Adaptation to kindergarten from a parent's perspective

Prilagodba na dječji vrtić proces je u kojem se dijete susreće s novom okolinom, novim situacijama te novim ljudima. Djetetov život i dotadašnji ritual mijenja se u potpunosti. Stoga je cijeli proces adaptacije stresan za dijete. Javljaju se određene djetetove reakcije koje se mogu promatrati u tri aspekta: tjelesnom, emocionalnom i ponašajnom. Kako će dijete reagirati uvelike ovisi o čimbenicima kao što su privrženost, temperament djeteta, okružje i odgojitelji i naposljetku o roditeljima. Roditelji u cijelom procesu adaptacije na vrtić imaju veliku ulogu. S obzirom na to, promjene se ne događaju samo kod djece, već i kod roditelja. Roditelji se tijekom procesa suočavaju s raznim teškoćama, bilo to djetetove teškoće ili vlastite, a o tome se iz dostupne literature manje zna. Stoga se u ovom radu istraživalo koje se poteškoće javljaju tijekom procesa adaptacije djeteta na vrtić sa stajališta roditelja. Za potrebe istraživanja, koristile su se anonimna iskustva roditelja o adaptaciji djece na vrtić s različitih internetskih foruma. Analizirale su se poteškoće koje roditelji navode da se pojavljuju kod njihove djece za vrijeme adaptacije i roditeljski doživljaji adaptacije. U istraživanju je korištena kvalitativna metodologija. Kao dominantan problem roditelji su navodili poteškoće kod odvajanja što je teorijski gledano očekivana teškoća. Nadalje, javljali su se problemi sa spavanjem, odbijanje suradnje, nezainteresiranost te agresivnost. Osim poteškoća kod djeteta, roditelji su pisali i o problemima s odgojiteljima. Nepristupačnost i loša komunikacija odgojitelja prema roditelju i djetetu rezultirala je otežanom adaptacijom djeteta na taj vrtić/skupinu. Također, istraživanjem se došlo do saznanja da se kod roditelja javljaju različiti osjećaji, a to su najčešće osjećaj zbunjenosti, krivnje, tuga, te zabrinutost. Sve su to opravdani osjećaji koje se očekuju u jednom stresnom razdoblju kao što je prilagodba na vrtić. Kako bi prilagodba na vrtić bila lakša važno je odgojiteljevo razumijevanje perspektive roditelja u tom procesu.Adaptation to kindergarten is a process in which the child encounters a new environment, new situations, and new people. The child's life and ritual changes completely. Therefore, the whole process of adaptation is stressful for the child. Certain reactions can occur in a child that can be observed through three aspects: physical, emotional and behavioural. How the child will react largely depends on factors such as attachment, the child's temperament, the environment, educators and finally, the parents. Parents play an important role in the process of adaptation to kindergarten. That being said, changes do not only occur in children but in parents too. Parents face various difficulties during the process, whether it is their child's difficulties or their own, and little is known from the available literature. Therefore, this paper researched the difficulties that arise during the process of a child's adaptation to kindergarten from the parent's point of view. For the purposes of the research, the anonymous experiences of parents of their children's adaptation to kindergarten from various Internet forums were used. The difficulties that parents state that appeared in their children during adaptation and parental experiences of adaptation were analyzed. Qualitative methodology was used in the research. As the main problem, parents stated difficulties in separation, which is theoretically an expected difficulty. Furthermore, there were problems with sleeping, refusal to cooperate, lack of interest and aggressiveness. In addition to difficulties with the child, parents also wrote about problems with educators. The inaccessibility and poor communication of the educator towards the parent and the child resulted in a difficult adaptation of the child to that kindergarten/group. Also, the research revealed that parents experience different feelings, such as confusion, feelings of guilt, sadness, and concern. These are all justified feelings that are expected in a stressful period such as adjusting to kindergarten. In order to make the adjustment to kindergarten easier, it is important for educators to understand the perspective of the parents in this process