We are in the middle of an important debate over how to coordinate early learning and the first years of elementary school, and researchers suggest we could learn a few things from Sweden, New Zealand and Germany.

In Germany, for example, they have begun testing “Bildungshaeuser,” which besides being a cool name creates schools for children ranging in age from three to ten, according to “Issues in Education for Children Three to Eight in Six Countries.”

These “houses of education” would create closer local cooperation between Kindergarten and elementary school—not only to improve the transition phase but to include all age groups from three to ten years old in a unified program. In 2008, a large model program for developing and evaluating Bildungshaeuser began in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Sweden, meanwhile, holds a few lessons for U.S. policymakers trying to balance interest in common teaching ideas that cover pre-k to third grade. The northern European country uses a national curriculum for preschool, which teaches kids as old as six, yet doesn’t over stress formal learning, First School researchers wrote.

The National Agency for Education has taken the position that excessive emphasis placed on formal learning at an early stage can have negative consequences.

Before policymakers get too carried away with easing transitions between early learning and grade school, the report offers up an excellent caveat:

…Hans-Guenther Rossbach raised an interesting point of view that challenged our thinking. He said that we think in terms of continuity, but maybe discontinuity is not always bad for children. Children are proud when they make the move to the “big school.” So, maybe we should not be as concerned with eliminating the challenges of the transition as with helping children meet the challenges…In a sense, the discontinuity between settings provides an opportunity for mastery which could contribute to the development of the child’s identity.

The eight-page report is full of food for thought, including these highlights:

• In New Zealand they actively reject the term preschool, but use the term early childhood education.
• (In the U.S.) at the state level, there is a growing recognition that “school readiness” refers not only to the condition of children when they enter school, but also the capacity of schools to educate all children, whatever each child’s condition may be.

The report is worth checking out when you can spare ten minutes.

On the local front, today concluded OSPI’s two day “Starting Strong” conference that focused on informing attendees on practice in four key components necessary for P-3 early care and education efforts: leadership, instructional practice, community coalitions, and collaboration and family partnerships. Attendees heard from national experts and P-3 partnerships in Washington.