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The relevance of the subject of the article. The approval and implementation of the Federal Educational Program of Preschool Education is currently a particularly relevant and significant problem for the preschool education system, since it is aimed at creating in Russia a unified educational space for the upbringing and education of children from birth to admission to a general education organization, providing equal, high-quality conditions for preschool education, regardless of the child's place of residence.

The purpose of the article. To characterize the formation and development of the idea of programming in Russian preschool education and education, to reveal the features of the Federal Educational Program of Preschool Education as a regulatory document defining the vector of development of the modern system of domestic preschool education.

Description of the research progress. The purpose of the study was to identify the formation and development of education and training programs in kindergartens, to describe the specifics of the Federal Educational Program of Preschool Education. The study analyzed the program documents defining the content of preschool education and training at different historical stages. Its structural components were characterized, the content of the target, content, organizational sections was disclosed, the extensions and clarifications introduced into the Federal Program for the first time were highlighted.

Research results. A generalized retrospective analysis of the experience of developing and implementing preschool education programs from 1918 to our days is presented, and the ways of transforming the idea of programming in preschool education are outlined. An analytical review of preschool education programs revealed a sequence of expanding the content of preschool education, the emergence of new sections in their structure, justified by a change in educational paradigms, the introduction of new approaches, achievements of science and practice. The Federal Educational Program defines the basic volume and content of preschool education that are uniform for the Russian Federation and are mastered by students in organizations that carry out educational activities according to educational programs of preschool education, allows them to realize the fundamental functions of preschool education. It was developed in accordance with the Federal Educational Standard of Preschool Education, takes into account the traditions and scientific and theoretical foundations of domestic preschool education, the experience of creating and implementing educational programs of preschool education.

Conclusion. The Federal Program is the successor to the best traditions of domestic preschool education, includes educational and methodological documentation that defines the goals, objectives, content of educational and pedagogical work with children of infant, early and preschool age in modern conditions. The Federal Program ensures the unity of the content of education in all organizations engaged in educational activities for preschool education, creates conditions for the formation of traditional Russian values in children, and preserves the possibility of developing the variability of preschool education.

This article is focused on the study of the role and content of the system of physical education of preschool age children with developmental delay. The author notes that in the development of higher nervous activity and mental functions of human, scientists put emphasis on the importance of the influence of motor analyzer.

Systematic usage of means of physical training allows to prevent the occurrence of secondary deviations in physical development and promotes intensive social integration of children with development delay. The system of physical education in special education gives the chance to the preschool child with development delay to become a full member of society, to actively participate in the further school life, to develop potentialities and to show the natural abilities.

The article also emphasizes that physical development should be an important part of the general system of education, upbringing and correction of children with intellectual disabilities. The main purpose of physical education of children of this category is defined by the author as correction and compensation of physical development defects, general and fine motor skills that hinder successful learning and upbringing.

The key directions of rehabilitation work with children of preschool age with development delays are defined as: improvement of basic motor functions and sensory sphere; development of fine motor skills of hands and fingers; improvement of articulation motor skills; correction of separate sides of mental activity; improvement of spatial representations and orientation, auditory attention and memory; development of different types of thinking; correction of disorders in the development of emotional-volitional sphere; formation of speech breathing; strengthening of general health.

Training of separate movements, elements of actions, bringing them to variant automatic performance, combining these elements in conscious activity are at the heart of the system of physical training of preschool children with development delay.

The article presents the methodological basis and theoretical substantiation of the possibility of using training as a means of work aimed at the development of dialectical thinking of preschool age children.

The method of training of dialectical thinking is based on the methodology of structural-dialectical approach by N.E. Veraksa, general principles of correctional- developing work and requirements to training as a method. The special conditions defined by the specificity of dialectical actions as an object of influence are as follows.

1. Inclusion of conflict situations in different types of children’s activities.

2. Children’s understanding of the following terms reflecting dialectical relations and transformations: “opposite”, “middle”, “series”, “transformation”, “union” and “back”.

3. Matching of children’s understanding of such dialectical thinking actions as transformation, serialization, mediation, treatment, unification to their complexity.

4. Formation of dialectical thinking actions according to the theory by P.Y. Galperin of gradual formation of mental actions

5. Application of dialectical schemes that allow to fix opposites and relations between them, as well as dialectical transformations. Thirty-six children aged 6-7 participated in the cohort study. “What can happen at the same time?” and “Unusual tree” methods by N.E. Veraksa were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

The results of the testing of the training demonstrate its effectiveness. The indicators of dialectical thinking of children participating in the training increased. Differences in the indicators at the stating and control stages according to U - Mann Whitney’s criterion in the cohort are not significant: the empirical value = 145.5, in experimental group it is significant: the empirical value = 87; U criteria = 109, p≤0.05.

The developed methodology can be applied in the development work of teachers and psychologists and preschool teachers.

Introduction. The article presents the results of the analysis of the stages of the formation of the system of training teachers of preschool education at the Herzen State Pedagogical University. The purpose of the analysis is to reveal the historical stages and distinctive features of the St. Petersburg model of training teacher of preschool education from the period of existence of the Pedagogical Institute of Preschool Education to the modern stage of modernization of teacher education in Russia.

