Making the switch to transitional kindergarten? Here’s one thing you should think about

Transitional kindergarten is now serving nearly all 4-year-olds, but teachers haven’t been trained to understand how such young brains learn.

By Jenny GoldStaff Writer

Sept. 30, 2024 1:17 PM PT

Four-year-olds are ripe with ‘big feelings,’ oodles of energy and a hunger for play. A new teaching credential is preparing teachers to welcome the young learners into transitional kindergarten.

Jenny Gold

Jenny Gold covers early childhood development and education for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2023, she spent nearly 14 years covering healthcare for radio and print as a senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News. Her stories have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, Reveal and Marketplace, among others. A Berkeley native, she is a graduate of Brown University and was previously a Kroc fellow at NPR.