Family Routines and School Readiness During the Transition to Kindergarten

Research Findings: Using data from 3,250 participants in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, we used structural equation modeling to investigate whether family routines (e.g., bedtime routine, reading routine) established in preschool predict children’s school readiness (i.e., academic skills, social-emotional skills, and physical health) in kindergarten, a foundational year for establishing children’s academic trajectories. Analyses revealed that higher levels of routines in preschool were associated with greater declines in teacher-reported conduct problems and hyperactive/inattentive behavior and greater gains in prosocial behaviors from preschool to kindergarten. Higher routines also predicted greater gains in both reading and mathematics scores as well as greater improvements in physical health. Telling stories appears to be the most salient routine for children’s social-emotional outcomes, whereas bedtime routines most strongly predicts differences in children’s academic skills and health outcomes. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that family routines may be an important tool for preparing and supporting children and parents for the kindergarten transition even before school entry.     

幼小衔接工作内涵与策略

"幼小衔接"一般泛指幼儿园学段和小学学段之间的衔接。幼小衔接过程对幼儿的影响是巨大的。幼小衔接应重点培养社会意识和初步逻辑思维能力。幼小衔接工作的策略包括科学衔接和合力准备。     

基于游戏的幼小衔接课程教学探究

长期以来,游戏被视为幼儿的专属活动,幼小衔接课程中游戏的价值尚未被充分挖掘。本文从游戏对儿童的社会适应、学业适应的角度阐释将游戏融入幼小衔接课程,并在此基础上提出要更新理念,正确处理幼小衔接中游戏与教育、连续性与阶段性的关系;提高幼、小教师指导游戏的能力,增加幼小衔接课程中游戏活动的比例等途径。     

对语言教育幼小衔接的思考

语言教育作为幼小衔接的一部分,对儿童的可持续发展和终身学习有重大意义,对儿童能否实现从幼儿园到小学的顺利过渡有重要影响。幼儿园语言活动和小学语文教育有许多差异。目前幼小语言教育衔接的情况并不乐观。幼儿园和小学应共同承担幼小衔接的责任,和家长密切合作,共同实现幼小语言教育的顺畅衔接。     

The Transition to Kindergarten

The transition to kindergarten is a significant event for young children and their families. The methods teacher use to orient children and families to formal schooling can have a long term effect on academic achievement. This study examined the transition activities of over 3000 kindergarten teachers that participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The results show that most schools do not provide a comprehensive transition plan that allows teachers and parents to exchange important information about child development and school expectations.     

论基于儿童视角的幼小衔接研究

一直以来,有关幼小衔接研究的话语体系主要是由作为成人的研究者建构起来,体现出了较为明显的实证主义研究范式的倾向。基于儿童视角的幼小衔接研究,则尝试在诠释现象学的研究范式下,通过彰显作为当事人的儿童在幼小衔接过程中的生活体验和意义感受,以对幼小衔接的本质内涵进行再概念化,重新建构对幼小衔接过程中儿童生活经验的理解。     

幼小课程衔接的理论基础

幼小课程衔接问题一直是学前教育领域中的热点问题,同时也受到来自教师、父母以及政府的极大关注。探讨幼小课程衔接的理论基础可以采取三个角度,即幼儿身心发展、学习经验的连续性以及生态转衔。     

幼小衔接研究文献分析

分析1988～2011年5月刊发在核心期刊上的幼小衔接研究论文发现,幼小衔接虽然是这些年来的研究热点之一,但相关研究主要集中在教育学和心理学领域,其他领域的研究尚不多见,研究方法则大多以文献法为主。在继续重视幼小衔接存在问题研究、继续关注国外幼小衔接经验的同时,建议加大对幼小衔接内容的研究力度。     

幼小衔接教育：培养科学素养

幼小衔接不仅对幼儿尽快地适应小学生活有着重要的作用,而且会影响幼儿一生的教育进程。在幼小衔接教育中加强对学前末期和学龄初期的儿童科学素养的培养,不仅能培养幼儿的学习兴趣、学习能力,养成科学的学习习惯,而且在与人交往、合作共事等方面打下良好基础。因此,城乡各类幼儿园都应从实际出发,探究幼小衔接教育中培养幼儿科学素养的途径和办法,因地制宜地实施科学素养教育,为幼儿一生的发展打好基础,为适应小学学习做好准备。     

幼小衔接师资专业化:必要性、特殊性及其实现路径

幼小衔接师资专业化,是指承担幼小衔接教育工作的教师在专业组织、专业素质、专业角色和专业发展等维度上有自己的定位与规定。因为幼小衔接教育的实际意义,其师资专业化又具有很强的必要性,同时,由于幼小衔接教育是一种过渡教育,其师资专业化又具有一定的特殊性。幼小衔接师资专业化的实现,具体路径为构建幼小衔接教师专业素质规格与标准、探索幼小衔接教师职前培养与职后培训的方式、建立幼小衔接教师遴选与评价机制、塑造幼小衔接教师的专业角色形象等。     

日本"幼小衔接"热潮剖析

本文在对近几年日本出现的"幼小衔接"热潮的发展历程和主要特点进行研究的基础上,对其原因进行了分析,认为地方分权化的推动、"小一问题"的驱使和终身教育思潮的影响是当今日本出现"幼小衔接"热潮的主要原因.     

