Uses a case study of a boy's difficulty adjusting to primary school to examine how the transition from nursery to primary school can affect a child's learning experience, focusing on the child's interest in science, design, and technology in both settings. Stresses the crucial nature of parent-teacher collaboration, teacher-pupil interaction, and…

Discusses assumptions and pressures underlying academic redshirting for kindergartners. Examines teachers' and parents' beliefs about kindergarten readiness. Summarizes research on the effects of the academic and social domains of delaying children's entry into school. Offers suggestions for early childhood educators about how to help families in…

Summarizes research on the contribution of young children's emotional competence to their school readiness. Describes ways early childhood teachers can support young children's emotional competence by creating a secure emotional environment, helping children understand emotions, modeling genuine appropriate emotions, supporting children's emotion…

Noting that the transition from preschool to kindergarten presents many challenges to children, families, and teachers, presents a preschool-to-kindergarten planning transition model. The goal of the model is to provide a strategy that assists children, teachers, and families to establish and implement a collaborative transition process. Five…

This article focuses on competencies needed for children's transitions from preschool special education programs to the primary grades, with a focus on literacy-rich classroom environments. The competencies concern: readiness to maximize academic achievement, social skills, and appropriate responsiveness to various instructional styles and new…

Proposes measures intended to help the nation meet the national educational goal of having each child start school "ready to learn" by 2000. Measures concern children's health; quality preschools; parent participation; responsive workplaces; educational television; proposed "neighborhoods for learning"; interactions across…

A test battery that corresponded to the Gesell Developmental Assessment (GDA) was given to 400 4-6 year olds. A truncated version of the GDA had moderate reliability and predictive power. Experienced judges sometimes differed in their assessments of a child's developmental level and recommendations for grade placement. (GLR)

National education goals are admirable, but achieving them democratically will be challenging, in the face of growing child poverty and current standardization efforts. Contributors to this special issue are "transformationists" advocating new definitions of school curriculum; new organizational arrangements to promote diversity;…

Examines the reading attainment levels of a group of elementary students who had either experienced nursery, day care, or no preschool provision outside the home. Compares pupils' scores on reading tests over four years. Although the results were inconclusive they suggest positive reading attainment outcomes related to preschool experience. (MJP)

Examined the impact of a bi-generational mathematics intervention with Head Start families in two studies. Found that intervention children developed more extensive mathematical knowledge than a comparison group of low-income children. Low-income parents were willing and able to support the children's mathematical development once trained to do…

Examined predictors of welfare families' participation in early-childhood programs, and development of welfare-family children who were enrolled in early-childhood programs. Found that maternal employment, maternal education, and number of children in the family were predictors of program participation, and that participation was associated with…

A content analysis of 46 early learning standards documents developed by state-level organizations and available for review in January 2005 was conducted to determine the specific areas of development addressed within the standards documents. The authors contend that this type of analysis is important because early learning standards that define…

The importance of a smooth transition into school for children who have received Early Intervention Services (EI) but have not received the Ongoing Reviewable Resource Scheme (ORRS) funding has become of increasing concern to stakeholders involved with these children. The EI and School Focus (SF) teams of the GSE in Pakuranga collaborated…

This practice article explores the relationship between practice and professional learning. Are these two distinctly separate activities, competing for the time of a staff member, or are practice and learning linked? If so, what is the nature of this link and how can we best align professional learning with practice outcomes? Using an example from…

The transition from pre-kindergarten (center-based programs for four-year-olds) to kindergarten is a critical milestone with far-reaching consequences for children and their families because positive transition and school readiness are integrally linked as predictors of future school success. This study was conducted to explore the existing…