Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Transition to Primary School as a Challenge for Parents

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Families and Transition to School

Abstract

The transition to school is an important event in the biography of children and parents. Both have to manage the challenge of mastering and shaping the transition. At the institutional level the transition brings about challenges for educators and teachers. Together with parents and children, they are asked to create the transition in such way that children and parents are able to handle the developmental tasks that occur in the transition. Collaboration between early childhood centres and primary schools together with the parents is an important aspect of achieving a successful transition, though it has received little research so far. Based on results of the study WirKt, this paper describes methods and levels of collaboration between kindergarten and school in the transition period. This is followed by findings on the effects of such collaboration on how parents accomplish the transition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung [Group of authors reporting on aspects of education]. (Eds.). (2014). Bildung in Deutschland 2014. Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analyse zur Bildung von Menschen mit Behinderungen [Education in Germany 2014: An indicator-based report with an analysis regarding the education of people with disabilities]. Bielefeld: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Backhaus, J. (in preparation). Bildungsdokumentationen im Ãœbergang vom Elementar- zum Primarbereich – Mehrperspektivische Betrachtungen [Documentation of learning processes during the transition from nursery school to primary school – Multiperspective considerations] (working title). Dissertation, Universität zu Köln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnard, W. M. (2004). Parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 39–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogatz, A. (in preparation). Formen und Niveaus der Kooperation von Kindertageseinrichtung und Grundschule im Ãœbergangsprozess. Zum kooperationsbezogenen beruflichen Alltagshandeln von pädagogischen Fach- und Lehrkräften aus der Perspektive von Leitungen, Erzieher/innen und Lehrer/innen [Forms and levels of cooperation between nursery schools and primary schools during transitional processes: On the daily practices of education of professionals and teachers with regard to cooperation, as seen from the perspective of administrators, educators and teachers] (working title). Dissertation, Universität zu Köln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, P. A. (1991). Individual and family life transitions. A proposal for a new definition. In P. A. Cowan & M. Hetherington (Eds.), Family transitions (pp. 3–30). Hillsdale: Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2007). Starting school – A handbook for early childhood educators. Sydney: Pademelon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., Perry, B., Kearney, E., Hampshire, A., Mason, J., & Schmied, V. (2011). Facilitating children’s transition to school from families with complex support needs. Albury: Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education, Charles Sturt University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckerth, M., & Hanke, P. (2015). Ãœbergänge ressourcenorientiert gestalten: Von der KiTa in die Grundschule [Resource-oriented organization of transitions: From the nursery school to primary school]. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faust, G., Wehner, F., & Kratzmann, J. (2011). Zum Stand der Kooperation von Kindergarten und Grundschule. Maßnahmen und Einstellungen der Beteiligten [The state of cooperation between nursery school and primary school: Attitudes and ways of acting in the part of those involved]. Journal for Educational Research Online, 3(2), 38–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giallo, R., Trevyaud, K., Matthews, J., & Kienhuis, M. (2010). Making the transition to primary school: An evaluation of a transition program for parents. Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology, 10, 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gräsel, C., Fußangel, K., & Pröbstel, C. (2006). Lehrkräfte zur Kooperation anregen – eine Aufgabe für Sisyphos? [Stimulating teachers to cooperate – A task for Sisyphos?] Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 52(2), 205–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graßhoff, G., Ullrich, H., Binz, C., Pfaff, A., & Schmenger, S. (2013). Eltern als Akteure im Prozess des Ãœbergangs vom Kindergarten in die Grundschule [Parents as active participants in the transition process from kindergarten to primary school]. Wiesbaden: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griebel, W., & Niesel, R. (2006). Co-constructing transition into kindergarten and school by children, parents and teacher. In H. Fabian & A.-W. Dunlop (Eds.), Transitions in the early years: Debating continuity and progressing for young children in early education (pp. 64–75). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griebel, W., & Niesel, R. (2015). Ãœbergänge verstehen und begleiten. Transitionen in der Bildungslaufbahn von Kindern. [Understand and attend transitions in the educational trajectories of children] (3rd rev ed.). Berlin: Cornelsen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griebel, W., & Sassu, R. (2013). Modul 3: Ãœbergang in die Schule [Transition to school]. In W. Griebel, R. Heinisch, C. Kieferle, E. Röbe, & Seifert A. (Eds.), Ãœbergang in die Schule und Mehrsprachigkeit – Ein Curriculum für pädagogische Fach- und Lehrkräfte [Transition to school and multilingualism – A curriculum for educational professionals] (pp. 91–115). Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanke, P., & Rathmer, B. (2009). Kooperation zwischen Kindertageseinrichtungen und Grundschulen im Kontext der Sprachstandsdiagnose Delfin 4 – Konzeption des TransKiGs-Projektes NRW (Phase II) [Cooperation between nursery schools and primary schools in the context of the language level diagnostic program Delfin 4 – Conception of the TransKiGs project NRW (Phase II)]. In Ministerium für Generationen, Familie, Frauen und Integration des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ed.), Kinder bilden Sprache – Sprache bildet Kinder. Sprachentwicklung und Sprachförderung in Kindertagesstätten [Children form language – Language forms children. Language development and the promotion of language in nursery school and child care centres] (pp. 57–69). München: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanke, P., Backhaus, J., & Bogatz, A. (2013). Den Ãœbergang gemeinsam gestalten. Kooperation und Bildungsdokumentation im Ãœbergang von der Kindertageseinrichtung in die Grundschule [Shaping the transition together: Cooperation and documentation of learning processes during the transition process from the nursery to primary school]. München: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, A., & Mapp, K. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst, M., Jervis, N., Visagie, K., Sojo, V., & Cavanagh, S. (2011). Transition to primary school: A review of the literature. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK), Jugend- und Familienministerkonferenz (JMFK). (2009). Den Ãœbergang von der Tageseinrichtung für Kinder in die Grundschule sinnvoll und wirksam gestalten – Das Zusammenwirken von Elementarbereich und Primarstufe optimieren [Making the transition from nursery school to primary school meaningful and effective – Optimising the interaction between elementary sector and the primary level]. Beschluss der Jugend- und Familienministerkonferenz vom 05.06.2009/Beschluss der Kultusministerkonferenz vom 18.06.2009. http://www.kmk.org/dokumentation/veroeffentlichungen-beschluesse/bildung-schule/allgemeine-bildung.html#c7345. Accessed 13 July 2015.

