Prerequisites of School Adaptation at the Beginning of the Schooling Period

„What is the optimal beginning age of schooling?” is a question that has been often heard from the specialists or from other persons interested in the field. The beginning of the schooling period at 6 years is supported frequently by political or comparative arguments (with those of other educational systems). A frequent criterion used for the beginning of schooling period is represented by the chronological age (6 years) and is based on the hypothesis according to which the development of the 6 year child’s psycho-socio-emotional level allows him to adapt to the educational environment with all its implications and to the activity of school learning. School readiness is the term used on a large scale to define school competence but there is no consensus on the level of defining the child preparedness for school and the best way to acquire this competence. Most approaches refer to the child’s ability to learn and adapt to the school requirements efficiently. The present study synthetizes the main prerequisites of a successful adaptation to schooling: school maturity and play as a fundamental activity during early years.nt aspects of the paper. The beginning of schooling represents an important stage of our evolution, a transition from a well-known secure environment- the kindergarten environment to new, challenging one- the school environment; from the specific activity of play where the world is dominated by and answers to our own wishes, where the voluntary effort is supported by the activity of play to the specific activity of learning, by which we can dominate the word while this domination does not always responds to our own needs and desires, where voluntary effort must be supported by us even if it is not challenging.