Starting school: who is prepared? Young Lives’ research on children’s transition to first grade in Peru

Literature has pointed to the importance of children’s experiences of preschool and first grade as foundational for success during the subsequent school years. This paper attempts to examine the transition of early childhood in the beginning of primary school. It accounts for different perspectives at the institutional and personal levels from teachers, parents and children themselves in an Andean country characterised by cultural diversity. It employs a mixed method approach using interviews with parents, teachers and participatory techniques with children. It makes home, community and classroom observations at preschool and primary levels.

The paper makes the following findings:

• at the institutional level, there is increasing enrollment in preschool and better availability and access to educational services in both urban and rural areas with enrollment higher in the former
• at the organisational level, the transition from preschool to first grade is not understood and structured because of the lack of continuity between the two classroom environments physically and culturally
• due to the limited exchange and communication between parents and teachers, the former have little information about the importance of the transition to first grade
• parents are positive towards education and the importance of preschool as a preliminary step to prepare children for school experience. Hidden costs for preschool may prevent longer attendance
• the state does not provide the necessary educational materials to work with makes preschool highly dependent on the income of parents and their ability to provide supplies for school. Hidden costs are preventing universal access to preschool
• there is considerable variety in educational services provided. Parents recognise differences in the quality of educational services their children attend along various lines
• the main burden of adaptation to the transition is left to children who have to go through it with little guidance. They have shown a positive attitude and the capacity to cope with it by easily identifying differences between preschool and primary school characteristics
• despite the positive attitude, the transition exerts is a degree of stress on them especially when facing certain forms of violence at home and in school. There is a need for a better strategy for improving children’s educational experiences, especially when starting school.

The paper concludes that starting school deserves much more attention from policy makers and educators in order to take best advantage of the positive attitude emerging among parents and children themselves.