  • Lee, J.-S., & Bowen, N. K. (2006). Parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children. American Educational Research Journal, 43, 193–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebers, K., & Kowalski, D. (2007). Kooperation von Kindertageseinrichtungen und Grundschulen beim Ãœbergang. Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Befragung im Land Brandenburg zur Umsetzung des §15 der Grundschulverordnung zur Kooperation von Kita und Schule beim Ãœbergang. [Cooperation between early childhood education care (ECEC) centres and primary schools during the transition: Results of a representative survey in the federal state Brandenburg about the implementation of §15 of the primary regulation to cooperation between ECEC centre and primary school during the transition]. Ludwigsfelde: LISUM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maag Merki, K. (2009). Kooperation und Netzwerkbildung. Strategien zur Qualitätsentwicklung in Schulen [Cooperating and networking: Strategies for the development of quality in schools]. Seelze-Velber: Klett-Kallmeyer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayring, P. (Ed.). (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken [Qualitative content analysis: Foundations and techniques]. Basel: Beltz, Weinheim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, B., Wildgruber, A., Held, J., & Griebel, W. (2012). BMBF-Transitionsprojekt: Auch Eltern kommen in die Schule [BMBF – Transition project: Parents also go to school]. In Staatsinstitut für Frühpädagogik (2015), Bildung Erziehung Betreuung von Kindern in Bayern (pp. 22–26). München: Staatsinstitut für Frühpädagogik.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niesel, R., & Griebel W. (Eds.). (2007). Von der Kita in die Schule. Handlungsempfehlungen an Politik, Träger und Einrichtungen [From the nursery school to primary school: Recommendations for action to administrators, sponsors and institutions]. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichmann, E. (2010). Ãœbergänge vom Kindergarten in die Grundschule unter Berücksichtigung kooperativer Lernformen [Transition from the nursery school to primary school under considerations of learning methods]. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichmann, E. (2011/2012). The transition from German kindergarten to primary School: Parents’ role in the transition process. International Journal of Transition in Childhood, 5, 22–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spieß, E. (2004). Kooperation und Konflikt [Cooperation and conflict]. In H. Schuler (Ed.), Organisationspsychologie – Gruppe und Organisation [Organizational psychology – group and organization] (pp. 193–2470). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tietze, W., Rossbach, H. -G., & Grenner, K. (2005). Kinder von 4 bis 8 Jahren. Zur Qualität der Erziehung und Bildung in Kindergarten, Grundschule und Familie. [Children between the ages 4 and 8 years: On the quality and education in nursery school, primary school and in the family]. Basel: Beltz, Weinheim.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This project was funded by the Ministry of Education and Research and the European Social Fund under project number 01NV1021/1022 and 01NV1221/1222. All responsibility for the contents of this publication is assumed by its authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Petra Hanke, Johanna Backhaus, Andrea Bogatz & Majdah Dogan

Authors
  1. Petra Hanke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Johanna Backhaus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Bogatz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Majdah Dogan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petra Hanke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga, Australia

    Sue Dockett

  2. State Institute of Early Childhood Research (IFP), Munich, Germany

    Wilfried Griebel

  3. School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga, Australia

    Bob Perry

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hanke, P., Backhaus, J., Bogatz, A., Dogan, M. (2017). The Transition to Primary School as a Challenge for Parents. In: Dockett, S., Griebel, W., Perry, B. (eds) Families and Transition to School. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58329-7_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58329-7_15

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58327-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58329-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation