University Report: Early Childhood Education and Transition to School

This report delves into the realm of early childhood education, specifically examining the challenges and opportunities surrounding school transitions for multilingual families. The author, after assessing local community needs and the specific requirements of a playgroup, focuses on the transition process. The report highlights the importance of understanding the difference between “orientation to school” and “transition to school” for multilingual children. It emphasizes the need for resources like translated materials and the incorporation of diverse perspectives through interviews and questionnaires. The report underscores the significance of collaborative efforts between educators, families, and the community to foster positive learning environments and ensure successful transitions. References to key literature support the ideas that incorporating family input is crucial for program development and positive child outcomes.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Early Childhood Education and Care
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Once I was intimated of the place for my field placement for this unit, I looked into the
area and the issues faced by local families, the community profile, the LGA local council website
and then my field placement playgroup website as it is important to be aware of the vulnerable
areas that needs to be addressed and focused upon for creating a meaningful program and
project, says Arthur and his contemporaries (Arthur et al., 2015). After knowing the playgroup
assists in early literacy and numeracy, transitions to school, constructive parenting development
and healthy eating, I introduced myself to them professionally by calling them and arranged
dates. On the first visit, after discussion about assignment and project requirements, I was
suggested I concentrate on transitions to school. It was understood that multilingual family
children needed help – there was need of mutual trust, respectful relationship, and for them to
understand what is different between between “orientation to school” and “transition to school”
(Perry, Dockett, & Howard, 2000; Binstadt, 2010). I suggested some resources like transition to
school statement in various languages, school enrolment forms in different languages, and even
the incorporation of some multilingual books for children that would assist them in having a
smooth transition to school. It was suggested by my supervisor that I know the perspectives of
these multilingual families also with the help of interviews or sharing questionnaires to acquire a
wider knowledge of the difficulties they face in such situations. Her idea is to develop the
collaboration between me and the community members. Robinson and Jones Diaz (2016)
recommended that incorporation of the views and ideas of the families would help in the creation
of a program that would be properly planned and efficiently assessed, and even build a
constructive partnership for the sake of positive children learning and development and even for
overall assignment success.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
References
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2015). Children in the context of
their families and communities. In Programming and planning in early childhood
settings (6th ed.),pp 36-68. Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning.
Binstadt, M. (2010). Ready together – transition to school program effecting positive outcomes
for children and their families in the inala to ipswich area. International Journal of
Transitions in Childhood, 4(1), 37-44. Retreived from
https://extranet.education.unimelb.edu.au/LED/tec/pdf/journal4_practitioner
%20article.pdf
Perry, Bob; Dockett, Sue; & Howard, Peter. (2000). Starting school: Issues for children, parents,
and teachers.Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 7(1), 41-53.
Robinson, K., & Jones-Diaz, C. (2016). Diversity and difference in childhood: Issues for theory
and practice (2nd ed.). Berkshire, England: Open University Press