Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers

Abstract

The aim of this research study is to examine parents´ attitudes towards the process of children´s adjustment to a pre-school institution, as well as towards separation difficulties which are encountered when a child starts attending kindergarten. Research results provide answers to whether parents are familiar with the problems manifested in the children´s adjustment process, as well as with the possibilities of successfully overcoming such issues. The research included 763 parents of pre-school children in the territory of Serbia. The differences in parents´ attitudes have been analysed relative to their sex, education and age. In the course of research the authors resorted to a five-point Likert scale composed of 16 items grouped into the following categories: factors which influence the process of adjustment, indicators of a successfully completed adjustment process and methods for overcoming the issues raised in the process of children´s adjustment to a pre-school institution. Parents believe that children´s satisfaction when they attend kindergarten is a more significant indicator of a successfully completed adjustment process relative to the absence of crying and deprecation, as well as that for the purposes of overcoming the difficulties which occur when children start attending a pre-school institution parents most frequently introduce pre-school teachers to their child´s habits and traits, and later talk with the child about events in the kindergarten. Research results indicate the presence of statistically significant differences in parents´ attitudes relative to their sex, i.e. they indicate that the adjustment period is more stressful for mothers than for fathers.