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I have done this 3 times.  Of course each child is different, I always tried to never let them see my nerves and always was positive about what was about to happen.  Try letting your child pack own lunch and maybe even allow something you would not normally (within reason).  Be prepared the night before, don't be in a rush and never talk about what you will be doing while they are away.  You don't want them to feel they are missing something.  Set aside a special place at home to put "out the door" items such as backpack, shoes, etc.  By giving your child some opportunity to show alittle independence, they will feel better prepared.

Thanks for all of  your responses. The Kissing Hand sounds like a great book and may try to go to the bookstore this week.

My son starts K this year as well. I've been there already with his three sisters and have to say that they've all handled it quite differently!

There are so many things that can affect the way they handle it, including your own approach and your own reactions to theirs.

 In my experience it was best for me to have no expectations at the beginning and to follow their leads. Having said that though, let me say that up front they know that going to Kindergarten is non negotiable, that I am excited for them to be going and I don't dwell on them being gone....:-)

My daughter is starting kindergarten in a few weeks, too.  She is generally excited about it, but often expresses some hesitance...she is a little shy of new things, as she was when she started preschool.  Here's something I used when she was having separation issues then...

There is a book called The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is about a little raccoon who is nervous about starting school.  His mother comes up with an idea:  She will give him a big kiss in the palm of his hand, and whenever he starts feel anxious, he can press his hand to his cheek and get a kiss.  I tweaked this a little bit with my daughter and kissed the OUTSIDE of her hand with a long-lasting lipstick on...that way she could SEE my kiss throughout the morning.    She thought it was very special, and I made many return trips to the car to apply lipstick when I forgot...

Just an idea....good luck!

- "And though she be but little, she is fierce."  - W. Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

If you can, volunteer at the school for a while, so you can truthfully tell your daughter that you will be right down the hall " helping the teachers". Meeting kids from her class is very helpful, but not always a possibility. Does her school have a kindergarten roundup of some kind where you register and have the possibility of meeting other kinders? My son was pretty confident going into kinder, but I think my daughters are probably going to be more of a challenge. Here is what my nephew did when he sent his daughter to kinder last year. She was very scared, and had never been away from mommy before.  He got a novelty key, something kind of fancy and pretty, like what you might open an old chest with. He told her that he wanted to share something with her. He told her, when he gets scared at work, when he has to talk in front of a bunch of people, or he has to meet new people, he has this key in his pocket. And when he feels scared, he reaches in his pocket and touches his "courage key", and he stops being scared. He asked if she'd like to borrow it to keep in her pocket. She took it to the first day of school, and came home and told him how well the courage key works. She carried it for a week or so, and gave it back to him by saying "Daddy, you probably need this more than I do." Something like that might work if your daughter needs it.

See if you can find some kids that may be in her grade that will be going to the same school and try to meet the mom and the child at a park or somewhere the kids can play together.  It made it much easier when my daughter started kindergarten because there were several girls in the neighborhood that were not only in her grade but in her class.  Try to tell her how much fun it is going to be learning and coloring.  I was hesitant the first year but it was great.  Since my daughter was a little apprehensive, I helped one day a week at lunch and came a day or two more and ate with her.  It worked good for my child but some kids would cry when their parents would leave so if that is the case it might be a good idea to stay away not to mention that some teachers don't like it.  You could also volunteer to help the teacher out if she needs help in the classroom cutting out things or organizing things or even help in the library.