9 Ways to Get Your Child Excited About School

Check out the playground.
If your child is familiar with the school grounds and equipment, she’ll be ready to start having fun from Day 1.

Take a sneak peek.
Visit your child’s classroom with her before school starts, and volunteer to help set up for the first day.

Choose school stories.
Read books together like Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, by Joseph Slate, or The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn.

Emphasize fun stuff.
There’s more to school than books and homework. Play up activities like music, art, gym and class trips.

Serve lunch out of the box.
The week before class begins, start putting your child’s lunch in her lunch box. Let her choose the menu and set up your own school cafeteria in your kitchen.

Make connections.
Get a list of the other kids in the class. Arrange play dates or throw a back-to-school party.

Tell your own tales.
Reminisce about your own happiest school moments, suggests Debra Walter, a kindergarten teacher in Endicott, New York.

Dress for recess.
Let your child choose her own outfit for the first day. That comfy t-shirt or favorite dress will provide an extra boost of self-confidence.

Celebrate “School Supply Day”
Make a big deal about letting your child choose his own backpack, pencil case, lunch box and other accessories on the list your school has probably sent you.

Article studiously cut and pasted by Chris Tobeck, from the website: www.parents.com.