What do parents think are the main issues in the transition from kindergarten to primary school?

Abstract

Transition from kindergarten to primary school is widely recognised as the most critical transition in the early childhood phase, as it poses several difficulties for children, families and schools (Britto, 2012). Various researchers (e.g. Pianta & Hamre, 2009) have shed light on the fact that experiences in kindergarten-school transition determine later school success. As a result of this, in recent years increasing attention has focused on the exploration of early childhood development and its long term effects. The importance of discovering parents’ views on transition from early learning to a primary school environment is well known. Lack of parental involvement has a negative impact on the effectiveness of educational institutions (Puccioni, 2018), parents play a crucial role in their children’s readiness for school (Stein et al., 2019), and parents’ convictions have an important role to play in preparing their children for school (Takriti, 2020). Researchers worldwide have therefore aimed to understand g parents’ perceptions of transition from kindergarten to first grade (Fleisz-Gyurcsik, 2021); however, in Hungary, little is known as yet about parents’ views on starting primary school. To collect these, a self-developed online questionnaire was used to collect data from 226 parents of first graders. My results show what parents perceive as factors that make it difficult for children to start school; what roles parents attribute to kindergarten teachers, other teachers, and parents in helping children make the transition; how parents perceive the relationship between the different actors; what kind of institutional programmes to help children make the transition were attended by children before starting school; and the research also aimed to answer the following questions: are there are significant differences between parents regarding whether they seek information about the characteristics of school readiness before the start of school, what sources do they rely on for information, and how satisfied are they with the quality of the information obtained. In-service educators and teachers may use these research findings as a basis, since the results clarify the best way for offering assistance to parents in order to form their views and enhance their knowledge of the characteristics of school readiness.