The result of the study was a description of the four stages of the formation of the St. Petersburg model for the preparation of the teacher of preschool education in the conditions of higher education, including: the stage of training in the conditions of functioning of the Pedagogical Institute of Preschool Education (1918-1925); stage of registration of preschool pedagogy and methods of preschool education as educational disciplines and content core of teacher training (1926-1992); stage of level and variable training of the teacher of preschool education (1992-2013); the stage of development of new practice-oriented models for the training of bachelors and masters in the profile of “pre-school education” (2014 – to the present-day).

Conclusion. The study allows to characterize the essential, distinctive features of the St. Petersburg model of training teacher for pre-school education, to identify promising areas of development, features of educational programs for the training of teachers of preschool education.

Methodology. The article describes the history of the creation and development of one of the oldest faculties of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia – the Institute of Childhood, which prepares specialists for preschool and primary education. Authors describe the changes in structure, the content of the work and the organization’s characteristics of the institute.

The article purpose is description of the 100-year history of the development of the Institute of Childhood of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, the identification of pedagogical traditions and prospects for the further development of the institute. The article is based on an analysis of documents and other sources describing the emergence and development of the Institute of Childhood.

Results. Starting from the St. Petersburg Froebel Society founded in 1871, the tradition of the training of specialists in preschool and primary education in Russia is described. The history of the appearance in 1918 and the development of the first higher educational institution in Russia is unfolded. The history of the development of the main directions of the Institute’s work – pedagogical and scientific research activity – is shown. The transformations of the departments, the contribution of the well-known researchers of preschool and primary education to the training of personnel, the current state and prospects for the development of the Institute of Childhood are described.

Conclusions. The presented article makes it possible to analyze the directions of development and ways of improving the system of training specialists in preschool and primary education, to realize the necessity of continuity of the two levels of education, not only in the implementation of the educational process, but also in the preparation of future educators of pre-school educational organizations and primary school teachers.

This paper reports on an interview study with directors of Head Start and child care programs who are collaborating with local education authorities to provide publicly funded preschool in New Jersey, USA. A standardized interview protocol was utilized with 98 directors chosen to represent a range of center types from across the three main regions of the state. Interviews were conducted over the phone. The study examined the kinds of preparation that these directors received for their work as program leaders, the areas that these directors identified as strengths and weaknesses, and the kinds of professional development that they perceived as necessary to perform their jobs well. Results indicate that given the wide range of qualifications and work experiences among directors in this mixed service delivery system, targeted professional development focusing on both administration and early childhood content is needed. These findings suggest that policy makers and administrators of preschool programs should conduct needs assessments of their preschool directors and school leaders to ensure that professional development opportunities address different levels of experience and expertise appropriate for leaders working in these systems. Because of the complexity of leading programs with mixed sources of funding and policy mandates, it is also suggested that competencies be articulated for preschool leaders and that institutions of higher education develop early childhood leadership preparation programs.

This paper reports on an interview study with directors of Head Start and child care programs who are collaborating with local education authorities to provide publicly funded preschool in New Jersey, USA. A standardized interview protocol was utilized with 98 directors chosen to represent a range of center types from across the three main regions of the state. Interviews were conducted over the phone. The study examined the kinds of preparation that these directors received for their work as program leaders, the areas that these directors identified as strengths and weaknesses, and the kinds of professional development that they perceived as necessary to perform their jobs well. Results indicate that given the wide range of qualifications and work experiences among directors in this mixed service delivery system, targeted professional development focusing on both administration and early childhood content is needed. These findings suggest that policy makers and administrators of preschool programs should conduct needs assessments of their preschool directors and school leaders to ensure that professional development opportunities address different levels of experience and expertise appropriate for leaders working in these systems. Because of the complexity of leading programs with mixed sources of funding and policy mandates, it is also suggested that competencies be articulated for preschool leaders and that institutions of higher education develop early childhood leadership preparation programs.

Background. Modern parents form the public opinion about a preschool educational organization and about each preschool teacher. However, very often the influence of parents on the reputation of a kindergarten is underestimated, which leads to unfavorable consequences for the kindergarten. In this regard, it is extremely important to know how preschool teachers look like to parents, the requirements and requests of parents in order to maintain the competitiveness of the kindergarten.

Objectives. The aim of the study is to identify current problems in the interaction between parents and preschool teachers, to analyze the attitude of modern parents towards preschool teachers, and to develop recommendations for optimizing cooperation between participants in the educational process.

Sample. The study involved 210 respondents — parents of different ages and genders from different regions of Russia, whose children attend preschool educational institutions aged from 2 months to 7 years.

Methods. The following methods are used in the study: a scientific and theoretical analysis of publications on the research problem, a questionnaire conducted with the help of an outsourcing company, generalization and systematization of the obtained data, content analysis of the content of parents’ statements about the professional activities of preschool teachers.

Results. 177 statements by parents about the professional activities of kindergarten teachers were analyzed according to the following parameters: attitude towards parents, attitude towards children, attitude towards professional development. Based on the parents’ opinions the current problems in the interaction between parents and preschool teachers were identified: lack or insufficient information for parents, lack or insufficient number of joint events for children-adult communities, inability of preschool teachers to interact with different categories of families. 144 statements of modern parents about their own attitude towards preschool teachers were also analyzed in the study. It was found that parents often have a biased attitude towards preschool teachers and make unreasonably high demands on preschool teachers.

Conclusions. The study allowed to identify the main problems in the interaction of parents and preschool teachers, positive trends in modern preschool education, and also to record the unfriendly attitude of modern parents to preschool teachers. The results obtained indicate the need for careful preparation of prospective preschool teachers for cooperation with parents.