In the spring I wrote a letter to my students on their last day in Kindergarten. It seemed fitting that I write a letter for their first day of Kindergarten too.
While I don’t necessarily read these letters aloud to my students, I may share them in their memory books for them to keep as they grow.
This letter is putting into words what I feel, think, wish, and hope for my students as they enter my classroom.
Dear Kindergartener,
Today is the big day!
Today, you become a Kindergartener. You may be excited. You may be scared.
Would you believe me if I told you that I get nervous about the first day too?
It’s true. I didn’t even sleep much last night because I was so excited to meet you, and I was so curious about you and your classmates!
Will you all come to school with a smile? Will there be any tears?
Maybe you wondered how you would feel at school too, and who you would meet.
If you were scared to come to school, I want you to know that you aren’t the only one. I will try to comfort you by helping you meet new friends, and I will reassure you that I will be here for you should you need me.
If you are excited, I will celebrate with you! I am happy to see your excitement, and I will love to see when that excitement is contagious to your peers.
Kindergarten is a special time in your life and you will learn so much. I am sure you have heard all about how you will learn your ABC’s, learn to read, and do math problems.
But I want you to know something – those aren’t the most important things you will learn in Kindergarten.
You may hear grown ups talk about those things a lot – and they are important, and we will work hard – but reading and math are not the most important things about Kindergarten.
What are the most important things?
Friendship, kindness, compassion, sharing, empathy, independence, teamwork, honesty, courage, creativity, adventure, problem solving, and much more.
Yes, my dear kindergarteners, you will learn to read and do so much this year, and I will be so proud of you.
But when you look back at Kindergarten, I want you to remember the other things too.
If you think of me when you are older, it’s ok if you don’t remember that I helped you learn to read, and it’s ok if your strongest memory of Kindergarten is how we laughed so hard at the carpet because something was silly.
In fact, I hope you remember that the most.
Here’s to a wonderful year filled with learning and laughter,
Your Teacher
Read The Last Day of Kindergarten letter
****Update: I have received a lot of requests for a printable version of this letter like I had for The Last Day of Kindergarten letter. I am so honored to be asked and so thankful that this letter has received such kind feedback. I have created a pdf version with a space for the teacher to sign their own name. You can download it by clicking on the picture below.
Alex
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Love this letter!!!
Thank you!! I really appreciate it!
I LOVE this letter!!!! Would you be willing to put the first day letter in a PDF like you did the last day letter? Thanks!!!!!
Hi Ashli! Sure, I can do that! I will update this post soon with the pdf – feel free to also email me at [email protected] and I can send it over directly. I am so glad you like the letter – thank you for your kind words!
Wonderful post Alex. I wish my own children could have you as a teacher. 🙂
Thank you so much Molly! That is such a wonderful thing for you to say – I really appreciate it!! 🙂
Such a beautiful letter!
Thank you so much Toni!
This is awesome! It puts to words what Kindergarten teachers feel at the beginning of a new year. Like the previous post I would love to use this with my kiddos, giving you full credit of course! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much Mary – I am currently putting it into a pdf for you guys and it will be added to this post soon to download! 🙂
I absolutely love this letter! I really like the part where you talk about how the most important things of kindergarten are kindness, friendship, compassion and more. This really addressed a lot of feelings that surround the first day of school – especially how it is hard for teachers to sleep! Ha!
Suzanne
Kindergarten Planet
Thanks Suzanne! I definitely have a hard time sleeping the night before! Every year it never fails! 🙂
Things I ve already covered in the many conversations we ve had leading up to this day, but as a mom can t help but feel the urge to repeat in case you didn t hear me the first time.
Hi Alex!
Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad I came upon your first day of school letter as I loved your last day of school letter and came upon that letter last month. I read it to my kindergarten kiddos and their parents on our last day of school (and gave you full credit as I prefaced reading it by saying, “I did not write this but it fits perfectly for how teachers feel.”) and I cried through the whole thing as I read on (even though I read it to myself prior and no tears). You have the perfect way of saying what we Kinder teachers are feeling. Thank You!!
Alex Ilove to see your beautiful smile ❤️and absolutely love your letter. It’s true we are nervous and like you hard to sleep. Thanks for sharing your great ideas and feeling.😍
An awesome letter thet filled with love. So good. Thanks for you sharing.
Thank you very much for these materials and ideas. I am in my first year of teaching Kindergarten at a child care center and I am always looking for ideas.
I am so glad you find the ideas and printables here helpful Tammy!
Omg! I just read this letter. You are so good with you words and I love it so much….