In the calendar and in the heart of be.Living’s Early Childhood Education, Blue holds a unique place. It is there that childhood concludes a long cycle of experiences, bonds, and achievements, while curiosity for the following year begins to grow—when these children move on to Year 1 of Elementary School.
Camila Maia, Early Childhood Education pedagogical coordinator, explains that this moment in school life is marked by ongoing pedagogical intentions that are highly attuned to the children’s growth process.
When speaking about transition, the coordinator makes an important observation: the passage is not only a movement toward what is to come, but above all a recognition of what has already been lived. “In the past four years, we have been committed to further strengthening this care around the transition, with well-defined rituals and projects designed with this focus — which has made a significant difference in the children’s process.”
She explains that, in 2021, the school structured and consolidated the project “This is me, now and then” with greater intention and continuity, actively engaging in a process of memory-building. Developed in English and Portuguese, the children revisit events from previous years throughout the year, look through old yearbooks, talk about their achievements, and begin naming memories, which later result in the creation of a collective memory text—the final product of the project.
It is interesting to note, according to Camila, that this revisiting of memories is not limited to nostalgia, but provides the emotional foundation needed to navigate what is new. “They sit down to look through yearbooks, write captions, and talk.” “From those captions, the memory text is born—and in that process, they realize how much they have already experienced and achieved, and how capable and empowered they are to move forward.”
be.Living understands that the body is a place of learning. For this reason, throughout the year, Blue students experience moments that contrast with their own trajectory: they play in the sand area of Yellow Orange, sit down to read the short books from Green, and spend time in spaces they hadn’t visited in a while. Without words and without haste, the body itself reveals to the child its growth, the change in repertoire, interests, and presence in the school environment.
Camila emphasizes that when this experience is lived through the body, the child does not need anyone to announce their growth—they feel it, perceive it, and embrace it. “When they go play in the younger kids’ sandbox or sit down to read shorter and simpler books, they realize that their bodies no longer fit in the same way they once did.” “Their own bodies tell them the story of their growth and maturation.”
Right at the beginning of the year, an extended experience in the Physical Education class at Moema—in the Elementary School building—initiates this process. Over the course of several months, rehearsals are held on a larger stage for the Festa Junina, with frequent visits to the same school. The year culminates with the Blue children visiting and interviewing students from Year 1, where the questions they themselves create—born from their own imagination—are met with real listening and real answers that dispel fantasies and help settle expectations.
When the school addresses these questions and welcomes anxieties, even in groups mirroring farewells, such as in the meeting with Year 5, children realize that growing up is not a protocol, but a legitimate and shared movement. “Both Year 5, which is transitioning to Cycle 2 of elementary school, and Blue talk to each other about goodbyes. All of this helps children see that change is significant, but that at the same time, it can also be easy.”
Camila points out that it is common for families to arrive at Blue with high expectations when it comes to literacy. The school holds an annual meeting with the families of the Red group who will be joining Blue, to align expectations and reassure parents about the child’s actual teaching time.
The coordinator points out that literacy is the result of work begun in previous stages. “We hold a meeting with families to manage expectations. Anxiety exists and is a natural part of the process, but it is important to reiterate that Blue is not just about literacy. You have to give the process time. When a child recognizes their own strength, the next step becomes more natural and confident.”
And it is precisely through this gradual and respectful pace that the school ensures the appropriation of the new space even before it is fully experienced. At the end of the year, Moema ceases to be a promise and becomes recent experience, a walkable space, familiar territory.
Camila emphasizes that listening to children’s emotions, ideas, doubts, and actively involving them in this process gives them a sense of belonging to the space and to themselves. “The child arrives in Year 1 not as someone crossing a border, but as someone continuing their journey. Not as someone who is simply saying goodbye, but as someone who realizes their own capabilities. The next step is no longer frightening, but rather a logical sequence for those who have already recognized themselves as great and knowledgeable enough to occupy new cycles.”
Thus, the transition from Early Childhood Education to Elementary School, as designed by be.Living, is less a full stop and more a path shaped by memory, presence, and ownership. It is a process that respects emotions, bonds, and gradual discovery, so that children can approach Year 1 with greater clarity, curiosity, and confidence about who they have become. “The intention is to ensure that children arrive there with less distress and anxiety, knowing a little more about the space and their own potential.”
The year ends with a profound lesson that can be carried throughout life: the future, when sustained by self-awareness and the paths traveled, becomes lighter. This sense of ease comes from understanding that cycles end and new ones begin, and that in between them, there are transitions. “When children see themselves as powerful in what they did yesterday, they gain confidence for tomorrow. The future becomes a passage, not an abyss. It is wonderful to witness each of them developing self-confidence and realizing their potential.”
