Daily Separations and Reunions
Daily separations and reunions are part of the fabric of relationships. In center-based and family child care programs, they provide opportunities to develop a young child's skill at making positive transitions.
Children experience many transitions, including from home to an early care and education setting, between age groups or program settings, and from preschool to kindergarten. Supporting these transitions for children, families, and staff is critically important because even positive change can be challenging. How the foundation for positive transitions is laid across all levels of the system to support children, families, and staff through transitions can have far-reaching effects on children’s well-being and academic success. Program staff consider the long-term process of building and maintaining the capacity to support children and families at all levels. They also look at ways to improve how they connect and communicate within systems during transitions.
Daily separations and reunions are part of the fabric of relationships. In center-based and family child care programs, they provide opportunities to develop a young child's skill at making positive transitions.
Explore this activity calendar for families includes month-by-month activity lists for supporting the kindergarten transition in the year prior to kindergarten entry.
Teachers can use this activity calendar to find ideas to support children and families during their Head Start-to-kindergarten transitions.
Read these ideas for supporting the many kinds of transitions children and adults experience in Early Head Start.
Preschool children transition into kindergarten more successfully when their schools and families take part in the preparation, and when their preschool and kindergarten teachers connect.
Take a look at this overview of the “what, why, and how” of successful kindergarten transitions.
Supporting transitions can have positive effects on children and families, and collaboration is key to effective transition. Each brief in this series focuses on a different partnership level: the child and family, early educators, early care and education (ECE) programs, and ECE partners.