Parents Love Transitional Kindergarten—But What Is It (And Is It Right for Your Child)?

It was all fun and games (and finger painting and singing and dancing) in preschool, but kindergarten is a different ball game. Knowing whether or not your kid is ready for the structure and curriculum required for this next stage is a common dilemma for parents of kids ages 4 to 6. This can be particularly stressful if your kid is right at the “cutoff” date and you have the option to send them to kindergarten where they’ll be the youngest one in the class or hold them back one more year, making them the oldest when they do eventually start. (In my state of New Jersey, for example, students must be 5 years old by October 1 to attend public kindergarten.)

For parents who are considering keeping their child back, it may be hard to imagine your almost-big-kid entering or repeating preschool. Enter: Transitional Kindergarten (TK), a year-long program for kids who are close to or meet the age requirement for kindergarten but need a little more support before doing so.

“Transitional kindergarten is gaining traction across the country,” says early childhood expert Gigi Schweikert, noting that one of the biggest upsides of the program is that it helps close the education gap. (Searches for “transitional kindergarten near me” have also seen a 100 percent search increase since 2019, per Google Trends.) But what is transitional kindergarten exactly? Here’s what to know about TK, including who it’s best suited for and what the potential benefits and downsides are.

Gigi Schweikert is an early childhood expert, mother of four, and author of the Winning Ways for Early Childhood Professionals book series. She is also a former teacher and the current CEO of Lightbridge Academy, where she brings more than 30 years of experience creating and overseeing ways to ensure children are receiving high-quality early education.

While kindergarten is available for kids ages 5 and up in most U.S. states (though some start as young as 4), some children may not be developmentally ready for kindergarten, whether due to a fall birthday or other factors. These kids may also be too advanced for preschool. In 2010, California school districts recognized this particular group of children by creating Transitional Kindergarten. Other states have since adopted the model, sometimes calling it “young fives”.

“Transitional kindergarten is meant to help bridge the gap between preschool and kindergarten,” says Schweikert. Once kids complete a year of TK, they then enter kindergarten. While there is no state-mandated curriculum for TK, it is typically modeled after the state’s kindergarten curriculum and modified to be more accessible for a younger group. (In fact, in California, TK teachers must meet the credential requirements to teach kindergarten in the K-12 system, a requirement not necessary for preschool teachers.) The goal of the TK program is to teach kids the foundational skills they need in order to be comfortable then entering the kindergarten classroom environment the following year (more on that below).

“Transitional kindergarten is intended for children who do not meet the age requirement to begin attending kindergarten classes,” explains Schweikert. “It also supports the children who are eligible for kindergarten by age but may benefit from an additional year of learning and support before entering kindergarten.”

If you think your kid might be a good fit for TK, your first step should be to check with your local school district to confirm the age requirements for transitional kindergarten in your area, says Schweikert. (I was surprised to learn that my local school district does offer some TK programs for children who are 5 years old or turning 5 by December 31, despite never having heard of them while initially researching kindergarten programs for my son.)

“Other than age requirements, parents can also look at aspects of their child’s overall development to determine if they are a good candidate for transitional kindergarten including social, emotional and academic readiness,” the expert adds. Here are some clues that your kid is ready for kindergarten, but if your child is already in school then you should speak with their teacher to help determine if they may benefit from extra time to develop. 

Firstly, there’s the cost. While preschool is typically not offered by the public school system, transitional kindergarten is. Then there’s what the kids do while they’re there—while both preschool and TK can help prepare kids for kindergarten, preschools tend to focus on social and emotional learning rather than a TK program that also incorporates academic readiness, such as math, language and literacy development (although the exact curriculum varies by state and district). Another big difference is the environment and teachers; you may find a preschool located in a home or church, for example, whereas transitional kindergartens are in school environments. A TK classroom will also typically have more students than the average preschool class—in California, for example, TK classrooms have a 12-to-1 student-to-adult ratio while preschools have a 8-to-1 ratio. But, as this article in the LA Times notes, “teachers in a TK classroom generally have more education than preschool teachers, including a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential,” adding that TK teachers are paid about twice as much as preschool teachers. 

TK programs may be especially helpful for those kids who have not experienced any type of schooling previously, whether due to cost or other factors. “For children who have not previously attended preschool, it allows them the opportunity to be introduced to a traditional classroom setting and interact with peers,” says Schweikert. “Being accustomed to the classroom setting is vital for their future success in kindergarten and elementary school,” she adds.

But even if a child has attended a preschool program before, they might still benefit from a transitional year before entering kindergarten. “Transitional kindergarten also gives children the opportunity to build upon the necessary skills that will be needed for kindergarten, like listening and taking direction from teachers, taking turns and sharing with their peers, along with language and literacy,” the expert explains. In other words, TK can help kids from all backgrounds and all developmental stages get set up for success when entering kindergarten.

Per Schweikert and other experts, TK can offer significant benefits for many children. However one of the potential drawbacks is curriculum availability. TK programs are not universally available across all school districts, and in some cases, they may be limited. This can lead to disparities in access and long wait lists for families seeking to enroll their children. Another factor to consider is age and developmental differences among students. A child who attends a TK program may be a year older than their peers when they enter kindergarten, which can lead to disparities in maturity and learning needs within the classroom.