And to better develop your child’s social and character building skills:

• Teach your children how to listen: look into the speaker’s eyes and waiting to speak until the other person has finished.  The best way to do this is by example, so be a good and attentive listener at all times!
• Establish a daily routine well before school starts, so that your child won’t be overloaded with new things to adjust to.
• Give your child a list of chores to take care of on a daily basis.  Make a chart outlining his responsibilities and let him check off a box, or put on a sticker, when he’s completed a task.
• Provide your child with plenty of opportunities to socialize with her peers, whether in an organized play group, or with neighbor kids or cousins.
• Set an example for your child by expressing your own feelings in an appropriate manner and using self-control.  Encourage her to use words to verbalize what she wants instead of whining about it.

A couple weeks before it’s time for him to actually start kindergarten, help him ease the inevitable jitters by telling him what he can expect to do and see on his first day – giving him at least a tentative rundown of the schedule will help him to feel more prepared.  Express excitement over getting school supplies, and let him pick them out, so that he’ll be even more eager to use them.  There are also some great books for this particular situation: check out The Night Before Kindergarten, by Natasha Wing, Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee, and First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, just to name a few.