PLAY IN THE WORK OF KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

The preschool age is a period of significant changes; the child prepares for the new role of a schoolchild. Since 2017, the last year of preschool education has been compulsory in the Czech Republic. This places greater emphasis on the child's readiness for starting compulsory education, which causes new requirements for the child as well as the kindergarten teacher. Dominant activities of the child include play, also in the last year of preschool education. This fact should not be forgotten by kindergarten teachers. For the child, play is a source of unique opportunities for all-round development and provides kindergarten teachers with appropriate conditions for educational diagnostics. The objective of the study is through a questionnaire survey to identify the activities that kindergarten teachers prefer among children in the last year before starting compulsory education, and how often they use controlled activities, didactic activities and free activities as a method of preparation of children for entering elementary school. The research is of a quantitative nature; the research sample comprises kindergarten teachers from the Olomouc region who educate children in the last year of preschool education.