What does a 5-year-old really need to know before walking through the schoolhouse door for the start of the 2012-13 school year? That there will be cubbies, labeled with their names, for all children. Not to mention books and songs, sand tables and easels, new friends and a playground – and lots of fun ways to learn.  This is how a lovely new video from Milton – “So You’re Going to Kindergarten” –  presents a friendly child’s-eye guide to kindergarten.

The video offers equally friendly guidance for parents, welcoming them as partners in their children’s school experience and letting them, too, know what to expect. “There is curriculum in the kindergarten classroom, even though to the naked eye you wouldn’t think so. There’s a lot of learning going on, but it’s also through structured play,” says veteran kindergarten parent Carolyn Lyons, who’s CEO here at Strategies for Children. “Parents and families are a child’s first teachers, so really being able to align what they’re learning at home with what they’re doing at home is critical. So I think parent engagement in the classroom is the most important thing.”

(Post script. Producer and director Ada Rosmarin is a member of our Early Education for All Campaign Advisory Committee and Policy Committee.)