It’s springtime, and that means time to register your kids for the upcoming school year. If you have a child that will be in kindergarten come this fall, you’ll need to schedule a Kindergarten Physical. Every state’s requirements are a little different. In Utah, there is a physical form, immunization form, and medication form (if applicable) for your physician to fill out. The physical form allows the school to know if there are any major medical problems they should know about or limitations in a child’s physical abilities (e.g., ability to participate fully in gym). It also has a vision screen as part of the form. The immunization form ensures that a child is up-to-date on shots. Depending on what state you live in, you may or may not be able to opt out of immunizations if you want your child to go to a public/state funded school. The medication form is for school personnel to be able to administer medications (either regularly scheduled or on an emergency basis) to your child. This is particularly necessary for children who have conditions like asthma, serious peanut allergies, seizures, etc.

What to expect during your visit?

Your pediatrician should talk with your child, and in so doing, assess his or her kindergarten readiness. Can your child carry on a conversation? Can your child follow directions? Is your child academically ready (e.g., know letters, count)? There should also be a number of questions relating to your child’s overall health (e.g., diet, sleep, exercise). The visit should include a complete head-to-toe examination (including a vision screen). There should also be a component of what is termed “anticipatory guidance.” This is the helpful teaching your doctor should do with you and your child (e.g., education on media time, car seats, healthy eating, appropriate development). Finally, if your child didn’t get them the year previous (kindergarten shots can be given any time after the age of 4), the visit will end with the vaccinations. As a side note, many offices will also do a blood test at the kindergarten physical to see if your child is anemic. This can be done as a finger poke or a full blood draw. It may be worth knowing ahead of time if your pediatrician’s office does this, so you can prep your child.

Knowing what to expect can make a huge difference in helping the visit go smoother. I can usually tell when a parent has taken the time to walk through with the child what to expect at the visit. The child isn’t bothered by being asked to wear a gown, open his/her mouth, have a light shown in the ears, etc. The only potential backfire is knowledge of the shots. Sometimes knowing that the visit is going to end in shots will cause a child to be more afraid (I get it, shots hurt). While I am a big believer in being honest and upfront with children, if your child is going to freak out for the hours before the visit and all during the visit, you may want to hold on telling him or her about the shots until moments before they happen. You know your child best and will know best how to handle knowledge about that component of the visit.

I love the Kindergarten physical visits in my schedule each day. It’s a great age, the kids are all so different, and it’s fun to see them growing up.