This article analyzes the development of public and government requirements to definition of duration of work of kindergartens for all period of existence of system of early childhood education in Russia. The results of the monitoring of the attitude of preschool teachers to the introduction of “family schedules” in modern kindergartens, reflecting the advantages and risks of innovation associated with meeting the needs of families in the baby-sitting, as well as the successful solution of educational problems by the joint efforts of the family and kindergarten are presented. The article describes the possibilities of the current regulatory framework for creation of variable working hours of early childhood educational organizations.
The purpose of the study is to determine the reasons and nature of changes in the operation of early childhood institutions in a historical retrospective. The research was based on the experience of the first Russian kindergartens, legal framework defining the work of early childhood institutions during the XX century and at the present stage of development of early childhood education, the results of the survey of 3415 teachers of preschool groups of 22 regions of the Russian Federation, and review of the studies related to the problem under study. The results of the retrospective analysis of the reasons for the change in the duration of work of Russian early childhood institutions during the whole period of their existence, have been presented. It has been revealed that the work regime was determined by the goals of the kindergarten to ensure the full development and upbringing of the child in different historical periods and reflected the leading trends in the country’s social and economic development and the State’s desire to involve women in active social and productive life. This ensured the normative approval of the variation in the work schedules of kindergartens (pre-school groups) depending on the location, needs and demands of families, which is a distinctive feature of modern public early childhood education. Based on the results of the monitoring of teachers’ opinions on the increase in the time of stay of children in kindergarten, possible risks associated with the reduction of the time of communication between parents and children were identified. Today some parents tend to increase the working hours of the kindergarten as they are not ready to communicate with the child, because of their own parent’s failure. The desire of parents to “build up” the schedule of work of the kindergarten, to correlate it with personal needs is often associated with a lack of understanding of the essence of educational work. Tendencies of interaction of teachers with families in order to draw attention of parents to the importance of dialogue with the child have been defined.