Author: GHoffman

Getting Ready for School
Social-Emotional Kits
School Readiness Kits
This kit was created and assembled by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in collaboration with the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute with funding from the School Ready Libraries Grant ; adapted from the work of the Grant County Public Library.

Social Emotional: Getting Ready for School/First Day of School
Goals
Demonstrates health/mental wellness in individual and cooperative social environments.
Demonstrates independent behavior
Shows social cooperation
Applies social problem solving skills
Demonstrates independent behavior
These goals were taken from Building a Strong Foundation for School Success: Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf
“ School readiness means each child enters school ready to engage in and benefit from early learning experiences that best promote the child’s success. 1

January 2018
Page 1

Write
Suggested Activities
“Read any book aloud. Hand out paper and crayons and ask the children to draw the story or some aspect of it.” 2
Help children write out a story of what they think the first day of school will be like.
Take the child on a visit to the school they will be attending. Take pictures of the places where the child will learn, play and eat. Place these in a book and have the child write or dictate their thoughts about each picture.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Helping children learn about where they will be going and what they will be doing when going to school helps ease anxieties.
By writing or illustrating a story about the first day of school, children will give you a glimpse into what you are thinking and feeling.

January 2018
Page 3

Read
Suggested Activities
Read a story and have the children act it out or parts of it out. For example, they can act out what it is like to go to school. “
Read some of the books in the kit and act them out.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Having children act out stories helps them think and talk through their concerns.
Reading to children helps strengthen listening and communication skills. It also helps the skill of attending to the story and sitting long enough to see the whole story.

January 2018
Page 2

Sing
“To Kindergarten We Will Go”
To kindergarten we will go
To kindergarten we will go
We’ll learn and play and make new friends
To kindergarten we will go.
“My Friends Go Marching”
My friends go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah!
My friends go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah!
My friends go marching one by one, my friends who begin with
______sit down, and we’ll all keep marching round and round,
till we all sit down.
(repeat until all children are sitting)

January 2018
Page 4

Talk
Suggested Activities
Help children expand their vocabulary by playing a game of charades. Have charades cards or activities ready and have the kids act them out.
Play school with the children alternating roles— as teacher, students and other classroom helpers.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Playing school helps children learn to expect what will happen at school and practice some behaviors that will be expected of them.
Playing charades encourages children to think and process what they are seeing and use language to communicate those thoughts.

January 2018
Page 5

Citation Page
ALIGNMENT OF STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS. (2003, October 1). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf
Encouraging School Readiness Skills in Preschoolers retrieved January 11, 2018, from https://www.himama.com/blog/encouraging-school-readiness-skills-in-preschoolers

January 2018
Page 7

Play
Suggested Activities
Play a game of 20 questions, taking turns asking and answering questions to practice this skill.
Play a game of Red Light, Green Light with children but instead of the child running toward the adult, the adult can name a behavior and the child can tell them it is a red light or green light behavior. Play a game of quiet and loud and talk about when a child should use their quiet and loud voices.
Play “What If” with your child and talk about things such as what if someone takes away your toy or what if you see someone that is sad. This helps the child to practice some of those skills that they will need as they interact with others.2
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Before starting school, preschoolers must be able to clearly communicate their wants and needs. They should be able to understand and answer questions, and feel comfortable speaking with teachers and other students.
Preschoolers should understand appropriate behaviors and limits before attending kindergarten. Do they understand when it is ok to be loud, and when it is quiet time? Do they know when and where it is appropriate to play?
A child should be able to engage in reciprocal interaction with others their own age, both verbally and non-verbally. They should understand how to compromise with their peers and take turns in conversation and during playtime.

January 2018
Page 6

January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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