Preparing for Kindergarten Sessions

The EIPS Early Learning team has planned a series of general information sessions for families with children entering kindergarten in fall 2022. The sessions are designed to provide parents and caregivers with basic tools to help prepare children for kindergarten, to give families a bit of an overview of what children will be learning in kindergarten and to answer questions you may have.

Register for any or all of the upcoming sessions that fit your schedule. All sessions have both a daytime and evening option. The links to register were sent directly to all 2022-23 kindergarten families—as of the end of April—or contact your child's school for more information. Sessions will take place virtually, and the links to join will be sent directly to all registered families the day before each one.

If you have any questions about the upcoming sessions, contact Cindy Talaga, EIPS early learning consultant, at cindy.talaga@eips.ca, or reach out directly to your child's school.

Supporting a Successful Transition to School
Date: Monday, May 16, 1-1:45 p.m. or Tuesday, May 17, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Kindergarten is an exciting new adventure! Many children flourish in this new environment, but it can also come with some challenges. The last few years have, in some cases, limited children's opportunities to experience life outside of the home. We’ll explore ways we can support the continued development of skills that help us become engaged learners in a group setting. We’ll also discuss some common concerns caregivers may have when their child starts school.

Self Help: Building Independence
Date: Tuesday, May 24, 1-1:45 p.m. or Wednesday, May 25, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Join an occupational therapist to learn strategies to help your child build independence. The session aims to increase your child’s successful participation with self-help skills and daily routines. We’ll touch on ideas for self-help skills such as dressing, managing their snack and organizing belongings.

Speech-Sound Development
Date: Monday, May 30, 1-1:45 p.m. or Tuesday, May 31, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

By the time children reach the age of seven years, they’re usually making all of the speech sounds of their first language. As children's speech develops, the number and type of errors they make changes. Many parents have questions about whether their child's speech-sound errors are typical or whether they should be concerned. This interactive session, hosted by two EIPS speech-language pathologists, will provide information about the progression of speech-sound development and the strategies caregivers can use to support this development.

Fine-Motor Development in Young Children
Date: Monday, June 13, 1-1:45 p.m. or Tuesday, June 14, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Join us for a session focused on how fine-motor development progresses for young children. Many fine-motor tasks develop in a predictable sequence. We’ll go over the stages of fine-motor development and give ideas for activities and play at home to help children feel more confident moving into kindergarten. We’ll discuss when children are ready to learn to print and activities that will work on pre-printing if they aren’t quite ready yet.

Literacy in Kindergarten
Date: Monday, June 20, 1-1:45 p.m. or Tuesday, June 21, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Literacy is an exciting part of children’s early years in school. Join us to explore what literacy looks like in kindergarten. We’ll also discuss fun and easy ways to incorporate important early literacy skills into your everyday activities over the summer. Part of our session will review materials available on the EIPS website for parents to access to learn more about the different aspects of early literacy.