Parent's attitude towards a start time of children attending preschool

Parent's Attitude Towards a Start Time of Children Attending Preschool Aim of the research. To assess the opinions of the parents as to when their children should start attending a pre-school education institution. Objectives: 1. To determine the actual age when children start attending pre-school education institutions and the reasons behind it. 2. To determine the time a child requires to adapt in a pre-school education institution, taking into consideration the time they begin attending it. 3. To evaluate the parents‘ opinions regarding the time their children start attending pre-school education institutions, considering the age of the parents, their education, marital status, financial situation, number of children and gender. 4. To assess parents‘ opinions connected with compulsory pre-school education. Methods. The research was carried out through the anonymous survey method. The factual research group (n=600) consisted of the parents whose pre-school age children attend one out of five pre-school education institutions in the Vilnius district. Statistical processing of data was accomplished with the help of StataMP 13 and WinPepi. Results. The research has determined that the higher parents’ education is, the later their children start attending a pre-school education institution (rs = 0,697; p < 0,001). The research has also determined that the better the financial situation of the family is, the later their children start attending a pre-school education institution (rs = - 0,199; p < 0,0001). While searching for the reasons determining the age children start attending a pre-school education institution, it has been determined that nearly half of the respondents (46%) take their children to a pre-school education institution because the parents need to go to work. More than half of the parents surveyed (68.4%) believe that children at the age of 2-3 should attend a pre-school education institution. The parents disagree that pre-school education has a negative impact on the child development (82.7%) and that children frequently catch the flu and their immunity to illnesses is lowered (74.7%). Conclusions. 1. The majority of children started attending a pre-school education institution at the age of two, the minority – at the age of six. The higher education the parents have, the later their children start attending a pre-school education institution. The age that children start attending a pre-school education institution is not related to the child’s gender and number of 7 children in the family. 2. The main reason why children start attending a pre-school education institution at a certain age is the necessity of parents to go to work. The majority of the respondents who provided that answer are young parents with lower education who live with a partner as well as the parents that find themselves in a bad financial situation. 3. Most of the boys and girls need 20 days to adapt to a pre-school education institution. The later children start attending a preschool education institution, the faster their adaptation to the facility is. During the adaptation period, the main diseases that spread are related to the respiratory system. 4. According to the majority of the parents (68.4%), the best time a child should start attending a pre-school education institution is at the age of two or three. Such opinion is determined by parental education, life with their partner, monthly family income amounting to EUR 301-400, a girl living in the family, or a child of 3 to 4 years of age. 5. According to the majority of the respondents (99.2%), pre-school education has to be compulsory the year before children start attending school. This brings benefits to the child development and health, ensures successful start of learning in school. This opinion does not differ among the parents of different age, gender, family income, number of children in the family