Eliminating Transitions = Eliminating Chaos

Reflect on the past 24 hours of your personal and/or professional life and think of an instance when you were interrupted or forced to wait your turn. How did you react? Just like us, children may exhibit challenging behavior or feel they have little control over their world when faced with unwanted waiting and interruptions.

In the "Out of the Box" Training Kit, Eliminating Transitions = Eliminating Chaos, the featured article is "Eliminating Transitions" by Barb Gallick and Lisa Lee. The authors assert that "having a daily schedule that creates routines for young children is an essential part of an early childhood classroom. Evaluating the daily schedule on a regular basis is an integral part of creating a quality program that meets the needs of both the children and adults who 'live' in the classroom each day. We would suggest that you look (with a critical eye) at your daily schedule once a year to determine whether it works for the group of children currently enrolled in your classroom. One of the most important things to consider when reviewing your schedule is the number of transitions that occur throughout the day.

Transitions tend to be some of the most difficult and stressful moments in an early childhood classroom. At these times teachers often find themselves dealing with more challenging behaviors and feeling more like police officers than nurturing caregivers."

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