幼小衔接阶段开展国学经典诵读的意义及策略

幼小衔接阶段开展国学经典诵读,在幼儿的知识层面、学习技能层面及情感态度和价值观层面都大有裨益,既有利于提升幼儿的识字量、开发幼儿的记忆潜能,又有利于培养幼儿的道德情操。幼儿园可以从创新国学经典教育形式、学习古礼、举办朗诵活动、鼓励亲子共读、将国学诵读融入其他课程等方面入手,开展国学经典诵读活动。     

教育的张力:基于幼小课程衔接的视角

幼小课程衔接指幼儿园课程和小学课程之间的连续性、连贯性、持续性。本研究在分析国内外相关研究的基础上，选取重庆市2所小学和2所幼儿园为对象进行调查，发现幼小课程衔接在课程目标、课程内容、课程组织、课程实施及课程评价等方面均存在问题，建议当前我国幼小课程衔接中课程目标要小步子化、课程内容要生活化、课程组织要统整化、课程实施要活动化、课程评价要多元化。     

School Organization and Persistent School Absenteeism: An Introduction to a Complex Problem

This article is concerned with the development of provision for pupils in a comprehensive school with special educational needs. Its main focus is on the organization and administration changes which were undertaken in connection with the recommendations of the Warnock Report, the 1981 Education Act and the development of knowledge and expertise within the school in helping such pupils.

It concentrates on five aspects: the communication of information about those pupils within the school, the curriculum available to them in the upper school, the deployment of staff, the name of the department to best fit its changing role in the school and the issues which need to be taken into account in monitoring those developments.     

Transition to Kindergarten: Family Experiences and Involvement

The transition to kindergarten is an important developmental milestone for young children, their families, and teachers. Preparing students for successful kindergarten transition has been identified as a national priority, yet the degree to which parents are involved in kindergarten preparation is rarely considered. This study investigated the family experiences and involvement in kindergarten transition in 132 families whose children had completed early education programs and were beginning kindergarten. Results suggest that the majority of families wanted more involvement in the transition to kindergarten planning and wanted information about kindergarten readiness, including academic and behavioral expectations. The top concerns expressed by families were attending a new school and difficulties with following directions or other behavior problems. Families with fewer financial resources reported less involvement in transition activities than families with more resources. Implications for early childhood education are discussed, in light of the growing emphasis on parent involvement and kindergarten readiness. The present work was supported, in part, by a Science of Learning Center Catalyst grant (0350341) from the National Science Foundation awarded to the second and third authors.     

Maternal Sensitivity and Child Wariness in the Transition to Kindergarten

Objective. This study tested maternal sensitivity as a moderator of the stability of wary behavior between 15 months and the transition to school. Design. Observational data from 15-month-old children and their mothers, kindergarten teacher reports, and maternal reports during the transition to kindergarten from 215 children from 3 sites (North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; 1994), Study of Early Child Care are used. Results. Findings indicate significant stability of inhibition from 15 months to the transition to kindergarten and a significant interaction between maternal sensitivity and 15-month wariness in predicting inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Among children who displayed wariness at 15 months, greater maternal sensitivity was associated with less inhibition during the transition to kindergarten. For children who did not display wariness at 15 months, there was no relation between maternal sensitivity and inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Conclusions. These findings suggest moderate stability of this early temperamental characteristic and point to the importance of responsive parenting in its modification.     

家庭进行幼小衔接教育的现状调查及分析——以上海市某幼儿园为例

对上海市某幼儿园大班60名幼儿家长进行幼小衔接教育观念等方面的调查结果显示,绝大部分家长认为自己在促进孩子幼小衔接的教育方面负有一定的责任,然而在实际的教育过程中却常常走进误区,比如对孩子将来的学历抱有过高期望,对孩子的认知学习过于重视等.因此,幼儿园教师应积极引导家长建立正确的教育观念,开展科学的幼小衔接教育活动.     

Links Between School Absenteeism and Child Poverty

This article reports a study, undertaken in London Boroughs, which aimed to explore the link between school absenteeism and child poverty. The writer begins by exploring issues of definitions of child poverty and school absenteeism in the last fifty years. He then goes on to describe the design of this study and to report his findings. His conclusions are that school absenteeism is strongly associated with child poverty, with pupils at primary school being much more likely to be affected by an area's economics and employment deprivation than their counterparts at secondary schools. School absentees normally start the habit of non–attendance when they are at primary school, with child poverty as a main associated factor. Addressing family welfare issues early is seen as a key intervention.     

School Absenteeism and the Implementation of Truancy-Related Penalty Notices

This paper derives from the author's recent research into disadvantaged children's access to compulsory education in England. Examining the national attendance strategies and practice, the author interrogates the current trend towards a more punitive approach to addressing the problem of school absenteeism while debating the issue of irresponsible parents in terms of parental responsibility. Using the data collected from 150 Local Education Authorities and a survey among Education Welfare managers, the research study reported in this paper measures the association between authorities' readiness to issue penalty notices and the change made in pupils' absence rates between 2004 and 2006. Presenting the findings of the research study, the author argues that truancy is a complex social and historical issue and that poor parenting is itself a symptom of several underlying social problems and the circle of disadvantage. Therefore, the findings of the study call for more efforts and measures to address the underlying social problems and to break the circle of disadvantage of the families that most truanting children come from.