Transition: An Indispensable Feature of Quality

When the new school year starts I see a lot of toddler parents sharing their anxiety all over social media. They all show a lot of worries and not so much excitement about their child entering school, and that mostly has to do with the transition phase, and how it effects their child. I have seen that a lot of parents try to calm their minds by telling themselves that everything is ok and even though their child cries and struggles, they’ll get used to the new situation. It’s normalized that there’s lots of big feelings and anxiety involved. And I couldn’t agree less.

I was born in a country where a transition into childcare or preschool is one of the big must-haves for every child care operator. There are several models and they all serve a big purpose. When coming to the US and finding out that here it is handled so differently I was quite shocked and I got to understand that the system is not serving the child’s best interest at all…Sadly.

I want to explain what a improper transition looks like, how it negatively affects children’s mental health, and shapes them all life long, and why a proper transition is so important.

A gentle transition for children and their parents is one of the most important criteria of a quality daycare/pre-school. It is EVERYTHING that makes a quality learning experience and care for children. Only when a child is comfortable and confident at a new daycare, when they have gotten to know the environment, the daily routine, the primary caregivers, and their peers, they are able to learn.

Small children differ in no way from kindergarteners and school children. The only difference is in the way toddlers learn new things and gain confidence.

We talk about a well-structured transition if a child spends the first few weeks in the company of their mother or father outside of the family at a daycare/pre-school. During this period the child feels many changes; they collect numerous new impressions and by the end of the transition, they may be confronted with experiences of separation and anxiety for the first time. Abrupt and sudden changes in life, over which we have no influence, also put adults in a passive and helpless position, to which they often react with anger or perhaps repression. This can lead to traumatic experiences in both adults and children. Gradual changes on the other hand, allow those involved to actively deal with the new situation, and learn to overcome problems through conscious action.

Babies and small children are by no means just passive beings who are at the mercy of their environment. They have a wide range of opportunities to perceive their environment, to express their needs, and to actively influence their development if they find understanding adults. The designed transition period should give the child the opportunity to grow into the new situation gradually and gently, to actively deal with the diverse new impressions, and to cope with feelings of pain and sadness that happen during the separation.

There are different models and concepts for transitioning in proper pedagogical practice, which are influenced by various psychological and developmental theories, and models such as psychoanalysis, attachment theory, or family psychology. Irrespective of theoretical differences, all concepts agree that the children absolutely need the support of their parents or the people who primarily care for them in the weeks and months before entering care/school during the transition period. Characteristics of a common German transition model (Munich model) is that everyone involved in the environment, is actively involved in the whole transition process – the child, their parents, the children in the group, and caregivers/teachers. The transition takes place mainly in everyday pedagogical work. Growing into the group of children and their involvement are of great importance in this model. The adjustment does not only focus on the teacher-child relationship.

Why is a proper transition so important?

A well-designed transition process requires commitment from everyone involved. Teachers must invite parents into their class/playrooms and be ok with being observed for several days, or weeks, and it requires the parents to be willing to spend several hours a day with their children over a period of two to three weeks (sometimes even more) to spend at the pre-school/daycare. The design of the transition represents a significant "investment" that must be well justified - mainly because the positive effects are not always immediately recognizable. However, a good transition pays off in the long run. The children tend to show their feelings openly and don’t get ill as often.

Yes! You read that right! Children that experience a proper transition are getting less sick than children who weren’t able to adjust and acclimate.

A qualification project for daycares in Germany in 1987, showed that not all caregivers and parents were immediately enthusiastic about the idea of transitions accompanied by parents. It takes courage and the first adjustments did not seem to provide particularly good arguments for this "investment". The presence of the mothers seemed to invite the children to cry and whine. They cried by no means less often than the children who have not properly transitioned. In many cases, it would show that those children seemed much "easier to care for". They cried less, submitted to everything, and didn't seem to miss their parents. But were these kids really okay?

Various studies (Ahnert 1998; Beller 1994; Passauer; Wiedemann 1990; Laewen 1989) suggest a different interpretation: These children were by no means less stressed. Due to the great uncertainty of which the abrupt separation meant for them, they were hardly able to show their fears and their discomfort. The children often expressed their great inner burdens indirectly. In a study of one-year-olds at daycare Laewen (1989) found that those who were accompanied by their parents during the first days of care were sick less often in the following days, than the children who had to be separated from their parents abruptly. And did the children who were crying really doing bad?

