Transition is a year of growing, emerging from the very early stages of childhood, into a stage where self-sufficiency is a predominant characteristic. It is a year of "transition" from prior years of pre-school, getting ready for the "rigors" of public school. A year where children are allowed to be children and the expectations for them are less than rigid but are formative. During this year, children grow in self-confidence and fine tune their skills in self-help as well as making solid choices and good decisions. This program helps develop leadership skills for children who might otherwise become followers. Their cognitive skills are subtly emphasized while participating in a variety of activities planned by their teachers. The child development skills include motor coordination (large and small muscle), visual perception, visual memory, auditory memory, conceptual development and visual motor performance. Each individual child continues to grow from the stages where s/he was when s/he came to us, to feeling secure with his/her unique and individual style, self-confident in his/her accomplishments and free from self doubt by comparison. During this year children become more aware that school is great and learning is FUN!
Who are these children? For the most part, they are children whose parents want to have them enjoy their childhood by allowing them the relief from the pressures of society. These children:
- may have summer birthdays
- be the youngest (or only child) in the family
- probably male (though not always)
- have short attention spans and are easily distracted from the task at hand
- do not have the "words" to use to settle misunderstandings or disagreements with their peers
- have difficulty following directions
- have difficulty with social interactions
- feel less that secure in unfamiliar surroundings -or-
- just need an extra "growing year" for a reason that is not easily identified.
Readiness Checklist:
Is your child ready for Kindergarten? Here are some of the skills and behaviors that can help a child succeed in Kindergarten, from June Million, of the National Association for Elementary School Principals.
Academic:
- Familiarity with sizes, shapes, and colors
- An understanding of position, direction, time and order (up and down, night and day, what happens first, next, and last in a story)
- Reading-readiness skills (recognizing letters, talking in sentences, following simple directions)
- Math readiness (counting objects, counting out loud to 10, understanding empty and full)
- Gross motor skills (running, jumping, hopping, throwing a ball, building with blocks, climbing stairs)
- Fine motor skills (drawing, cutting, pasting, completing simple puzzles, fastening buttons and using zippers)
- Following simple rules and routines
- Sharing
- Planning and carrying out activities with others
- Working independently
- Listening carefully
- Being away from parents without being upset
- Taking care of dressing and toilet needs
- Caring for own belongings
- Having good self-esteem
A U.S. Department of Education study shows that having that extra year does help children succeed.
"Children who are close to 6 or already 6 when they begin kindergarten have several advantages over children who start when they have just turned 5 or are not yet 5 years old"
according to The Condition of Education study put out by the department's National Center for Education statistics. The report, which tracked 19,000 children in 940 public and private schools, shows older kindergartners are closer to being able to read and do arithmetic. Have more advanced motor skills and are more socially adept and less prone to problem behaviors than younger classmates.