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5 Tips for a Smooth First Week of Kindergarten

When preparing for the first week of kindergarten, there's so much to do inside the classroom to prepare your space, lessons, and students. But keep in mind that it's also just as important to take steps to prepare yourself as the teacher.

Read on for five simple tips for a smooth first week of kindergarten.

Tip #1: Determine Your Routines and Procedures Ahead of Time

The first week of kindergarten is all about getting to know your students and practicing how to function in the classroom as a learner. There are so many routines and procedures to teach, so to make your life easier, determine which ones you want to address right away.

Kindergarteners need explicit instruction on these routines and procedures, so be sure to work these into your lesson plans.

Make a checklist of these important routines and procedures to ensure you don't forget any.

Some key routines and procedures to teach right away include:

  • Where to put belongings
  • How to unpack backpack
  • Bathroom procedures
  • How to ask a question
  • How to line up
  • Walking in line
  • How to clean up area
  • Transitioning from place to place
  • How to sit at the carpet
  • Recess procedures
  • Snack-time routine
  • Specials class procedures
  • Lunch routine
  • Listening skills
  • Packing up and end of day

Free First Week of School Activities

Grab this free resource to help you plan simple activities for the first week. Inside you’ll find a welcome coloring sheet, pages to practice using classroom tools, as well as name practice and early literacy and math skills.

You can get a free copy delivered straight to your inbox by filling out the form below.

Tip #2: Be Over-Prepared with All Supplies

There can be a lot of situations that come up unexpectedly during the first week of school. You never know if you'll get an extra student (or two!) on the morning of the first day of school, or a student might accidentally rip their page. Anything can happen!

It's always a good idea to have extra copies of your activities on hand for the first week. The same goes for having extra copies of your welcome letter, important forms, welcome baggie or gift, name tags, lunch tags, etc. 

Some activities will take what feels like forever, and others will fly by so fast that you'll have extra time on your hands. This can be a scary thing with all those brand-new kindergarten eyes on you.

Being overprepared with extra activities, games, no-prep pages, and time fillers ensures that chaos doesn't break out. You can find a ton of these in this First Week of Kindergarten activities pack.

Tip #3: Avoid the School Supply Chaos

One of the most stressful situations is having every student unpack their backpack with all their supplies on the morning of the first day of kindergarten.

If you can, have students bring their supplies ahead of time at meet-the-teacher night so you can help them unpack and organize them.

You can make signs around the room to have families place designated supplies in each area, such as tissues, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, baggies, etc.

After the families leave, you can put the supplies away in their designated location so they're ready for the first day of school.

If you don't have that option to organize ahead of time, you can get extra grocery store bags from your local store (or your home, if you save them) and put each student's name on a bag. Have them come in on the first morning of school and dump their supplies inside. Set them aside so you can organize them later.

Tip #4: Prepare YOURSELF for the Year

As the teacher, it's important that you take steps to make YOUR life easier during the busy first week of school.

Meal prep some easy meals that you can grab for breakfast and lunch without having to think about it. You're going to be tired after school, so make dinnertime easier on yourself this week, too. This is not the time to make big, gourmet dinners —don't feel bad about ordering take-out or a pizza.

Another helpful tip is to pick out your outfits (and accessories, too!) and lay them out for the week. This saves you from having to decide what to wear each morning. The last thing you need is a fashion crisis!

Prepare yourself for caffeination and hydration. Set the coffee pot to auto-start in the morning so you can just pour and go. Fill up your water bottle the night before and put it next to your lunch in the refrigerator. Then, you can grab both as you head out the door.

Check out this Survival Guide for the First Week of Kindergarten blog post for more helpful tips to make your life easier.

Tip #5: Plan and Prep for the Next Week

By the end of the first week of kindergarten, you will be exhausted—like, fall asleep at 7 p.m exhausted.

When planning your lessons for the first week of kindergarten, go ahead and plan and prep your second week of school lesson plans, too (I promise you'll thank yourself by the end of the first week!). These will most likely be an extension of the first week of school lesson plans, like practicing routines and procedures, learning how to transition, doing basic activities, and practicing using supplies.

I hope these practical tips help make your teacher-life easier and give you a smooth start to the year.

Do you have a must-do tip for making the first week of kindergarten easier? Share it in the comments below!

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