For many moms the idea of driving up to a big scary elementary school and dropping off their child for kindergarten can be pretty frightening. And in preparing for kindergarten, getting your child ready for that moment of separation can be one of the most difficult things to do. That is why a great option for a lot of moms is not to completely separate from the child in their first weeks of kindergarten but to be an active parent and get involved volunteering at the school even in the summer before kindergarten gets underway.

Kindergarten teachers are notoriously under funded and often depend heavily on the help of parents both to get ready for the school year and during the year to serve as “classroom moms” to help out with children who need to go to the bathroom, who get sick or to coordinate activities in the classroom and during field trips. If you take the initiative toward the end of the school year before your little one goes to kindergarten and meet the teacher who will be your child’s first teacher in life, that teacher will love meeting you and your child too and getting a head start on making friends with her.

Getting prepared for any big new event is all about eliminating the element of surprise. That is why soldiers go to boot camp, why athletes practice for months before competition and why actors rehearse nonstop before show day. And it’s what drives parents like you and me to start months, maybe years before your child goes to kindergarten to remove any element of surprise in what will happen that day and so you know your child is prepared in every possible way for that day she walks into kindergarten.

Some of the aspects of that first day are easy to get ready for. You know your child will need new clothes and probably more clothes because he or she will be at school every day. You don’t want your offspring to be embarrassed by having to wear too many older items. So you might buy them the fashionable kindergartner things so that first day is one of fitting in and looking just like the other kids.

In the traditional family structure, the role of father is clearly unique. Perhaps it is because dad goes off to work and comes home with that big booming voice or maybe it’s that he is a soft touch for ice cream or an extra ride on the Ferris Wheel at the State Fair but dad has a special place in the hearts of the kids. He is both the voice of authority and sometimes the voice of wise counsel when children need someone to guide them and direct them.

On the other hand, it is mom who is there every day, guiding every event, making sure the children are safe and cared for. Both jobs are crucial and beloved by the kids, even if they don’t know it or say so. So when the time comes to get your little one ready for kindergarten, it may be that both parents can have a big role in this transition as well.

Going to kindergarten in this new age is a lot different than it was when we were children. Modern children are more aware of the adult world, more sophisticated and certainly more aware of technology and the internet than was imaginable even a few years ago when that youngster was a newborn. So we have to take that into consideration when we begin to prepare a child for kindergarten because there is really no level of schooling that is untouched by computers and technology.

The first step for finding out how much your child needs to know about computers and the internet day one in kindergarten is to visit the school and talk to the teacher. It really isn’t a matter of kids being forced to learn about cyberspace. Schools are simply using the internet for teaching because kids are showing up already knowing all about it. As you look around any modern kindergarten class, you will see dozens of computer kiosks so the kids can connect to the internet and use the internet for anything from research to communications to learning games to exploring the galaxies.

That phrase is the one we least want to hear either the day of or the night before the big moment when your child is going off to kindergarten. The last thing you want is for your child’s first day at kindergarten to be the result of a power struggle. That kind of unpleasant start to what is going to be a very big change in the life of a child will only put a cloud over the day and perhaps his year at school and that is exactly the opposite of what you want.

Of course, if it comes down to a pushing contest, you are going to win. And sometimes children test your borders with a comment like, “But I don’t want to go to kindergarten”. You know your child best and if that is what is going on, you also know how to maintain your authority so they know that going to school is not option and that not only will they go today, they will keep going every day for the entire school year.