As we wrap up my daughter’s Kindergarten school year, I am blown away by how quickly her first year in public school went. I love her small neighborhood Montgomery County, Maryland public school. She has a small class (about 15-16 students), a teacher with 30 years of experience and a diverse class of students that became friends over the course of the year. I love that we could walk her to and from school each day and that her school offered specials for art, music, library and gym. I have so many thoughts I want to share as other parents turn to this milestone with rising Kindergarteners. So here are my musings, in no particular order.

1. Enjoy the summer before Kindergarten. Whether you are a stay at home parent or work in or out of the home, take some days if you can to go on weekday adventures. Check out a new playground, take a day trip, get ice cream, throw rocks in the creek, venture to a beach, do something new to you. My daughter did not know how to read before K (she knew all of her capital letter names) and learned during the course of the school year. Focus on the fun because the academics will come. Once my daughter mastered the letter sounds in K and she was sounding out words, we introduced BOB books at home to practice.
2. Visit the school in the summer. We played at the school playground, which was open to the public, including a playdate coordinated by the PTA right before school started. We learned about it through a local Facebook group and at the playdate we were able to provide our contact info to get on the PTA listserv. We also went for the free summer lunch in the cafeteria a few times. The summer lunch program is meant to close the nutrition gap to ensure kids have access to food. She had to eat it there, in the cafeteria, and I was shocked we were the only ones there on the three days we went. This gave her a chance to enter the school with me, go through the cafeteria line and meet the lunch lady, and we also got to meet some of the administrative staff working during the summer. If you are in Montgomery County, Maryland, use this site to see if your school offers free summer lunch.
3. Supplies. I’m sure this varies by school, but there really wasn’t a supply list like I remember from childhood. Some recommendations included a labeled reusable water bottle and headphones (like the old school kind that go over your head and connect to a jack). We were also asked for donations during the year for Chlorox wipes and tissue boxes, so if you see a good deal, stock up if this is something you’d like to contribute. Of course if your child plans to bring lunch, a lunch box with items they can open themselves is recommended. My daughter also brought a backpack. Check out the local thrifts for these and save some money!
4. Doctor appointments. If you already have your child’s doctor or dentist appointment in the summer scheduled (or even if it’s scheduled in the Fall), make sure you know what health forms need to be completed by the physicians. It can save you time (and possibly money) to bring them with you during already scheduled appointment times. One less thing on a separate to do list too!
5. Preview night. If the school offers a preview night, usually the night or so before school starts, it’s a great way to meet the teacher (ask if you can snap a pic), see the classroom and locate your child’s cubby and seat. It’s also a great time to ask questions like confirming drop off and pick up times, where to pick up, how the teacher likes to be contacted, etc. I also exchanged numbers with a few parents that night, which came in handy (take notes on their contact card so you can remember child/parent(s)/sibling(s)! Also, if there’s a class roster, snap a picture. It can be helpful for asking your child about friends they are making in the class if you know their names (and we used later in the year to jumpstart Valentine’s before the list came home). One thing I loved about Addy’s K teacher is that every week the kids rotated classroom “jobs” like the weather announcer, line leader, table cleaner, person to help pass out papers, etc.
6. After school activities. Here is your permission that it is okay to not pay for dance or music or karate or whatever. If you want to and your child is interested, go for it. But it’s also okay to pick up your child and hang out at the park after school or enjoy the free events at the local libraries. Staying after school to play turned out to be a great way to meet other parents and kids. Don’t forget to exchange contact info if you hit it off! And if it becomes a regular thing, consider swapping days on who brings after school snacks.
7. Bring the snacks. Yes, your child will be tired and hungry after school, especially during the transition. Since we often played at the playground after school, I would bring something for my daughter to eat. On days we would go home after dismissal at 3:50 pm, I would often feed her dinner and then have a snack later in the evening because she would be the definition of hangry. It’s okay to do what works for your fam.
8. Kids Night Out. While my daughter does not attend the after care at her school (Kids After Hours or KAH), we learned partway through the school year, that we could have her attend the 3 hour Friday night monthly session for $25. It was a great time for her to eat pizza, get her face painted, play in the bounce house, use glow sticks for the dance party and see friends from school. It was great for my husband and I to have a night out to go for an extra long walk or catch a movie. I just created an online account for KAH, filled out emergency contact and paid by session she attended. If you’re in MoCo, here’s the link.
9. Volunteer for the field trip. If your schedule allows, volunteer for the field trip. We had one field trip in the Fall to Clark Elioak’s which included pumpkin picking. While riding the school bus made me feel a little sick (seriously so bouncy), it was a great way to put names and faces together of the children I heard my daughter talk about regularly, see the teacher in action and get to know her and the kids as well.
