Childs fear before enrolling into first

Prof. PhDr. Lenka Šulová, CSc., PhDr. Simona Hoskovcová, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague

EUSARF Dortmund 2016

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The child’s fear before,

during and after

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an unpleasant emotion, an

uncomfortable experience accompanied

by neurovegetative symptoms such as

turning pale, shaking, quickening breath

and heart rate, increase of blood

pressure and promptness to

self-defense or to run away. In contrast to

anxiety, fear is a standard reaction to

real danger

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Fear is:

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Fear develops with age, from infants’

simple reactions of shock up to reactions to more complex situations, constituted by

unfamiliar settings, unexpected sensory stimuli, separation from the mother and

close contacts, fear coming from one’s own experiences or the fear linked to one’s

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Fear is natural

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Fear is a natural and very

important emotion for survival.

Everyone is afraid of something

different and it is true that

every person has a different

method to overcome fear.

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It is natural and necessary to be

afraid, as it is associated with

the impulse of

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The child may feel insecure

before enrolling in school.

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The threat can exist in reality or

only in the imagination. The child’s

fear of school can be at first induced

by his imagination, fear of the

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The child’s fear of school should most definitely not be demeaned and laughed at. On the contrary, the parent should now just provide social support to the child,

which he expects.

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Origins of differences in children’s expressions of fear and timidity:

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Somatic and physical causes

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Children who are qualified as more sensitive display very similar manifestations. It is enough to give them a small stimulant to evoke anxiety, fear, shock. They are often more sensitive to feel pain, they cope worse with changes (for example even change of light intensity or quick change of weather), they react worse to bug

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Somatic and physical causes

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It is possible to include children with a lower

tolerance of stress to this category. They react to pressure with fear, panic, escapist or aggressive projections sooner than other children.

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Another group of children that may be affected more often by this problem are those who are less able to adapt. It is harder for them and takes

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Mental causes

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If we are to speak about mental causes, it is necessary to mention personality

dispositions that are determined (same as the aforementioned somatic causes) by inherited, prenatal, perinatal and

postnatal development. Here we can speak about the child’s temperament, speed of reactions, level and way of thinking,

memory, perceptiveness, maturity of

motor skills, the so-called social maturity of the child or social intelligence, his

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It turns out that the relationship with his mother and other members of the family have a major formative effect on the child’s development. The researches of the past few years prove that it is important what ties or bonding are created

between mother and child mainly during the first few years after birth.

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The child needs during his first years a very steady, caring and loving person, who has enough

self-confidence to fulfil the mother role.

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However, when the mother herself is

not too confident in her maternal

role, she transfers her anxiety and

insecurity onto the child.

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It is interesting that fervid and

loving mothers who aroused a feeling

of security (in the sense of

attachment) in the child also gave

him from early childhood support in

his attempts to become independent

(Šulová, 2004).

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Social causes

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Teachers and governesses of small schoolchildren can very well identify in the group of children

those who are “over-scared”, who react in panic, defend their face upon sharper movement and hide whenever someone raises their voice. It happens in cases when they are witnesses of family violence, and if this violence is imposed onto themselves, they become scared,

psychologically blackmailed and otherwise

insecure. It is therefore only natural that they are scared and feel tense whenever they find

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Let’s also mention fears undertaken

in our own family environment from

some sort of tradition, loyalty or

based on some often observed model

of behaviour. If the mother of the

family is scared of a spider and gets

startled by it every time until

someone in her proximity gets rid of

it, it is possible that also her child

will adapt these reactions.

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Why is the child scared of school?

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new and unfamiliar environment

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they must leave something familiar, stable and often even emotionally coloured – their home

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at school, many things can be incomprehensible

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Why is the child scared at school?

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Some children are scared of something completely specific, sometimes based on his fantasy and creativity

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Increased assertiveness or aggression during competitions can fully paralyze a more sensitive child.

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Research activities

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Study “Transient moments in

the life path of the child and

adolescent”, 2012-16

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sponsored by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.