The research results of Beller (1994) show: Children who were going through proper transition with the presence of their mother, cried more often or as often in the first four weeks and showed symptoms of stress like children who had to be separated from their parents abruptly.

However, after twelve months of attending daycare, the positive effects of the transition were still significant in a group comparison. The children, who were gradually acclimated, had now adapted well to the group situation, liked to be comforted and showed fewer symptoms of stress than the other group of children. The children who had to be separated from their parents abruptly now cried more often, expressed discomfort more often than during the adjustment period, and now exhibited this behavior significantly more often than the children who had adjusted.

The development of prosocial behavior in the group of children was also astonishing. In the first 20 days, the children's interest in other children was approximately the same. While interest stagnated in the children who have not transitioned, it rose significantly in the children who went through a transition process. Beller interprets the results as follows: "We believe that the separation experience for these children (with adjustment) was no more difficult or painful than for the children in the other group (without adjustment).

However, it may be that the presence of a parent allowed the child to express their negative feelings more freely. We expected that the child would be better able to learn to deal with their feelings if they expressed them and experienced them consciously."

The aim of consciously organizing the transition of new children is therefore not to avoid stressful situations and suppress unpleasant feelings such as sadness, anger, or longing, but to give the child the opportunity to actively deal with these feelings, and to experience that they can also express negative feelings and thus not encounter rejection.

Children are transitional winners through proper transition

People repeatedly go through transition phases in their lives: starting daycare or school, adolescence, the first job, or the birth of a child are considered transitions. Transitional phases are accompanied by strong and often ambivalent emotions. You are curious, anxious, and excited about new impressions and possibilities, but at the same time you might be nervous, oversensitive, and worried about whether everything will be fine and whether your hopes will be fulfilled. Research has shown that we transfer learning experiences during one transitional period to those that follow, and these experiences shape our behavior, feelings, and self-image.

If children experience again and again that they can make a difference with their behavior, that they can actively tackle problems and solve them in cooperation with others, they will deal with it more actively in the future. When children learn that their needs are taken care of, that they can also express negative feelings with impunity and that contradictions, conflicts and failures are a part of everyday life and do not have to be avoided at all costs, they will not develop an excessive need for harmony, but rather a healthy tolerance for frustration.

If children experience themselves again and again as passive objects with which something is being done, they often feel that they cannot control situations themselves, but that these are determined from outside, and helplessness arises. In this context, Seligman (1979) speaks of "learned helplessness". There is a risk that children will perceive events that they could control as uncontrollable and no longer try. This creates a vicious circle that is difficult to break through, because those children experience less and less success in this way. A good and successful transition period (and that does not necessarily mean a harmonious and problem-free time in any case) is the only good basis for further daycare/pre-school visits. If children prove to be successful, and emerge stronger from such crisis, they also become more resilient and competent in dealing with other difficult situations. Such children emerge from the transition as "transition winners".

Toddlers learn to manage transitions

As social educational institutions, daycares/ pre-schools have the task of enabling children to have learning experiences that lead to education.

However, children can only educate themselves if not only the "what" (the learning content), but also the "how" (the learning process), is considered.

If the child is only to be fed, it is probably sufficient to feed them. But if the child is to learn to eat with relish, joy, and self-determination, then other measures are necessary. If the child only needs to be dressed quickly, so that they can go outside as fast as possible, then it is sufficient for an adult to dress the child quickly. But if they are to learn to dress themselves, then it takes a lot of patience from adults. Children have a completely different idea of ​​efficiency than adults. Settling in is not just about getting the child to stay in the facility as quickly as possible, without much distress, but learning how to transition properly. Parents should not spoil this learning opportunity for their children.

Some of my Kinder Villa kids have been attending a different daycare/preschool before coming to me. The parents decided to pull them out and find something different for them. With every single child I go through a proper transition and let me tell you these children are THRIVING. The issues that they had in previous settings are not existing anymore and I can really tell that so much growth has happened for them.