Trouble at transitions

What the child may be seeking

The child may not want to stop what they are doing. The change may feel sudden or unclear. The child might also need more time to shift their body and attention (self-regulation).

Needs it may meet

• Steadying the body and feelings (self-regulation)
• Belonging and having a place (attachment and belonging)
• Power and being capable (competence)

First steps

1. Give warnings before changes.
2. Offer a job or a choice.
3. Sing a transition song.
4. Stay close and help the child move.

Keeping everyone safe

Stay close during changes so the child feels steady and the group stays together.

What a child might need from us

• Help with transitions (transition supports)
• Knowing what comes next (predictability)
• More time (slower pacing)
• A job that matters (contribution)

Senses and body systems

• Calming and alerting (self-regulation)
• Noticing body signals (interoception)
• Movement and balance (vestibular)

Development

Twos are not yet able to stop their impulses easily, so leaving deep play is hard (impulse control). Self-control grows slowly across the preschool years and keeps developing into school age (self-regulation). Threes often still lean on an adult to move through routines, and many fours begin to expect what comes next and move with less prompting, as the California Preschool/TK Learning Foundations describe. If transitions become harder over time, bring long or unsafe upsets, or worry the family, the team talks with the family about what they see at home, and with the director about whether a closer look at development may help.

Ideas that feed these needs

• The same song for moving
• Time in our day
• Something to carry
• Looking back at today
• One object on the entry table

Idea bank cards are part of the membership.

Sources

• Zero to Three, Toddlers and Challenging Behavior
• California Preschool/TK Learning Foundations, Social and Emotional Development