Child Characteristics and Family Processes that Predict Behavioral Readiness for School

Between the ages of 4 and 6, young children are expected to make a major life transition from the relative safety of the home, family day care, childcare center or preschool to elementary school. This transition involves many changes and challenges. Children must become integrated into a new and larger group of peers, build relationships with a new set of adults who have different roles and different expectations for the child’s behavior than did caregivers or preschool teachers, and move into a new physical setting (and with bussing and magnet schools, sometimes even a new community). For some children, this transition may also involve riding on the school bus alone without the company of family members or familiar peers-–a potentially intimidating experience. Despite the fact that most children today in North America have experienced some form of out-of-home care before they enter kindergarten, the demands placed on young children to adapt to far-reaching changes in their daily lives occasioned by the transition to school are daunting.