How to Collect Student Information Before Kindergarten
Collect what you need to know at-a-glance from kindergarten parents so that you can quickly get to know your new incoming students.
Here is a double-sided information collection sheet designed just for kindergarten.
I hope that this form that is both parent-friendly and teacher-friendly can save you time and help you get to know your new kinders better.
Let me share how we use this form to prepare for a new school year, what it includes and how you can get it.
Prepare for a new school year
In preparation for a new school year, our building allows us to include information in our kindergarten registration packet.
When parents register at kindergarten round-up, we make sure this one gets their attention.
And to me – this is the one that matters.
We use it to gather some insight into the kinders that will be coming our way.
Now, I’ve also sent home this form at the beginning of the year when our school didn’t get these filled out prior to the school year.
Once these are all returned, I simply alphabetize them and put them in my teacher planning binder.
What is on the student info sheet?
Let’s look at what is on the student info sheet and what information is collected from parents.
There are three sections that collect information about the child, the parents and the child in relation to other siblings.
What I like about this section:
- I can know how old they are starting kindergarten (and I don’t have to figure it out myself)
- I can add their birthdays into my teacher planning calendar
- I have parent contact info at my fingertips
- I know what siblings this child connects with and how many siblings are also in the home
It has three sections that parents can describe their child. This really helps me understand a child’s personality type and start a relationship off a bit faster.
This form also asks parents about their goals for their child’s year, about a bedtime routine and holidays they don’t celebrate.
With this information, I get a really good idea of what parents are hoping kindergarten will be for their child. And I can even bring up these talking points at parent-teacher conferences to see how they feel kindergarten is going.
Lastly, there are two checklist sections for developmental skills and social skills. I only use these for the beginning of the year – but they sometimes give me the heads up with who might really need support to begin.
How to get it
You can buy this student information sheet online. You can print and use it immediately since it’s a digital download.
Or you may like this editable version instead.
Let’s wrap it up
There you have it – how we use this back to school form to prepare for a new school year, what is on it, and how you can get it. I do hope it can save you time and help you get to know your new kinders better, faster.
Ie you’re looking for more back to school forms, you may also like preparing for the parents or these back to school night posters.
What text do you use in this download? I’d love to create a ” How my child get’s to and from school” form, but with consistency.
Hi Naomi, the fonts are ABCPrint, Love Ya Like a Sister and Pea Emma.
I follow you on bloglovin and the link for the free gift is not working. What can I do? You are amazing by the way!
Hi Corey, thanks for your kind words. I’m not sure what to suggest… hmmm. I’m not familiar with bloglovin! Sorry – hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with a solution.
– Leslie
Hi Leslie,
I just found your blog through pinterest and can relate so much to this. I teach intermediate grades, but you know, class etiquette is introduced at the beginning of every year! I have read the Five Languages of Love and use it in my room too! Thanks for mentioning this book because it is worth the read! I will be following you!
Hi Tammy! Thanks for sharing your connection and welcome to KindergartenWorks! Love hearing that you use the book and lessons learned from it. I’m honored that you’d follow me despite our grade level separations. Thanks!
– Leslie
This looks really great and I would really like it, but when I click on the download it gives me an error message. Can you please tell me where I can go to download. I just looove your stuff. Thanks
Hi J.Jones, Thanks so for letting me know how much you appreciate what I make! I think the updated link should work now. Have a great day!
-Leslie
Thank you for the Getting to Know your child sheet. I downloaded it and look forward to sharing with my co-horts.
🙂 Thanks!
It’s amazing how come March we’ve along forgotten how we had to teach the children how to wash their hands properly and how to ask to use the bathroom! You’re so lucky that your school has a round up… I usually meet my students the first day of school. It always works out just fine, but it would be great to have some idea about the incoming students prior to day one… especially when you’re planning lessons for the first week!
You have such great ideas… that’s why I gave you the lovely blog award! Come by my blog to check it out:
http://aturntolearn.blogspot.com/
Ahhhhh….I just finished Round Up Week (You read that correctly. At my school, interested incoming kinders are invited to spend an entire day in my classroom.) Your post is so timely. All weekend, I have been pondering how much my kinders have grown, how independent they are, how proficiently they move through our routines. Thinking of starting all over again is daunting. But I know I will be truly excited when August rolls around!
Thanks for the form; I will definitely be using it.
ReadWriteSing
Great info form! Thanks for sharing. I am now following your blog!
I have to say I LOVE your blog…. I am +1ing you!!
I’d love for you to visit me too :0)
✿~jeannie~
ÂKindergarten Lifestyle
Kindergarten Lifestyle Facebook Fan Page
I love this! At my school too, its around that time to start tweaking our packets for next year. This will be very helpful, thanks a million!! and thank- you for the book recommendations, I’ve never read them but I am excited too now.
I hope that they can be as helpful to you as they have been to me. I use what I’ve learned in my marriage, knowing myself and with my entire family and in all of my work relationships too!
Thank you soooo much! We are getting ready for Kindergarten registration. I can’t wait to share this with my team and principal.
I am excited to use this! Looks great!
Super addition to my beginning of the year packet.
Tricia
Queen with Class
Just pinned it!
Can not wait to use this form next year….so would have helped me out this year. Thanks so much for sharing…SCORE!!!!
I do something similar with my 4 year old kindergarten class, but not as in depth. I think I am going to tweak yours and mine for next year. Thanks so much for sharing!
I do something similar to this on two forms. I like how organized yours is. Thanks for sharing.
I love the form you shared! I taught K for 7 years and the office collected most of that information, but it wasn’t shared with the teachers. Thanks for sharing it!
Kimberly
Funky First Grade Fun
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this resource! We are getting ready to host our Kindergarten Round-Up program in April and have been talking about including something similar. Thank you soooo much for sharing!
Kaitlin
p.s. I apologize in advance if I’m totally overstepping … I noticed that under both the developmental and social skills sections “pretends to read by looking at pictures” appears — wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not:)
What? No, I so didn’t notice. Thanks! I’ll be sure to fix that and you can click the photo again to get the fixed copy. Thank you Kaitlin!
Thank you for this! I am currently a 4th grade teacher but am hoping to move to kindergarten next year. I honestly don’t have a clue what to expect from the kids those first few weeks, but I can’t wait to learn! =)
~Jada
Daisy Days for Learning
Thanks again for such an amazing resource! What a great help you are with all your ideas and items to buy!
I like this document. As a mommy, who has a little one entering kinder this fall it serves as a good reminder of some skills I can work with my child on more and what skills my child already comes into school with.
Very well thought out document. Thanks for sharing!
Oh thank you! I love this idea and it is so much better than the little things we have now. I bought your Parent Handbook also, it is going to help a lot!!!!
Thanks Andrea! I’m so glad you love the handbook!
Thanks for that – I wish I had it 6 wks ago at the start of our school year.
Timing is everything sometimes, isn’t it 😉
This is great! I have one similar, but yours is cuter and has a lot more questions (I don’t have a social skills section). I am definitely sharing this with my team to see if it’s something we could incorporate. I’m at a new school and don’t know how they do new kinder orientation.
Thanks for sharing!
Laura
Kinder Kraziness
Thanks Laura!
Isn’t that funny- I just posted about looking back at how far we have come in kindergarten also! 🙂 I teach struggling readers, so I want to know how much background knowledge about the world in general that they have. I like to just talk to them at first as some come to me very shy and not wanting to verbalize very much.
Lori
Conversations in Literacy
I bet knowing about them helps to draw on conversation! Thanks for commenting Lori!