Raising Awareness of the Importance of Reading to Early Childhood and Preschool Age Children through Lifelong Education of Parents / Cjeloživotnim obrazovanjem roditelja do osvještavanja važnosti čitanja djeci rane i predškolske dobi

In the modern age, the importance of reading to children from an early age is undoubtedly emphasized. Even though modern technology is present in all spheres of children‘s education, the fact that reading has a significant role in children‘s future development and learning, both cognitive and emotional, should not be neglected. Children whom it has been read to since birth are most often given a good foundation for learning and reading successfully later on in life. The parental role is invaluable in early reading to the child because, in addition to developing the child‘s vocabulary, imagination and faster understanding, the time parent and child spend together is quality time. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the parents‘ views on the importance of reading to a child from an early age, as well as to determine whether parents aspire to some form of lifelong education in the mentioned field. In the first phase, unstructured interviews were conducted with five parents whose children attend one of the early childhood and preschool institutions in Međimurje County. In the second phase of the survey, a questionnaire was constructed to examine the parents‘ opinions (N = 78) on the importance of early reading to the child. It has been found that parents most often state lack of free time as a reason for insufficient reading to or with the child. They also mention that so far they haven‘t participated in any of the professional training forms or workshops dealing with this topic. They believe that due to their busy schedule and work obligations, educational institutions should take on the role of reading to children, as well as stimulating interest in the book. If given the opportunity and leisure, there are some parents who would like to participate in one of the lifelong learning programs. Keywords: child and early reading; child‘s cognitive and emotional development; prereading skills; parents and educators. - U suvremeno doba nedvojbeno se naglasava važnost citanja djetetu od najranije dobi njegova života. Iako moderna tehnologija prodire u sve sfere odgoja i obrazovanja djece, ne bi trebalo zanemariti cinjenicu koliko snažnu ulogu citanje ima u buducem, kako kognitivnom tako i emocionalnom razvoju i ucenju svakog pojedinoga djeteta. Djeca kojoj se citalo od rođenja, najcesce imaju dobre temelje za ucenje i uspjesno citanje i u kasnijem životu. Roditeljska uloga neprocjenjiva je u ranom citanju djetetu jer, osim sto se rjecnik, masta i razumijevanje djeteta brže razvija, vrijeme koje roditelj i dijete provedu zajedno iznimno je kvalitetno provedeno vrijeme. Stoga je cilj ovoga rada istražiti stavove roditelja o važnosti citanja djetetu od najranije dobi, kao i utvrditi teže li roditelji nekom od oblika cjeloživotnoga obrazovanja u podrucju navedene problematike. U prvoj fazi provedeni su nestrukturirani intervjui s petero roditelja cija djeca pohađaju jednu od ustanova ranoga i predskolskog odgoja i obrazovanja u Međimurskoj županiji. U drugoj fazi istraživanja konstruiran je anketni upitnik kojim se ispitalo misljenje roditelja (N = 78) o važnosti ranoga citanja djetetu. Utvrđeno je kako roditelji najcesce navode manjak slobodnoga vremena kao uzrok nedovoljnoga citanja djetetu ili s djetetom. Isto tako, spominju kako dosad nisu sudjelovali na nekom od strucnih edukacija ili radionica koje se bave navedenom tematikom. Smatraju kako zbog prezaposlenosti roditelja, odgojno-obrazovne ustanove trebaju na sebe preuzeti ulogu citanja djeci, kao i poticanje interesa za knjigu. Ako im se pruži prilika i slobodno vrijeme, pojedini roditelji željeli bi sudjelovati u nekom od programa cjeloživotnoga obrazovanja. Kljucne rijeci: dijete i rano citanje; kognitivni i emocionalni razvoj djeteta; predcitacke vjestine; roditelji i odgajatelji.