The transition from kindergarten to primary school represents an important and complex change in the life of a child. This transition is accompanied by continuous processes for every child, but also with changes that are also seen as discontinuities to be managed. (von Buelow, 2011). Especially these discontinuities can be seen as critical life events if they interfere with the balance between the individual child and its environment in such a way that huge efforts for its re-establishment are necessary (Filipp, 1995). Children show different coping strategies to handle the changes, also in a co-constructive way. (Griebel & Niesel, 2002 & 2011).
Especially in the last year of kindergarten, the child deals with its role as a future primary schoolchild.
The more adequate knowledge a child has about school, the structures, the learning and life in school, the faster its orientation in the new institution and its identification as a school child will be successful (Kluczniok & Roßbach, 2014).
It is assumed that children have succeeded the transition if they feel comfortable at school, can cope with the demands and are able to use the learning environment for their educational and learning processes (Niesel, 2016).
Knowledge and expectations may also be associated with feelings, for example as an anticipation on the learning of writing, reading and mathematics, but also as a fear of losing friends or a fear of restrictive structures in school (Griebel & Niesel, 2002). In most cases, however, the changes in the transition are not so severe that they lead to considerable adaptive disturbances and thus to the failure of the transition (Beelmann, 2006; Faust 2012; Grotz, 2005). Rather, most children look forward to school, learning and basic subjects (Kasanmascheff & Martschinke, 2014). However, they emphasize activities from the kindergarten, which they can also carry on at school, as “Inseln der Kindheit” (islands of childhood) (Griebel & Niesel, 2002). In addition, it is seen that children perceive the transition as a change of status by underlining the differences between their current and future roles (Seddig 2014).
On this basis, more intensive support for a child in the transition from kindergarten to primary school seems to be neccessary to differentiate the knowledge about school (Eckerth & Hanke, 2015).
In this context, the question is how the knowledge and expectations and the accompanying feelings about and towards school change in the last year of kindergarten and the first months in primary school.
