will help your child to learn a new language well,
think more clearly and feel confident. To help your child strive for success, speak your
first language at home, and, where possible, begin to speak in English for part of your
conversation. Read a variety of materials to your child, in both your first language and in
English.
Outdoor Fun
Physical well-being is as important as intellectual well-being in your
child’s learning and long-term success. Plan a family picnic or a hike.
It doesn’t have to be a long trip; you can even make it a weekly event.
Keeping them active and outdoors is key.
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Your Role as a Parent or Guardian
Dufferin-Peel Catholic schools provide many opportunities for you
to participate in your child’s academic and faith formation. Your experiences as an
active participant will reap great rewards for both
you and your child.
• Before your child begins school in Kindergarten, a classroom visit will allow you
the opportunity to share information about your son/daughter and initiate the
process of building a relationship with the school community. Also, you will have
the opportunity to take advantage of the Welcome to Kindergarten Program
offered at all Dufferin-Peel Catholic elementary schools.
• Open House is held early in the school year. This will give you an opportunity to
once again interact with your child’s teacher, see your child’s classroom and meet
other parents/guardians.
• Catholic School Advisory Council meetings are an excellent way
to become involved in the school community. School Councils
are comprised of staff and parents/guardians and work together
to provide a variety of opportunities for students and parents/guardians.
• Many schools offer volunteer programs, with activities ranging from working in
classrooms, assisting individual students, committee work and trip volunteers.
The school will welcome your willingness to become involved.
• Celebrate your child’s learning and progress by attending parent/guardian/
teacher interviews. In addition, meet your child’s Designated Early Childhood
Educator (DECE), who works with your child in partnership with the teacher.
• Be sure to check your child’s backpack daily for any correspondence from the
school. Talk to your child about school events and share school newsletters with
them.
• Bookmark the school and Board websites as great sources of information and
resources for both you and your child.
• Follow the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board on
Twitter @DPCDSBSchools
Numbers and Letters
Look for street and store signs, license plates, and building/house
numbers you pass when you’re on the go. Try to get them to identify
numbers and letters.
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Preparing Your Child
The first day of Kindergarten is a special beginning for your child, and for you as a parent
or guardian. It is an event that has likely been the topic discussed for many months. It
can also be a time of mixed emotions for your child, who at times will express feelings of
excitement as well as fear about coming to school. Be assured that these feelings are to
be expected and are probably not unlike your own feelings as you anticipate your child’s
beginning school for the first time. We will work together to make the transition from
home to school a positive experience for you and your child.
Faith Tip
Pray with your child.
Helpful Hints for Preparing Your Child:
• Raise the topic of going to school in a positive, non-threatening way to alleviate
fears.
• To help your child prepare for the routines of school, develop morning and lunch
routines before school begins.
• Let your child know that many familiar home story, craft and play activities also take
place at school.
• To familiarize your child with the school, take walks through the neighbourhood in
the summer.
• Show your child the route to school and the school grounds.
• If your child will be taking the bus to school, attend the transportation orientation
sessions offered in August.
• Take some time to play in the school yard with your child.
• Your initial visit with the teacher and DECE is an effective way to ease anxiety. You
can communicate any concerns about anxiety or other behaviour that you feel the
teacher and DECE may encounter with your child.
• Reinforce the positive aspects of the first day by reassuring your child that you will
be thinking of them, and looking forward to hearing all about how great the day
was. When you say good-bye to your child on the first day, make it quick, light and
reassuring.
• Discuss the after-school pick-up routine with your child.
Clothing Labels
Want to keep your child’s belongings out of the lost and found or
potentially lost forever? Label it. It’s simple, if you label everything they
bring to the school we can make sure it gets back to its rightful owner. Hats,
backpacks, socks, even shoes, boots and coats.
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Getting Ready for Kindergarten
Write a Book
Come up with an idea
together and then write
and draw the story out on a
few pages.
