| Abstract [eng] |
Purpose of preschool education is to assist a child to get ready for successful studies according to the programme of primary education. However, not all children of preschool age come to the first grade being mature for the academic activity. In Lithuania, very few surveys have been conducted revealing the links of readiness for school and child‘s academic achievement that would allow characterising abilities of intellectual and social emotional readiness, predetermining the future academic success in the best way. Therefore, objective of this survey is to establish the links of child‘s readiness for school with his academic achievement in the first grade. The survey has been conducted in three stages: in the first stage, 46 children of preschool age from a creche –kindergarten and a school-kindergarten who in calendar year 2007 became 7 took part in the survey. The survey was conducted in April – May of 2007. Referring to the methodology for evaluation of children‘s readiness for school (2005), children‘s cognitive, social and emotional readiness for school was assessed. In December of 2007 and April of 2008, reading, writing and mathematical knowledge achievement of children who participated in the first stage were assessed. Reading, writing and mathematical knowledge achievement was assessed with the series of tasks formed referring to programmes of general primary education and education standards. The results obtained revealed sufficient social emotional readiness of preschool age children and insufficient intellectual academic readiness of some of these children. It was established that indicators for academic readiness are related to later academic achievement: 1) the link of average intensity was found between a drawing of a Man and all academic achievements in the first and second halves of the first grade; 2) evaluations of Raven‘s colour advancing matrixes correlate with mathematical achievement in the most intensive manner; 3) evaluations of audible perception conversely correlate with the number of reading mistakes and reading time; 4) evaluations of vocabulary scale conversely correlate with the number of writing mistakes; 5) difficulties in children‘s behaviour and emotions observed by teachers the best correlate with the number of writing and reading mistakes. Academic achievement (except for mathematics) of the first grade children is the best forecasted by the points given for the drawing of a Man. |
