Transitional Kindergarten
Transitional kindergarten provides young learners a
literacy and language rich curriculum and environment
that undergird future learning. Transitional kindergarten
programs capitalize on young children’s active, social, and
inquisitive natures. Rich models of literacy are provided
as children engage daily in teacher-led and child-initiated
projects and play activities. In transitional kindergarten
classrooms, a modified kindergarten literacy and language
curriculum is implemented in developmentally appropriate
contexts that builds on the California preschool learning
foundations (http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/preschoollf.pdf) in language and literacy
and, as appropriate, English language development. The additional year allows more time for social
and emotional development along with more time to develop language and literacy skills, knowledge,
and dispositions that contribute to success in the subsequent year of kindergarten, including curiosity
about the world and how a variety of texts may contribute to satisfying that curiosity. (See the Social
and Emotional Foundations of Transitional Kindergarten at http://www4.scoe.net/ims/webcasts/cf/
index.cfm?fuseaction=archivedDetail&eventID=135.)
The chief differences between transitional kindergarten and kindergarten programs are the
pacing, expectations, and amount of learning situated in play. Transitional kindergarteners move
more slowly through the curricula, making progress toward achievement of the kindergarten CA CCSS
for ELA/Literacy without the expectation of mastery, and they have more opportunities to engage in
literacy and language activities in playful contexts. (Importantly, throughout the grade span children
learn a great deal through play and should be provided ample opportunities to engage in activities
similar to those recommended for transitional kindergarteners.)
The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 (Senate Bill 1381, Chapter 705, Statutes of 2010) requires
that districts provide children in transitional kindergarten instruction with a modified curriculum that
is age and developmentally appropriate, but it does not
specify what that curriculum should be. This ELA/ELD
Framework offers guidance, drawing on both the CA
CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the California Preschool
Curriculum Framework, Volume 1 (http://www.cde.
ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/psframeworkkvol1.pdf,
California Department of Education 2008).
Importantly, transitional kindergartens provide
curriculum and instruction that promote young
children’s progress toward the Kindergarten CA CCSS
for ELA/Literacy in a developmentally appropriate
manner. Figure 3.12 offers guidelines for ensuring
developmentally appropriate practice in literacy and
language. See also the Transitional Kindergarten
Implementation Guide and Videos (http://www.cde.
ca.gov/ci/gs/em/, CDE 2013b), the Professional Development Modules to Support the Implementation
of Transitional Kindergarten (http://www.tkcalifornia.org/learn-with-us/professional-development.html,
TK California), and the Transitional Kindergarten in California Modules (http://teachingcommons.cdl.
edu/tk/index.html) developed by the California State University (2013).
Transitional kindergarten
programs capitalize on young
children’s active, social, and
inquisitive natures. Rich models
of literacy are provided as
children engage daily in
teacher-led and child-initiated
projects and play activities.The additional year allows more
time for social and emotional
development along with more time
to develop language and literacy
skills, knowledge, and dispositions
that contribute to success in the
subsequent year of kindergarten,
including curiosity about the
world and how a variety of texts
may contribute to satisfying that
curiosity.Transitional Kindergarten Chapter 3 | 169