Spring – Changes and Transitions

As the end of preschool approaches, parents often finalize decisions about kindergarten placement for their children and complete registration procedures. However, parents may not realize the anxiety that many children feel about leaving preschool and attending a new school. Parents may misinterpret sudden temper outbursts or feel perplexed when their usually confident child suddenly turns weepy for no apparent reason. Read more.

During the spring, children begin to notice a succession of changes in their environment. Plants that they may have thought were dead suddenly spring to life. Cold days gradually turn warmer, and with the change in weather comes a new wardrobe. Clothes that may have fit in the fall have become tight and short in the arms and legs. Animals that have disappeared for a long time, such as many types of birds, reappear, and insects begin to buzz again. For many preschool children, the changes in the environment foretell changes that will soon be happening in their lives, since many will be leaving preschool to attend kindergarten in the fall. While this may seem far in the future to adults, young children are not able to gauge time in the same way. As they register for kindergarten and say their good-byes to preschool, some children become fearful and stressed. Since they cannot put their feelings into words, their anxiety may emerge masked as unexpected tears, temper outbursts, and regression in maturity of behavior. Teachers can help by recognizing the signs and addressing issues of change in the curriculum. Read more.