Supporting your Child in their Transition to School
Is your child transitioning to a k4 or k5 school in September? Helping your child transition to school requires support from the entire community, including friends and family, the school board, school staff and most importantly- you. Though it can be a stressful change for you and your child, with the right support, the transition can be a fun and smooth one for everyone.
Available Tools to Support You & Your Child
Connexions’ School Transition Kits
Every year, Connexions assembles and distributes School Transition Kits to families who has a child starting pre-kindergarten (k4) or kindergarten. These Kits include helpful tools and information to help young children transition from home or daycare to school succesfully.
What is Included in the Kits?
We include some fun learning tools like crayons, scissors and play-dough; story books with Kittycat & Friends; as well as information sheets on parenting, supporting speech and language development, healthy eating, and available health and social services within the Outaouais. Every year, we also include the latest Naitre et grandir magazines, some activity ideas and of course a fun print-out of Pigeon from Mo Willems’ children’s book Don’t Let Pigeon Drive the Bus.
And best of all- it all comes in a cute backpack for your little one to carry around with them!
These Kits are made possible in partnership with the WQSB and Naître et Grandir, as well as with financial support from Centraide Outaouais.
Where Can Families Get their Kit?
If your child is attending a school with the Western Quebec School Board, they will receive one of our School Transition Kits at the Kindergarten Open House or within their first few weeks of starting school in September.
If your child is attending a school with a French School Centre, please make sure to contact us at as we always have extra kits for our English-speaking families.
The First Transition to School is a Webinar hosted by Connexions with special guests from the Western Quebec School Board in April 2024.
Online Online information for k4/k5
- New k4/k5 Program for children (Québec Education Program)
- Books to share with your child about transitioning to school
- Classroom strategies & supports for ASD children
- Let’s Play & Talk Kits For Children 3-5
- First Words Speech and Language Modules: Help your preschooler develop their early communication skills by taking the Communications Check Up and watching this amazing series of webinars about how to develop language and literacy even before school starts.
- Talk Box Monthly Preschool Language Activities: Each month, Talk Box offers seasonally relevant ways for parents to create language rich environments to support their child’s early communication in preparation for school.
- Free Hands-On Preschool Activities: Make a fairy potion, start a family gratitude jar, build a miniature catapult and begin a nature journal inspired by Jane Goodall. These are just some of the incredible activities available to you and your preschooler.
- Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Group: Feeling a little lost or maybe unsure of what to do? Yep. Us too! But it’s ok. We’re all in this together. Join this virtual group to get support, to realize that you’re absolutely not alone, and to help remind you that actually you’re doing just fine.
Children Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s First Words Webinars
- Child Encyclopedia’s School Readiness
- Agir Tôt’s A smooth transition to school life
Canadian Pediatric Society- Screen time:
Screen time and young children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Digital media: Promoting healthy screen use in school-aged children and adolescents. Screen time and digital media: Advice for parents of school-aged children and teens- Activities to do with your child: Preschool Activities
Have you read Connexions Resource Centre’s report, Who Are our 0-5 Year Olds? This report provides a better understanding of the reality of our English-speaking children in the Outaouais and of the challenges they face, and will also serve as a guide for Connexions Resource Centre whose mission is to support and promote the health, well-being and vitality of the English-speaking population in the Outaouais. Read the full Report, Executive Summary and Fact Sheet.
