The First Day of Kindergarten!

I did it! We did it! We survived the first day of Kindergarten! Hurray!!!!!!!!
Let me just say that my class is awesome. I had kids come in my room ready to learn. Hardly any crying and LOTS of smiles. :) So.....what do you do on the first day of Kindergarten? Good question, and it differs for everybody. I like to begin with a big goodbye to moms and dads. We do a special clap that I teach them in line while the parents watch. (Just use any clapping rhythm you can come up with...hahaha.) Then we turn to the parents, wave, and yell bye!!!! The kids are all hyped up by the clapping they don't even think twice about saying goodbye. Then the big the walk into the classroom.
     Once we have made it inside I give them a coloring page to work on while I take the roll, make sure we are all in the right spot, and handle any scared kiddos. Then we sit on the carpet. I tell them about myself. We sing some songs. We take a tour of the school. We go to the bathroom (one big group trip down the hall to the bathroom....it takes FOREVER.) Then we have lunch. By the time we get in from lunch, get a drink, go to the bathroom again, we are exhausted and ready to go home. I will then start the Kissing Hand.
     If you don't know the Kissing Hand you had better get to know it. Go out right now and BUY it! It is one of the best books in the world for helping kids deal with separation issues. The story is about a raccoon getting ready for his first "night" at school. And for his first time away from mommy raccoon. He cries. He begs. He wants to stay home. But, mommy raccoon shows his how to do the kissing hand. We act it out in class on our own hands so that we can show our moms how to do it when we get home. (Kiss the center of your palm. The kiss runs up your arm and straight into your heart <3.) When Chester Raccoon is ready to go to school he gives his mommy a kissing hand too. We talk about how even mommies and daddies are sad when kids go to school. Even moms need to feel better. Then we make them a card.

The card has a little poem about how to do a kissing hand and they get to make the hand with the heart in the middle. I cut out the pieces for them because we are not ready for that yet and I don't have time to spend cutting on the first day. The kids glue it all together and place the heart sticker on the hand. After they are done we do a coloring page of Chester. Here is a copy of the Kissing Hand projectThe kids put this into their backpacks, get ready to go home, and we have an even better day tomorrow.
First Day Completed!