3.31. KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL IN THE SYSTEM OF CONTINUOUS EDUCATION

Creating a system of continuous education in the country requires the implementation of the principle of continuity of its links. Continuity in the work of pre-school educational institutions and elementary school means the establishment of a relationship between them to consistently solve the problems of teaching, educating and developing the personality of the child.

The implementation of continuity requires the establishment of relationships not only for the purposes of preschool and primary education, but also in the content, methods and forms of organizing work with children in kindergarten and school. Currently, there are several options for solving the problem of continuity between kindergarten and primary school. Thus, in the concept of the content of continuing education (preschool and elementary school ) , it is emphasized that the continuity of these levels of education implies the achievement of the following priority goals:

- at the preschool level - protection, promotion of health and physical development of the child, his general abilities, arbitrariness, cognitive activity, communication and self-confidence, ensuring his emotional well-being and successful education at the next stage;  

- at the primary school level - the physical culture of the child; his cognitive development and socialization corresponding to the age possibilities; development of various forms of interaction with the outside world; the formation of educational activities and readiness for education in the middle school.

The implementation of these goals is reflected in the content of pre-school and primary education. In the preschool level, it is built in accordance with the most important directions in the development of the personality: physical, cognitive, social and personal, artistic and aesthetic development. In primary education, the content of education is represented by integrated areas of knowledge: nature and society; man and his activities; philology (native language and literary reading); maths.

The necessary conditions for the successful implementation of the overall goal of the education of children 3-10 years old are:

- at the preschool level - student-centered interaction of the teacher with the child; the formation of play activities as the most important factor in the development of the child; creating an educational environment conducive to the personal development of the child;

- at the primary school level - reliance on the current level of achievements of preschool childhood; the focus of the learning process on the formation of the ability to learn as the most important achievement of this period of development; individual work in cases of advancing or lower rates of child development (N. F. Vinogradova).

The internal basis for continuity between kindergarten and elementary school is the child’s attainment of psychological readiness for school. Numerous studies in this area allow under school readiness to understand the level of development of a child, which enables him to easily adapt to new conditions of life and activity, to acquire knowledge and skills, rules and norms of school behavior, to be active in their development (A. V. Zaporozhets, L. I. Bozhovich, D. B, Elkonin, etc.). It is necessary to distinguish between the special and general readiness of the child to study at school. Special readiness is determined by the presence of his knowledge, ideas and skills that form the basis of the study of such school subjects as the mother tongue, mathematics. General readiness is determined by its physical and mental development.

Physical readiness is characterized by good health, stamina, resistance to adverse effects; normal anthropometric data (height, weight, chest circumference), a good level of development of the motor sphere, readiness of the hand to perform small, precise and diverse movements, sufficient development of cultural and hygienic skills, etc. Physical readiness is the basis for a child’s psychological readiness for school.

Psychological readiness is understood primarily as the level of intellectual development, which by the end of preschool age presupposes that a child has a system of interconnected knowledge about the world, curiosity and cognitive interests, a certain level of development of cognitive processes: perception, memory, thinking and speech. An important component of psychological readiness for learning in school is moral and volitional readiness. Its content includes the arbitrariness of mental processes and behavior of the child, allowing him to show independence, be able to control his behavior, to be attentive in class, to purposefully memorize educational material.

The child should be ready not only for a new activity in school, but also for a new social position of a student who has his rights and duties.

Formation of school readiness is the result of the whole educational work of the kindergarten. However, in the preparatory groups, this task is a priority. In the day mode of this group, the amount of time for conducting classes with children, which allow to form the elementary prerequisites of learning activities (ability to listen and hear an adult, highlight the learning task, exercise elementary control over their activities), naturally increases. Considerable attention is paid to the further development of autonomy in children in the familiar and well-mastered activities (game, household activities, design, etc.). Much work is being done to generate interest in the school and the upcoming training. These tasks are solved on the basis of the game - the leading activity of preschool childhood.

Successful implementation of the continuity of preschool and primary education is possible if not only the content, but also the spatial relationships between the kindergarten and the elementary school are organized . In practice, there are two lines along which these links are established: close contact of pedagogical teams (joint pedagogical councils of educators and teachers; mutual visiting of lessons and classes; observation of pupils, etc.) and direct drawing together of preschoolers and first-graders (excursions to school, joint holidays, patronage assistance to the kindergarten, etc.) The necessary conditions for successful interaction between the kindergarten and the school are consistency of relations, the existence of cooperation agreements, planning and systematic OTE. A good option to ensure the spatial relationship between kindergarten and school is the opening of educational institutions for children of preschool and primary school age (educational and educational complexes "School - Kindergarten").