Anonymous wrote:I am a special educator with experience in inclusive play based programs, and I am curious about people saying that transitions on average every 45 minutes is a lot. Here is the schedule for the last preschool I taught, on days we didn’t have music class.

9:00 Car to playing on the playground
9:30 playground to bathroom to wash hands
9:35 bathroom to snack table
9:45 snack to circle time (song, finger play, story time)
10:00 circle to free play in the classroom
10:55 free play to clean up
11:05 clean up to outside play
11:55 outside play to waiting for carpool
12:00 waiting to going home

So, a simple day with lots of free play and still 9 transitions in a 3 hour day, and an average of a transition every 20 minutes.

45 minute average between transition is longer than I have ever seen. Maybe a Montessori classroom, but even then I think there are going to be more than people think yes, you might have one long work block, but kids are transitioning from working by themselves to being asked to do a group with a teacher etc . . .

Anonymous wrote:Decrease the hounding and negotiation at home. She gets a warning, a command, and a reminder - that’s it. Or that should be the goal you’re working towards.


It sounds like you’re letting transitions drag forever at home.

Anonymous wrote:Your child clearly has ADHD and needs to be evaluated.

Anonymous wrote:I am a special educator with experience in inclusive play based programs, and I am curious about people saying that transitions on average every 45 minutes is a lot. Here is the schedule for the last preschool I taught, on days we didn’t have music class.

9:00 Car to playing on the playground
9:30 playground to bathroom to wash hands
9:35 bathroom to snack table
9:45 snack to circle time (song, finger play, story time)
10:00 circle to free play in the classroom
10:55 free play to clean up
11:05 clean up to outside play
11:55 outside play to waiting for carpool
12:00 waiting to going home

So, a simple day with lots of free play and still 9 transitions in a 3 hour day, and an average of a transition every 20 minutes.

45 minute average between transition is longer than I have ever seen. Maybe a Montessori classroom, but even then I think there are going to be more than people think yes, you might have one long work block, but kids are transitioning from working by themselves to being asked to do a group with a teacher etc . . .

Anonymous wrote:I am a special educator with experience in inclusive play based programs, and I am curious about people saying that transitions on average every 45 minutes is a lot. Here is the schedule for the last preschool I taught, on days we didn’t have music class.

9:00 Car to playing on the playground
9:30 playground to bathroom to wash hands
9:35 bathroom to snack table
9:45 snack to circle time (song, finger play, story time)
10:00 circle to free play in the classroom
10:55 free play to clean up
11:05 clean up to outside play
11:55 outside play to waiting for carpool
12:00 waiting to going home

So, a simple day with lots of free play and still 9 transitions in a 3 hour day, and an average of a transition every 20 minutes.

45 minute average between transition is longer than I have ever seen. Maybe a Montessori classroom, but even then I think there are going to be more than people think yes, you might have one long work block, but kids are transitioning from working by themselves to being asked to do a group with a teacher etc . . .

Anonymous wrote:Your Preschool is trying to let you know what is going on with your kid is beyond the scope of "normal" for a child her age... think of this as a gift to get her screened so you can find the best way to help her no matter what is going on.

Anonymous wrote:My 4 year old DD is strong willed and resists transitions at preschool, which occur every 45 mins. She'll run and hide like a game or stay put until a teacher convinces her to join the group. Once she's at the new activity, she's fine, but it's stressing out the teachers who need to stay on schedule to the point where they said they need to start documenting her behavior. She's been in the class for 6 months and this is the first I've heard of this specific problem. Typically at pick up I'm told she had a great day... I'm not sure what to do or how to help her. At home, she resists bedtimes, anything unfun, but it happens with typical hounding. We keep a schedule and are able to stick to it, but there aren't 15 kids to wrangle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an early childhood educator, I would see if you could find a different program that doesn't have every 45 minute transitions! That's a LOT for 4 year olds. At my former program our children were heavily involved in play and exploration from arrival at 8am until we went outside at 10am. Then they were outside until 11:30am when they came in for lunch. That means that they didn't HAVE to transition - in the 2 hour indoor time at the beginning of the day, each child probably did 10 different things, but it was based on their interest and how they moved through the room. All children didn't have to move en masse - until it was time to go outside.

See the difference? See if you can find a play-based program. If you tell us where you are, you might find some new options

I’m also an early childhood educator and a transition change every 45 minutes is a lot!

May I ask why you signed up for this particular program and are you able to switch to a play based program with less transitions?

This is the program her sibling was in and it was great for him. It was great for DD until she moved to this class.

It's possible her challenges are becoming more noticeable as the classes mature. I'll start researching play-based programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the comments and recommendations.

A few details without giving myself away just in case. My DD's preschool is a 'feeder' preschool to a academically rigorous private school that her sibling is at. I just compared my elementary school child's schedule with my preschooler and my older child has far less transitions. DD's preschool teacher is new and this is her first year as a lead teacher. My DD had a similar schedule in her 3 year old class with no known issues, but that class had a seasoned teacher that ADORED her.

DD is very strong willed, very social and spirited. She has a strong desire for independence and we give her many opportunities at home to do things on her own.

We did bring up concerns to our pediatrician at her last well check and a ASQ (?) screening was done and she scored in the white zone for all areas which they said means she was developing as expected. However, I do see some traits that look like ADHD to me. She's high energy, impulsive and very sensitive to people being upset with her. She often says that she feels like "nobody likes her." But she does well during sit down activities, listening during story time, taking turns, etc.

I don't want to dismiss her teacher, clearly she's behaving out of step of her peers and perhaps further evaluation or we need to look for a school that's a better fit for her... We'll see how the next few months go and see if we can find improvement together.

Watchful waiting is not the solution. Time is not your friend here. I second the Childfind or similar evaluation resource.

--parent of now college age ADHD/ASD student who was counseled out of private-K (after similar concerns in pre-K)