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). Due to the different compulsory school attendance laws, children move from kindergarten and start primary education at the age between five and seven or eight (OECD, 2014), and the crucial question is whether children are ready for school. Successful primary school entry depends on multiple highly interconnected domains (Commodari, 2013; Hair, Halle & Humen, 2006; Kagan, Moore & Bredekamp, 1995; Wesley & Buysse, 2003).

The importance of learning the parents’ views on transition from an early learning to a primary school environment is well known. The lack of parental involvement makes 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 from all over the world therefore aim at understanding parents’ perceptions of transition from kindergarten to first grade (Fleisz-Gyurcsik, 2021), however, in Hungary, little is yet known about parents’ views on starting primary school, which means that there are no data concerning whether parents have appropriate knowledge about the characteristics of school readiness in the period of starting primary school. For this purpose, a self-developed online questionnaire was used to collect data from 226 parents of first graders. This research aimed to answer the question whether there are significant differences between parents—on the basis of their highest educational attainments and the number of their children—regarding whether parents seek information about the characteristics of school readiness before the start of school, what sources they rely on for information, and how satisfied they are with the quality of the information obtained.

The results of the analysis of variance indicate that the higher the parents’ level of education, the more likely it is that they have information regarding the characteristics of school readiness (F=,233; p<,001). Mothers of four children have more knowledge about the characteristics of school-age children compared with those who have three or less children (F=2,061; p=,013).

The results of the analysis of variance also reveal that the higher the parents’ level of education, the less likely that they obtain information regarding the characteristics of school readiness from informative texts on the internet (F=1,895; p=,059). Mothers with four children tend to ask kindergarten educators for information about the characteristics of school readiness more often than mothers with three or less children (F=2,785; p=,042). Significant differences in the level of satisfaction with the quality of the information obtained between the parents surveyed were not found on the basis of certain background variables.

In-service educators and teachers may use the 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.

Keywords:

Kindergarten school transition, transition into primary school, starting primary school, parents’ views.