Recently, an informal poll was conducted amongst Ontario Kindergarten teachers to
learn what skills they felt helped children feel confident and ready for their first day of
kindergarten. The compiled list is something we feel parents/guardians and caregivers
can practice with children in the months leading up to that very important first day. No
surprise, but at the top of the list was learning how to be independent, how to make
friends and how to be a good friend to others. Also ranked highly was being familiar
with and excited about books and counting objects, as well as:
• Ability to not only sit and listen for a short period of time, but also wait for a turn.
• An interest in books. Including being read to, discussing the pictures and
characters, and retelling the story.
• The ability to play and share with other kids.
• Being able to count objects like toys or rocks, experience with patterns (red ball,
blue ball, red ball, blue ball), and sorting objects by size, shape or colour.
• A broad vocabulary built through positive interaction and experiences.
• The ability to use scissors to cut paper and crayons and pencils to write, draw and
trace.
• Ability to recognize the alphabet, especially the letters in their name.
• Can take care of personal needs such as toileting, hand washing, and zipping and
buttoning their clothes.
• Ability to respect other’s personal space.
• Playing imaginary games such as playing store or playing house.
• Experience running, hopping, kicking or catching a ball.
How Important is it that Your Child is Ready?
Most parents/guardians think knowing their ABCs, numbers, shapes,
and colours are critical. And they are. But there are equally if not more important skills
that prepare your child for success in school and inherently in life. The goal of any
teacher is to raise an eager learner.
This can be easily achieved through play based activities and regular everyday
activities.
What are Some Ways I can Help Prepare my Child?
Communicate constantly with your child and help them learn about
the world around them. Take them on interesting trips or some not so interesting ones.
To an inquisitive mind there is no such thing as boring. Go to the library or grocery
store, on a bus ride, or to a museum or
park – and talk with them about what they see. Encourage their curiosity and help them
find answers to their questions.
• Read and let him know words are both written and spoken.
• Teach the names of colours and shapes.
• Help them see and hear objects and sounds and how they may
be different or similar.
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Children’s Books about Kindergarten
You’ll find many of these instant favourites at
your local library branch!
Faith Tip
Make bedtime prayers
a part of your child’s
bedtime routine.
• Bug, a Bear, and a Boy Go to School by David McPhail
• Alice Ann Gets Ready for School by Cynthia Jabar
• Annabelle Swift, Kindergartener by Amy Schwartz
• Beginning School by Irene Smalls
• Benjamin Bigfoot by Mary Serfozo
• David Goes to School by David Shannon
• First Day, Hurray by Nancy Poydar
• Hairy the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
• Harry and Tuck by Holly Keller
• Kindergarten Kids by Ellen B. Senisi
• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
• Listen for the Bus: David’s Story by Patricia McMahon
• Little Miss Spider at Sunny Patch School by David Kirk
• Minerva Louise at School by Janet Morgan Stoeke
• Monster Goes to School by Virginia Mueller
• My First Days of School by Jane Hamilton-Merritt
• My School, Your School by Bette Birnbaum
• School by Emily Arnold McCully
• See You Later, Alligator! by Laura Kuasnosky
• Timothy Goes to School by Rosemary Wells
• Tiptoe into Kindergarten by Jacqueline Rogers
• When You Go to Kindergarten by James Howe
Literacy Skills
Together you can help your child develop excellent writing skills. Here are several fun
and informative ways you can encourage your child to write.
• Pay attention to everyday signs. They’re a great way for kids to experience the
usefulness of print communication. Try to read signs aloud: “Stop, S-T-O-P. That
red sign tells me to stop the car.”
• Make shopping and things-to-do lists together. Let your child be the keeper of
the list and tell him/her to use a pencil to mark off items as you shop or do chores
around the house.
• Set up a play office at your home. You’ll find preschoolers love to collect and use
old office supplies. Help your child set up a place where he or she can “work” at
pretend writing.