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Researchers: Hoskovcová, Krejčová, Šulová

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Question: Do resilient factors (self-efficacy) in the child change during transition? Do

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Study “Transient moments in

the life path of the child and

adolescent”

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4 moments of transitions:

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1) transition to kindergarten

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2) transition to first grade

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3) transition from grammar school to

junior high school

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transition to first grade

we observed:

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the autoregulation of the child,

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his initiative,

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expressions of behaviour,

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Research method

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During transition 3 times of data collection in each group of children:

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1) before the change (May/June)

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2) shortly after the change (end of September)

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3) after 3 months – adaptation should be finished (end of November)

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As the assessment of preschoolers’ self-efficacy and expectations about the demands of the first grade are methodologically complicated, we decided to use

parents rating before the change (data May/June) and teachers rating after the change (September and

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Methods

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May/June 2015: parents filled in the Devereux Early

Childhood Assessment – Preschool (DECA-P2, LeBuffe, Naglieri, 1999) and answered 3 questions related to fear about the transition

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End September 2015: teachers filled in the DECA-P2 and a questionnaire about adaptation problems (12 items +

possibility to mention individual problems of the child). We realized group interviews with children in classes and children painted a picture on “What is good and what is bad in school.”

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End November 2015: teachers filled in the DECA-P2 and a questionnaire about adaptation problems (12 items +

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Sample

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Data collection May/June 2015

N = 109

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Age 5-7 years

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55 male/ 56 female

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Expectations about entering

first grade

*Item “Child expresses fear that he/she can not handle the curriculum.”

*Low fear (0-1) 93 children, moderate fear 11 and high fear (3-4) 5 children

*Item “Child expresses fear not to find friends in the new class.”

*Low fear (0-1) 97 children, moderate fear 9 and high fear (3-4) 3 children

*Item “Child expresses fear about the new teacher in the first grade.”

*Low fear (0-1) 102 children, moderate fear 6 and high fear (3) 1 child

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Resilient factors in preschoolers

entering first grade

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Outcomes DECA-P2 scales

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If we compare the mean scores of the Czech sample with the US norm, the strongest resilient factor seems to be the self-regulation. The Czech sample is weaker in

attachment/relationships.

DECA-P scale Initiative Self-regulation Attachment/

Relationships Behavioral concerns

Mean 25,58 25,95 29,51 10,03

Median 26 26 29,5 10

Modus 26 26 27 10

Standard dev. 4,06 3,63 2,99 4,28

Minimum 14 13 22 2

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Fear of the transition – use

of resilient factors

*Case child code PAI272, male, 6 years old, complete family, one sibling

*high fear about the transition (all 3 Items)

*DECA profile:

*Initiative 16 = very low outcome, this is an area of need

*Self-regulation 22 = under average outcome

*Attachment/Relationships 32 = average outcome

*Behavioral concerns 18 = high outcome, this is an area of need

*Without deeper knowledge of the child we see a low initiative and at the same time disturbing and aggressive behavior to

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The study by Šulová and Morgensternová,

sponsored by the Grant Agency of the

Czech Republic.

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We have been partly occupied with this problematic from

2008 to 2012 .

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We observed the relation between time dedicated to school, school grades and the pupil’s level of

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Study by Šulová and

Morgensternová

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Quantitative data was filled in with

qualitative figures received within

the scope of focus groups with

children, parents and even teachers.

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We were focused on gender

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The results of this research were then excellently published:

*Šulová, L., Morgensternová, M., Škrábová, M.: First results from Czech study of home preparation for school in the first five years of school attendance. In: Catarsi, E., Pourtois, J.P.

(Eds.):Educatione familiare e servizi per l´infanzia, tomo primo, Firenze University Press, Florence, 2011, 234-252.

*Šulová, L., Škrábová, M.: Psychological aspects of home

preparataions during the first two years of school attendance. Czechoslovak psychology, LVII (2), 2013,170-178. (Psychologické aspekty domácí přípravy v prvních dvou letech školní docházky. Československá psychologie, LVII(2), 2013,170-178.)

*Šulová, L. et al.: Significance of home preparation for a young schoolchild. (Význam domácí přípravy pro začínajícího školáka.) Prague, Wolters Kluwer, 2014.

