Are YOU ready for school? : supporting bridges to kindergarten

This study was designed to investigate the experiences of public magnet school prekindergarten teachers’ experiences in preparing transitioning prekindergarten children to kindergarten. Research shows that preparing young children in prekindergarten for a successful transition to kindergarten is the foundation to children’s success. Yet, more and more, prekindergarten teachers are abandoning appropriate instructional strategies due to increased academic demands and systemic barriers placed on administrators and teachers, affecting a child’s readiness to transition from prekindergarten to kindergarten (NCLB, 2002; Kagan, 1990; Lynch, 2015; Baron et al. 2016). Supporting teachers in employing appropriate instructional strategies supports the very social and emotional competence of a child needed to support future attention to cognitive demands (Sutton-Smith, 1999; Suomi & Harlow, 1971; Hughes, 2002; Brown, 1969; Whitehead, 2010). While the literature is rich in early childhood development (Vygotsky & Kozulin,2011; Vygotsky, Reiber & Carton,1987-1999; Bruner, 1985), transitioning from school readiness programs (Wilson & Farran, 2010) to the kindergarten through twelfth grade system and, the importance of employing play in the classroom (Paley, 2004; Piaget,1998; Parten,1932), it also reveals there is a decline in play in the prekindergarten classroom to the detriment of young children's development, growth and learning. The primary significance of this study is that it sheds light on relevant and meaningful perspectives on the experiences of how prekindergarten teachers prepare transitioning prekindergarten children for kindergarten. These perspectives can be used to examine how early childhood teachers, administrators and families can support transition and school readiness for public magnet school prekindergarten children going into kindergarten.