Transition from Preschool to Primary School: An Overview of the Personal Experiences of Children and their Parents in Singapore

Abstract

SUMMARYStudies in the US, UK and Australia in particular have researched aspects of school readiness and children s transition from pre to primary school. Although there are now many examples in the literature ofgood practices that should help to ease this process the topic has only received attention quite recently in Singapore. This paper reports on the perceptions of 500 families prior to school entry and 270 families on follow up six months later: part of the findings of two research projects that studied different aspects of transition from pre-school to primary school in Singapore. The first research project studied the effects of a parent involvement project on children s academic and language skill acquisition in pre-school and later into their coping skills in primary school. The second project investigated young children's abilities to adjust to some of the cognitive, language, social and emotional demands of primary schools. Both studies were conducted during the final six months in pre-school andfollow-ups were conducted during their first year in primary school.