Transition process from kindergarten to primary school

U suvremenomu dobu dolazi do institucionalizacije djetinjstva što znači da djeca sve više vremena provode u odgojno-obrazovnim institucijama. Kontinuirani razvoj kvalitete odgojno-obrazovnoga procesa, prilagodba individualnim potrebama djece te suradnja obitelji i odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova (osnovne škole i dječjega vrtića) nameću se kao nužnost. Mnogi stručnjaci ističu da je kvaliteta institucionalnoga ranoga i predškolskoga odgoja i obrazovanja prediktor dugoročnih postignuća djece i u konačnici društvene dobrobiti. Tema je ovoga rada prijelaz iz jedne odgojno-obrazovne ustanove u drugu, konkretno iz dječjega vrtića u osnovnu školu. To je važan korak u životu djeteta, predstavlja izazov i donosi brojne promjene. Promjene se odnose na prostorno-materijalno i socijalno okruženje, promjene normi, rituala, načina komunikacije, raspodjele moći. Kako bi proces bio što manje stresan, važna je primjena kvalitetnih postupaka prijelaza i strategija učenja, odmak od školarizacije odgojno-obrazovnoga procesa te koncepta spremnosti djeteta za školu. Naglasak se stavlja na spremnost škole za dijete te individualiziran pristup koji uvažava dječje potencijale i razvoj strategija prilagođenih djeci. Kao jedna od osnovnih dječjih aktivnosti igra se ističe kao posebno kreativan i učinkovit način učenja koji djeci pruža niz istraživačkih i stvaralački mogućnosti. Autori se slažu da prestanak igre s početkom osnovnoškolskoga obrazovanja i stav da je igra nekorisno iskorišteno vrijeme te da djecu što prije treba uključiti u proces učenja u smislu školarizacije nanosi veliku štetu djetinjstvu. Postupci ili rituali prijelaza tumače se kao sve aktivnosti koje (ukoliko su kvalitetno i primjereno organizirane) mogu olakšati djeci prijelaz, osnažiti ih, otkloniti strah, poticati dječji razvoj te ojačati njihove socijalne kompetencije. Ipak, sukladno svjetskim istraživanjima u Republici Hrvatskoj nije prepoznata važnost procesa prijelaza i njihovi nalazi upućuju na to da su kod nas najviše zastupljeni najmanje značajni postupci prijelaza kao što su razgovori o školi i posjeti djece osnovnoj školi.Modern childhood has changed a lot because children spend more and more time in early education institutions which leads to childhood institutionalization. Therefore, permanent development of the educational process, continuous adaptation to the child's individual needs and strong collaboration between parents, kindergarden and primary schools should be taken seriously. Authors emphasize that the quality of early and preschool education belongs to predictors of a child's educational success and long-term social benefits in general. This paper discusses the transition process from early childhood to primary school, huge differences and challenges in child's life. Visible differences refer to material and social surrounding, include changes of norms, rituals, communication, activities, involve the changes in the identity of children. All things considered, for most children and parents transition can be a very stressful period. In order to reduce stress, new transition procedures and learning strategies could be used. At the same time, scholarisation and concept of children's readiness for school should be avoided. Individual approach , which respects children's potentials and includes development of new strategies, has been suggested as the best one. It is considered that play is one of essential child's activities, very creative way of learning that offers wide range of possibilities to experiment, investigate, gain life skills, solve problems. Authors agree that children shouldn't stop playing when they start attending school, it mustn't become „useless activity“ because it can help in the process of learning, specially in the transition process. The idea of scholarisation can be very harmful and can influence childhood in a very negative way. According to researches, it is obvious that children in lots of European countries (very soon it will happen in the Republic of Croatia) leave kindergarden earlier and earlier due to different reasons (market needs, economic, family and social changes) but the question is what happens with childhood and all benefits of early education. High quality and new transition procedure or rituals can make transition period easier, encourage children, eliminate stress, fear and help them develop their skills and social competencies. However, studies show that significance of transition process hasn't been recognised in the Republic of Croatia and the least effective procedures are still used (for instance, only talking about school or just visiting school)