Kindergarten

The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) offers a two-year Kindergarten program including the choice of Early French Immersion. Learn how you can help prepare your child for Kindergarten and view our supports for parents and guardians.

Child care and early learning

Schools within the GECDSB offer a variety of child care and early learning options, including before and after school care. Explore our child care providers and programs and learn how you can register your child.

EarlyON Child and Family Centres Brochure

Welcome to Kindergarten

Entering Kindergarten is an exciting time! View our welcome videos to get a better idea of what you and your child can expect in our Kindergarten programs.

Supporting your child's learning

Find out how you can support your child's learning to help them develop a life-long love of learning. By acting as partners in education, you can reinforce lessons from school at home.

Problem solving and innovating

Take the following steps to help your child with problem solving and innovating:

Encourage your child to try different approaches to solving a problem after making a mistake or trying something that doesn't work
Gather natural objects to design and create things and encourage your child to consider areas of change and improvement for their design
Model questions for your child, such as “I wonder why?” or “What if?”
Provide opportunities for your child to explore the outdoors

Belonging and contributing

Try these tips to promote feelings of belonging and contributing:

Talk about the important role that your child plays in your family and your community
Share your heritage and culture with your child and encourage questioning to learn more
Model understanding that shows that everyone has value and that we can benefit from being accepting and welcoming of others

Self-regulation and well-being

You can encourage self-regulation and well-being by:

Supporting your child's independence in making healthy choices when eating, playing and resting
Helping your child identify and talk about their feelings
Encouraging your child to try new things and to tackle challenges with enthusiasm and persistence

Demonstrating literacy and mathematics behaviours

You can help your child develop literacy and mathematics behaviours by:

Reading to your child every day and talking about the stories you read
Engaging your child in conversation about their interests and experiences
Supporting your child in developing first language skills
Noticing and naming the language and math in your child's play

WECHU: Preparing for Kindergarten

If your child is starting school for the first time there are many ways you can help them feel ready. Visit the Windsor Essex County Health Unit for more information.

Get Ready for School