Preparation for Starting School During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although most educational and orientation plans for ECEC indicate the importance of an intensive transition design, implementing these plans proved extremely difficult under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a joint study in Estonia and Germany in July/August 2020, we interviewed parents ( N = 52) whose children were to be enrolled in school after the summer vacations about their experiences transitioning from ECEC to school under lockdown conditions. The analysis followed Mayring’s (2022) content analysis with a mix of deductive and inductive basic procedures. The study showed that, while most parents (especially in Estonia) were satisfied with the work of the preschool teacher, several suggestions could improve the preparation of children for school in similar crises.