Transitions for Beginners

In this episode of the Illinois STAR NET Regions I & III (http://starnet.org/home/) podcast, Early Childhood Resource Specialist Cecilia Mintz ([email protected]) discusses effective transition practices for beginnings (i.e. young early childhood children). To find out more about STAR NET Regions I&III visit our website at http://starnet.org/home/.Transcript It seems like in my own classroom and classrooms I have had the pleasure of visiting, there is always a few times of day transitions can get tricky. Whether its children not knowing what the expectations are or knowing where they are supposed to go, but no adult present when they get there. Either way things can quickly feel like they are spiraling out of control. This idle time often leads to children having challenging behaviors and valuable time being lost. Even as adults if we aren’t engaged in an activity we find things to do to fill the time. We mess around on Facebook or Instagram; we doodle and so on. The only difference between adults and children is we are a bit further along with our self-regulation skills. If children aren’t engaged, it is natural for them to want to move or pester the person next to them for entertainment. While those transitions may only last a minute or two, they add up! When we stop, and think about all the times we are moving children from one activity to the next we really become aware of all the lost time. Often programs are only 2.5 hours and there is a LOT to cover during that time. Being mindful of even the smallest amount of time lets us be more intentional in making sure there is something happening that builds children’s knowledge and skills.  In my own classroom and classrooms, I have visited, there is always a few times of day transitions are challenging. The first one I notice is after breakfast or morning snack (if not incorporated into centers.) Children are finishing up at different rates and majority of classrooms I’ve been in large group follows the meals. Children go to the carpet. They are expected to get a book and quietly look at it. They may start out looking at the book but after a minute or two they begin to get silly with one another. If at all possible an adult should head over to the carpet with the children. If books are the transition activity they can engage with the children and the books and make sure it is a meaningful activity and not a time filler. The adult could also choose to have children choose songs/finger plays until the majority of children are at the carpet and then begin large group. Another time that appears to get chaotic and sometimes frustrating is clean up from centers. The children are engaged and enjoying the freedom of playing with the materials they want and it’s hard to stop and come back together as a group. Dimming the lights or ringing a bell and giving the children a five-minute warning will help children start to wrap up what they are doing and lets them prepare for the transition. Once you have started the clean-up transition use a flannel board activity or game is one way to speed up the clean-up process. One of my children’s favorites was little mouse little mouse. Which was just a simple game with houses of different colors and a mouse. The children hid their eyes and I hid the mouse then had them open their eyes and we tried to guess what color he was behind. The children always wanted to come over and play a round or two so clean up was always a quick process.  Lastly lines can be bothersome for both children and teachers. It never seems to fail when everyone is lined up and ready to go someone needs to use the bathroom and everyone needs to wait or during winter months putting coats, hats, etc. on seems to take a while.  To avoid children star