• Create note cards. Help your child make greeting cards, thank-you notes or getwell cards. He or she will see that you can express feelings through words.
Most importantly, be encouraging and positive. Positive reinforcement makes it more
enjoyable and will make them want to do it more.
Emotions
Talk about your feelings and encourage your child to do the same.
“Today I was angry because I didn’t get my way, but yesterday I was
happy because I saw my uncle.”
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Healthy Lunches
Faith Tip
Say a simple Grace
before Meals.
To young children, food isn’t just a taste. It’s something you touch and see as well. So
keeping them interested in healthy food can be simple if you look beyond the flavour
and include foods that incorporate a variety of shapes, colours and textures.
• Cut sandwiches into triangles or diamonds. Use cookie cutters to make fun and
exciting shapes.
• Change the bread – try different kinds of grains (rye, pumpernickel, flax) as well as
the type of bread like whole grain tortillas, bagels and pitas.
• Offer various types of cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, Jack, Swiss) in different forms
(cubes, strings, slices and balls). To create a cheese ball, shred and then shape into
balls.
• Switch up the veggies and fruit. Give your kids something different to experience
with each bite. Group foods according to: type (citrus, tropical.); colour (green, red,
orange, yellow, purple); shape (balls, strips, chunks, whole); or texture (soft, juicy,
crunchy)
• Kids love to dip. Use cottage cheese, different types of hummus, yogurt, or
guacamole as healthy dips.
Food Allergies
There are a number of students enrolled in our schools who have very serious, and in some
cases, life threatening food allergies. Your cooperation will be sought in helping to ensure a
safe environment for these children. Some students in our schools are allergic to peanut butter
and products containing nuts, nut oils, or derivatives; it could be life threatening for him/her.
It is only necessary that physical contact with these substances be made, even on a second
hand basis. For example, a severe reaction may occur should the child touch a desk, toy, or
book previously handled by another student who has touched peanut butter, peanuts, or
peanut oil.
We ask that all children not bring any foods containing nuts, nut oils, or derivatives to school
(lunches, snacks, treats for the class, etc.). Each school will advise you of potential allergy
concerns and related procedures.
Activities
This activity booklet is full of things that will help your child get ready for Kindergarten.
Each page has a special activity designed to help you have fun and get ready together!
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Count the number of pillows in each room of your house. Which room has the most pillows?
Draw a picture of that room.
Ask a grown-up to give you 4 boxes. Now line them up from the shortest to tallest.
Draw a picture of what goes in the tallest box.
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Start at the dot and trace the circle. Use another colour and trace it again. Now walk around
your house and see how many circles you can find. They’re everywhere!
Think about opposites. If you are not big then you are?
Draw a picture of something that is big. Then draw a picture of something that is small.
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Practice counting from 0 to 20.
Touch each number as you say it.
0 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18
19 20
Use the board below to play Shape Bingo. When your Mom or Dad
says a shape, cover it with a loonie.
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Go on a letter search. Look in old magazines and newspapers
for the letters that spell your first name.
Take a walk around your neighbourhood with a grown-up. Talk about all the things and people
you see. Streetlights, cars, fire hydrants, houses, and animals. What are they doing?
Now when you get home, draw a picture of something or someone you saw on your journey.
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Walk around your house and count the number of doors in each room. Which room has
the most doors? How many doors does it have? Draw a picture of that room.
Ask a grown-up to read you one of your favourite stories. Listen very carefully. Now when the
grown-up is done reading, retell the entire story. Draw a picture of the part of the story you liked best.
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Name as many fruits or vegetables as you can.
Now draw a picture of you eating one of them.
Go to church with your family. Draw a picture of what you did.
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Tell a grown-up the ways in which a car and bus are the same and the ways in
which a car and a bus are different. Example: they both have tires but one
is red and one is blue. Draw a picture of a car and a bus.
Name as many animals as you can. Draw a picture of an animal you like.
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