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This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the leap from kindergarten to primary school level of education. Different approaches to understanding the indicators of successful transition have been considered. As the most relevant condition and experience of children concerning occurring changes and new environments, expectations and activity of parents, quality of cooperation with family, educational and public organizations, quality of preparation of teachers come to the fore.

The transformation of ideas about factors influencing the well-being of the transition has been analyzed. The conclusion about the need for a comprehensive consideration of the role of early educational experience of children, their preparation to school, the continuity of the content and methods of education, the involvement of parents and the quality of interaction between all participants in the transition process has been drawn.

Some of the transition strategies have been considered, in particular, from the point of view of the purposes of support of this process, the basic regulatory documents, the most widespread ways of working with children, families, educational and public organizations, as well as challenges and complications.

Cases from Japan, Finland and Australia have been considered to illustrate possible areas of work to improve the transition between preschool and primary education. These countries are implementing significantly different strategies and tactics, while recognizing the need to improve the transition process and appreciating the role of early learning experiences. Japan’s approach is more oriented towards the creation of detailed regulations and the organization of interaction between teachers. The creation of a common methodological framework for early childhood education is relevant for Finland, and the particular implementation of innovations in transition is delegated to the educational institutions themselves. Australia is primarily focused on working with children in the preparatory stage, as well as on informing parents and encouraging them to engage proactively with children, teachers and each other.

The problem of communication between teachers and parents in research, law and practice. The problem of the relationship between education and family is shown. The involvement of parents has a positive impact on the results of child, the quality of education, the intensity of the parent-child relationship and makes children feel comfortable. However, interference in the life of the educational institution can create tension, have an association with mistrust, train lack of independence in a child, and put pressure on the educational process. The basis of the solution and building of friendly, effective communication must be a clear vision about what is the same and what is different in the opinions of teachers and parents, and which features of communication assure greater satisfaction from the relationship. The aim of this study is to research the preferable forms of the involvement of parents in the life of the educational institution and the conditions of satisfaction from communication with each other.

Methods of the research and sample. The parents and teachers of preschools in Tula and Moscow took part in this research, were asked to fill out the questionnaires in paper and in an electronic form. The questionnaires contain questions about the preferable forms of a parent’s engagement in the life of the preschool and the level of satisfaction from the relationship between parents and teachers.

Forms of parental involvement in the life of the kindergarten preferred by teachers and parents. It is shown that the perspectives of teachers and parents are largely similar: “live” communication is more preferable than remote, the traditional forms of involvement of the families in the life of the preschool like festivals and group meetings are popular. The work in a parent committee and the participation in the evaluation of the quality of education are unpopular. Some divergences in the perspectives of parents and teachers are revealed: the former prefer to involve parents as assistance or as a passive spectator, while the latter tend to prefer active forms of participation.

The satisfaction of teachers and parents from communication with each other. The satisfaction of teachers from the relationship is first of all related to the participation of parents in the design of the kindergarten. Teachers, who prefer financial support of parents are less satisfied from the relationship. Parents’ satisfaction is related to, in what degree their opinion is accepted in the process of communication with the teacher. Both parents and teachers consider themselves the initiators of the communication.

This paper looks at young children’s creative thinking as inferred through observations of their activities. A total of 52 episodes of child-initiated and adult-initiated activities in 3- to 4-year-olds in an English Children’s Centre were analysed using the Analysing Children’s Creative Thinking (ACCT) Framework. Results showed that activities such as gardening and construction were as valuable for supporting creative thinking as ones traditionally associated with creativity, for example, music and painting. Outdoor play of all kinds and socio-dramatic play were particularly effective contexts. All adults played a significant role in facilitating children’s initial engagement in activities, and at supporting their speculative thinking and use of prior knowledge. Teachers were often more successful than other adults in supporting the acquisition of new knowledge. Child-initiated activities featured the highest levels of involvement, and were associated with trying out and analysing ideas, flexibility and originality, imagining and hypothesising. This was particularly evident in group or pair play. Children were also more persistent in child-initiated activities. Evidence of risk-taking behaviour was low, although more apparent in child-initiated activities than adult-initiated activities, or activities in which adults were present.