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Changes that the child must come

to terms with in connection to

enrolling in school

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The child has structured days into which he cannot freely intervene

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The child has to be able to put behind immediate fulfilment of his needs

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The child who was mainly loved and

pampered turns overnight into a child who is expected to perform and is then

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Changes that the child must come

to terms with in connection to

enrolling in school

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Transition from self-centeredness to decentralization

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He must be aware of others’ opinions, he must compare himself with them, he must assess himself in accordance to the best and worst children in the class.

* Changes that the child must come to terms with in connection to enrolling in school

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necessity to be subservient to a foreign adult authority that is not always just friendly and comprehensible

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significant discovery for the child that his parents cannot help him out with

something

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How can parents facilitate their

child’s adaptation to school?

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Lead the child towards independence in the long term

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Speak to the child about school and what to expect there

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Try to help the child create a positive image of school and to never frighten him with school attendance

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Prepare for school together with the child (shopping for

school tools, preparing a working place, pretending to be at school, visiting the school)

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Help the child change his habits in accordance to the future school regime (sleep, alimentation…)

* Have enough time for the child during his first day of enrolling at school

* Pass on basic information about the child to the teacher (for example: the child is afraid

of going to school due to a family member’s recent death)

* In cases of misunderstanding, try to find mutual explanations, solutions with the

teachers.

* Establish a regular regime after the child’s enrolment at school also after classes

* Grant the child advantages alongside new responsibilities

* Praise the child for what he is doing well at in school

* Show the child what school is useful for during all shared activities

* Do not demean the child’s worries and fears and instead help him overcome them

* Give the child time to spend time with classmates even after school, bring the classmates

along to family activities

* Engage in school activities

* Help the child with his school preparations, but without doing them for him

*Organize open days for future schoolchildren

*Enrolments should be organized by the first graders‘ future teachers

*Try to establish an individual/personal approach already at the enrolment and consider information given about the children.

*Create a positive atmosphere in the classroom (self-introduction to the children, attend to the children’s reciprocal acquaintance)

*Modify the classes to the students’ abilities, especially during the first few weeks (provide breaks for exercise more often, allow them to have a drink)

*Inform the parents about possible difficulties in adaptation and help find a solution.

*Find a mutual explanation or solution during possible misunderstandings with the parents or children.

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Literature

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Brikciová, K., Šulová, L.: Poruchy příjmu potravy u dětí v předškolním a mladším školním věku, in: Šulová, L.(Ed.):Problémové dítě a hra, Praha, RAABE, 2006

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Fraňková, S., Pařízková,J., Malichová, E.: Jídlo v životě dítěte a adolescenta, Praha, Karolinum, 2013

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Hartl, Hartlová

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Keller, G., Thewalt, B.: So helfe ich meinem Schulkind. Wiesbaden: Verlag Quelle Meyer, Heidelberg, 1982.

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Klégrová, J.: Máme doma prvňáčka. Praha, Mladá fronta, 2003.

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Kutálková, D. : Jak připravit dítě do 1. třídy. Praha, Grada, 2010.

* Šulová, L., Škrábová, M. (2015). Psychological Aspects of Home Preparation in the

First Two Years of School Attendance. In: Kiprianos, P., Pourtois, J. P.: Family School

and Local Societies: Policies and Practices for Children, Actes du Xveme Congres De lÁIFREF a Patras en mai 2013, p. 61-71, Umons (Université Mons)

* Šulová, L., et al. (2014). The Importance of Home Preparation for a Beginning

Student. Wolters Kluwer, Prague, p. 248

* Šulová, L. (2011). Current Czech Family. In: Gillernová, I., Kebza, V., Rymeš, M.

(Eds.) et al., Psychological Aspects of Changes in Czech Society Life. Prague: GRADA,

2011, p. 106-119, pp. 256

* Šulová, L., Morgensternová, M., Škrábová, M.: First results from Czech study of home preparation for school in the first five years of school attendance. In: Catarsi, E., Pourtois, J.P.(Eds.):Educatione familiare e servizi per l´infanzia, tomo primo, Firenze University Press, Florence, 2011, 234-252.

* Šulová, L. (2010). Early School Age – Child´s Entrance to School. In: Šulová, L. (Ed.):

In September He/She Will Go to School, Prague: RAABE, p. 1 - 18, ISSN 1804-0160