Children's Psychological Adjustment to Entry into Kindergarten
From an ecological perspective, early childhood development occurs within the multiple contexts of the home, the school, and the neighborhood, and aspects of these environments can contribute to the development of adjustment problems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). A child’s psychological adjustment to entry into school for the first time can have a significant impact on the level of success achieved later in life. Children rated higher in school adjustment by their elementary school teachers, as a result of improved cognitive development, showed positive attitudes toward school resulting in better school performance which lead to higher educational attainment and lower delinquency at age 19. Not one factor alone accounts for children’s adjustment problems. Therefore it is important that we take a closer look at a wide range of factors that can affect the psychological adjustment to school in early childhood. Ladd, Birch, & Buhs derived a child x environment model of early school adaptation that breaks these factors into five categories: children’s entry factors, behavioral styles, relationships with classroom peers and teachers, classroom participation, and achievement.
A child’s entry factors are those attributes that are present in the child prior to entry into school, but impact the child’s psychological adaptation after entry into school. Children that enter school with greater cognitive and linguistic maturity tend to form better relationships with teachers and perform better scholastically. Typically, girls are known to establish supportive ties with teachers, more often than boys (Birch and Ladd, 1997) because of their cognitive/linguistic maturity mak...
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...l and Scholastic Lives in Kindergarten: Related Spheres of Influence? Child Development, 70(6), 1373-1400
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The area of focus for this research project is on the support children receive from practitioners during transition from nursery to reception class in school. This transition in particular is usually passed over as a horizontal transition “these types of transition often involve frequent changes between settings within relatively short time frames” (Fabian and Dunlop, 2007, p.35.) Because for many children the transition happens within the same setting, as a consequence has led to minimum research into this area. In contrast most research is focused on the transitions for children entering into Key Stage One a year later “transition needs planning for over time, if the needs of all concerned are to be fully met.” (Fisher, 2010, p.44). Nevertheless the nursery to reception transition is an emotionally and socially traumatic time for children who are still developing. Fabian and Dunlop (2007, p.3) support this “transfer between phases of education or school, both socially and academically can be a critical factor in determining children’s future progress and development”. Due to the nature of the transition children require certain support from the practitioners socially and emotional making this research worthwhile investigation into practice. Allingham (2011, p.7) promotes that practice that focuses sole on curricular target loses sight of how it impacts on the child.
...ence of these children and their remarkable ability to positively adapt in the face of adversity, and although there are a number of unanswered questions in connection to the biological, cognitive, and social processes that are experienced throughout childhood, it is encouraging to know that with further study, this resiliency might be encouraged in the daycare setting. (Degnan & Fox, 2007)
Decades of research proves partnerships between schools and families not only enhance children’s learning and achievement, it is also mutually beneficial to the families and educators. As an early childhood educator, my philosophy is rooted in establishing and maintaining a strong and effective partnership with families and communities that can help children and their families thrive. My approach focuses on effective communication between family and school, respect for diversity, and promoting learning at home.
Zill, Nicholas. (1995). School Readiness and Children’s Development Status.Eric Digest. [Electronic version]. Retrieved April 21, 2003, from http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC
... (2009) The science of development. In R.V. Kail & A. Barnfield (Eds.), Children and their development (pp. 8 – 22). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
The results of quality preschool programs can be seen early after they begin. Children learn many important life le...
As an effective early childhood educator, creating strong partnerships with children and their parents, as explained by Shonkoff et al. (2000; as cited in Wood 2008) has shown that to provide a productive learning environment a teacher must have a positive relationship with children and their families.
It is common knowledge that a parent is considered the most efficient caregiver for their children. It’s also known that with daily responsibilities of caring for a child financially, parents partake in full-time and/or part-time employment. While needing to do so, many children attend daycare/preschool facilities. Granted, it is the parent’s responsibility to cautiously select where they decide to take their children. This is because parents know that while they are away for numerous hours of the day, their children are in the hands of another care provider and that their care would have an enormous impact on their children. At a young age, a child’s social and cognitive skills are continuing to take shape and the amount of time spent in these facilities has a resilient impact on a child’s development. With proper and superior care no matter the time spent, such positive effects on a child’s development should endure in a child’s cognitive and social development. In other words, there is a great benefit of childcare/daycare attendance on a child’s development.
Feldman, Robert S.. Development across the life span . 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
Human development issues have remained critical in understanding how and why people behave the way they do. Several human development theories exist to explain human development from birth through to death. Some of these have focused on the psychological aspects of human development while others on the cognitive aspect (Piaget, 1971; Lerner, 2001; Swick and Williams, 2006). Other human development theories have also focused on the social and environmental aspects (Bronfenbrenner & Bronfenbrenner, 2009; Swick, 2004). This current essay examines one of the major social theories relating to child development. The theory to be examined is the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development. The essay will further examine the applicability of the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to my personal development, growing up as a child between the ages of 4 years and 12 years. In the first instance, the essay will focus on explaining the – Bronfenbrenner’s theory including the four types of systems described by the theory. Subsequently, the essay will examine how these systems apply to my life in relation to the social systems in which I grew in South Sudan in Africa. It will be seen that the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
Children should be socially and emotionally ready to be able to make the social adjustment in the classroom environment. Preschool teachers should focus more on children’s social skills than rather pressured into teaching academics, but that may not be considered best practice. In fact, children who have been rejected by their peers in kindergarten shows poor school performance. Children who lack social and emotional skills are being kicked out of kindergarten. As a result, they are not receiving the information that is being taught. Factors that influence children’s transition to kindergarten are children’s home environment and the preschool program they attend between preschool and kindergarten (Deyll-Gingold, 2007). Here are some kindergarten expectations students should know before they enter
Another factor in the development of children is the education that they receive. If a child has a good experience in school, they will come out a better person. If the child has antisocial behavior, the experience in school may make that behavior wor...
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2011). Human development across the life-span (7th ed.). Belmont Calif: Wadsworth.
Craig, G. J., & Dunn, W. L. (Ex.: 2010). Understanding human development (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Entering my kindergarten teaching experience in the last quarter of school year I had to quickly become familiar with kindergarten content standards and the school’s curriculum. To do this I observed my mentor teachers instructional time with the children and gained as much information as I could about the children’s educational standing by developing a professional relationship with the my mentor teacher and the children. I learned that the majority of my kindergarten children had not previously attended preschool and that this was their first year of school. I found that interacting with the children in social activities provided me with great insight to their literacy, math, science, and social studies development. In reviewing the children’s class projects, school displays, and an array of their work sample along with my mentor teachers year-long assessments I was able to recognize challenging, emerging and advanced content areas of the children’s core curriculum. These emerging and challenging content areas is what I centered my curriculum planning around. “Information about each child’s learning and development is used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. This may lead to changes in schedule, curriculum and teaching strategies, room set up, resources, and so on.” (Bredekamp and Copple, p. 249)