Transitions In Preschool

Transitions are those periods of time when the children are moving from one activity to the next.

How well your day flows in your preschool classroom can depend on how well you handle your transitions.  Some of the most stressful parts of a preschool teachers day can begin with transitioning children from one activity to the next without it all ending up in a total stressful chaos moment!

Creating short, smooth transitions through out your day will provide you with more time to be spent in meaningful activities.

·         When it is time to change to the next activity, start with a warning before it’s time to end that activity.  If children know a transition is coming and has a chance to finish what they are doing, most children are likely to be agreeable to that change.

·         Preschool children are responsive to routines.  Each transition throughout the day should follow with the same pattern everyday.  Each transition should start the same way and have a few short activities, then end the same way every time.

·         Have different signals that can be used for different transitions.  Children will know what is next and what is expected of them when they hear or do the same transition for each part of their day.

                         *Transitions types:

                                  Clean-up

                                  Coming to circle

                                  Leaving circle

                                  Washing hands/meals

                                  Going outside

                                  Coming inside

                                  Going from here to there

                                  Going to relaxing and resting

                                  Waking up from rest

·         Use careful planning and considerations when planning transitions.  Appropriate transitions help children move through the day with ease.

When children have settled into the familiarity of the routine, children will be more cooperative through each transition of the day.