Easing the transition to kindergarten

Child Psychologist Fay Van Der Kar-Levinson, PhD, shares advice for parents on the best methods for preparing your child to begin kindergarten
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Easing the transition to kindergarten

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The best way to help your child transition from home to kindergarten is to begin about two or three weeks before kindergarten starts. Do not begin any sooner, if you do you will confuse your child, they will not understand the time frame. Within that two to three week time frame, if you can, walk by the school, or drive by the school so they can get familiar with the route to school. Some schools will even have a kindergarten welcome day before school starts so you get to see the classroom, you get to meet the teacher. Things to avoid are selling the school. If you says things your going to go to school and you're going to have the best time, it's going to be so much fun. Your setting your child up for disappointment. Of course you hope they'll have fun, but the best way to transition them, is to explain that they're going to go to school and that you hope they will learn lots of new things at their new school.

Child Psychologist Fay Van Der Kar-Levinson, PhD, shares advice for parents on the best methods for preparing your child to begin kindergarten

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Fay Van Der Kar-Levinson, PhD

Psychologist

For more than 30 years, Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson has helped parents to navigate the maze known as parenting. She acts as both a guide and a resource for parents as they deal with the joys and challenges of raising children.

Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson’s passion is to help parents to help their children thrive at each stage of development. She works to identify each child’s unique temperament and learning style in order to create and implement effective behavior strategies. Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson is an expert at helping families deal with life changes such as birth of siblings, changing schools, divorce, and death.

Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson also guides parents through the process of determining the best school for their children, and has co-authored two books on that topic, Choosing the Right School for Your Child and Secrets to School Success.   

For the past three decades Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson has lectured and consulted at private as well as public schools. She has served as an adjunct professor at both the University of California at Los Angeles and Pepperdine University.

Dr. Van Der Kar-Levinson earned her PhD and MA at the University of California at Los Angeles where she studied and trained with some of the nation’s top researchers and clinicians in the fields of child development and clinical psychology. She is a lifetime member of the American Psychological Association.

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