10. Get a basket. Oh my gosh. There is seriously way too much paper that comes home each week. Having a basket allowed me to go through the paper piles and keep nice pieces of art (so my daughter always thought I was saving everything) in the basket and recycle the rest. Seriously, no guilt! And if you think of it, add at least the month and year on the artwork!
11. Communication channels. This is something I’m still working on because I often run out of space on my phone. You’ll want to have the Remind app and connect to the school and teachers. We also got an email with a weekly newsletter, then there was a separate Google Drive K newsletter. Another system was ParentVue, which is where I took the online training to volunteer for the field trip and could see her report cards. the broader MoCo Public Schools also sent a weekly Thursday text with a link and an email. It can be a lot, so stay connected with other parents so you can compare notes – this was so helpful for me.
12. Spirit Week and special days. There will be opportunities to buy school gear (e.g., t-shirt, sweatshirt, etc.) during the year. If you think your child would want to participate in school spirit day, considering buying one from the PTA table or ordering at various points in the year. Our school had Spirit week at two different points in the year and various pajama days. For special dress days, I asked her if she wanted to participate and then prepared accordingly. Things like crazy hair day and tie dye day were ones she enjoyed.
13. Yearbooks and class pictures. We opted not to get a yearbook. Instead, I’m in the process of making a Shutterfly book for my daughter that’s not solely focused on school but rather all of the adventures from her Kindergarten year. As for a class picture, I loved the class picture and it was about $12 to order a 5×7 near the end of the school year.
14. School calendar. Mark all of the early release days and school closure dates on your calendar for the year. This was helpful for planning leave away from my job so I could enjoy random weekdays off with my daughter to go to DC or do something we couldn’t normally do because of the school schedule. As federal employees, there were two federal holidays that MCPS had school (Indigenous Persons Day and Veterans’ Day) which made for great date days for my husband and I. If you plan to have a DC adventure day, plan early so you can reserve tickets.
15. Miss the day of school. If you have an opportunity to take your child with you on an adventure and it means they miss a day or two or three of school – DO IT! Particularly in Kindergarten, I have zero regrets for the days my daughter missed school to do something fun, go on a trip or see family and friends. As far as I know, there’s no award for attendance, and even if there was, who cares! You only get one life – enjoy it! Just make sure to email your child’s teacher and the school’s attendance secretary.
16. Learn new things. Kindergarten is the perfect age to start introducing things like a two wheel bike, a two wheel scooter and jump rope. While we are still working on a two wheel bike and two wheel scooter, the jump rope was a huge hit! And while my daughter’s school doesn’t have swings, help your child learn how to pump so they can swing independently. One thing I love about this age is their earnestness to learn and try new things.
17. Birthday parties. I feel like this topic could have a post of its own. I’ll share that I personally loved her friend’s birthday that was low key at a duck bowling alley with no scoring and the party favor was a picture she took of her birthday girl with each friend that she printed at the party and put in a magnetic holder. It was genius! They also asked for no gifts, which eliminated a lot of stress.
18. Tooth fairy. A handful of my daughter’s classmates lost their first tooth in K. For us, we adopted the rate of $5 and the first tooth got a special note from the tooth fairy. At the end of the day, do what works best for your family. Some people we know did a $1 or $2 and others did a special $1 coin. My daughter lost her bottom two middle teeth and each time we put the tooth in a ziplock bag and then under the pillow which made it much easier to find once she went to sleep.
19. Thank the teachers. Our elementary school provided a list with each teacher and administrator’s favorite candy, favorite store, favorite drink, etc. This really helped during the holidays when deciding where to buy giftcards to. There’s also teacher appreciation week and the end of the school year. I think teachers appreciate a kind note too.
20. Follow Busy Toddler’s advice. I absolutely love the tactical, non-academic advice that Susie (who has a Master’s in Education and is a former teacher) offers parents who are preparing for K. Things like making sure your child can zip and unzip their coat and sample role playing to prepare your child for the social aspects of daily interactions with peers. Check out her full post here.

I am incredibly happy and relieved that my daughter loves school and that she looked forward to school each day (I think having a late start school helped too). For the first half of the year, she told us she wished there weren’t weekends. This blew my mind considering I think we have some pretty fun adventures, but I think it was a testament to the environment her teacher created and the wonderful kids she enjoyed playing with each day. I hope you have the best summer and your child’s transition to K goes well too. Which musings were helpful to you?

About the Author

Lydia Garry and her family, TeamTravelsBaby, live in Silver Spring, Maryland, and are working to achieve “vagabond status”. Much of their affordable family travel experiences include U.S. travel, national parks and Europe. Adventure with them here, subscribe to their newsletter and follow along on Instagram!