The Child Rights Protection Law of the Republic of Lithuania passed March 14, 1996 determines the main child rights and their guarantees, liberties and duties, considering the specific status ofthe child in the family and society. It is essential to ensure existential, developmental, protection and participation rights of children in educational institutions.

In 2000 - 2001, teachers and MA students of the Pre-school Education Department of VPU conducted a research, which reviewed the situation of child rights at pre-school institutions of Vilnius and its district. The aim of the research was to define educators’ attitudes towards child rights and analyse the real situation related to their guarantees. The objectives of research were to ascertain the educators’ point of view towards child rights, to establish peculiarities of educator-child interaction protecting child rights, to examine children’s point of view to the guarantees of their rights in the group. The subject of the research was 571 kindergarten educators and 763 children. The methods of the research were observation, questionnaires and statistical analysis.

The research results revealed that 45.2 % of the educators have good understanding of the main child rights. The educators’ attitudes towards child rights differ at different institutions. The majority ofthe teachers accept child rights related to child development. Existential rights are well known to 38,2 % of the teachers. Only 25,7 % of the preschool education teachers are aware of child protection rights, and 14,2 % are familiar with child participation rights.

. In 2000 - 2003 the department of Pre-school education of Vilnius Pedagogical University organized and conducted the research “Factors and criteria of qualitative development of pre-school children (5-6(7) years)”. One of the objectives: to determine the dyads “child educator” in the educatonal process and to identify the characteristics of pedagogical interactions “educator-child”. The methods of the research: questionnaires, interviews, obseervation, statistical methods, correlative data analysis by SPSS programme. The subjects of the research: 2745 children (from 234 groups) who attended educational institutions (kindergarten, schools, kindergarten-schools) in 9 towns and districts. The research included 234 educators. The research revealed that the dyads “child-educator” and interactions “educator-child” differ in their frequency, nature and emotional aspect. The research on the pedagogical communication in the dyads “child-educator” and “educator-child” highlighted tendencies that do not fully coincide with the ideas of high quality pre-school education model.

The article presents the results of the research on the peculiarties of the stimulating interaction “educator - child” in pre-school educational institutions. The research lasted from 1998 till 2000. its aims was to define the content, type, frequence and it determining factors of the pedagogic “educator - child” interaction in the after reformed kindergarten. The research object was the act of “educator - child" interaction in the 160 randomly chosen groups of Vilnius kindergartens. The acts were divided into the following groups: therapeutic, humane, stimulating, ignoring and suppressing. The research showed that in pre-school institutions stimulating interaction prevailed. When stimulating children teachers usually use questioning, reminding and explanation. The most frequently stimulated are 5-6 and 6-7 and least frequently stimulated 4-5 years old children. The intesity of stimulating frequency depends on teacher’s age and educatin.

The article includes the result ofresearch on the interaction between educator and children conducted in pre - school educational institutions. The research lasted from 1998 till 2000. Its aim was to define the content, type, frequency and factors determining pedagogical “educator - children” interaction in the after - reformed kindergarten. The research objects were the acts of “educator - child” interaction in 219 randomly chosen groups in Vilnius and Kaunas kindergartens. The research showed that in large majority of all the observed acts democratic and humane interaction prevailed.

Šiuolaikinės visuomenės mokslo lai mėjimai tiesiogiai lemia vaikams skirtų knygelių, ugdymo(si) priemonių, žaislų gamybą, jų nuolatinę kaitą. Straipsnyje analizuojamas informacinėmis technologijomis paremtų šiuolaikinių ugdymosi priemonių poveikis 5—6 metų vaikų žaidimams. Tyrimo subjektai: ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikai, jų tėvai bei pedagogai. Tyrimo metodai: anketavimas, pokalbis, stebėjimas, kolizinės situacijos. Šiuolaikinės ugdymo(si) priemonės — tai šiuolaikinių technologijų žaidimai, žaislai, informacinės komunikacinės priemonės, spaudos leidiniai. Tyrimas parodė, kad šiuolaikinių ugdymo(si) priemonių poveikis žaidimui priklauso nuo vaiko amžiaus, lyties, gyvenamosios vietovės, tėvų išsilavinimo bei materialinės šeimos padėties. Šešerių metų vaikai dažniau nei penkiamečiai atlieka technologizuotus, nuo realybės atitrūkusius žaidimo vaidmenis bei veiksmus. Berniukai dažniau nei mergaitės renkasi fantastinį žaidimo siužetą bei veiksmus. Šiuolaikinės ugdymosi priemonės labiau at sispindi miesto bei šeimų, turinčių didesnes pajamas, vaikų žaidimuose.

M. Lukšienė (1985), kalbėdama apie ugdymo svarbą, pabrėžia, kad norint suvokti ir įvaldyti ugdymo procesą, reikia išmanyti individo ir jo aplinkos dėsnius. Straipsnyje pateikiami vaikų, kurie auga kūdikių namuose, savitoje mažų vaikų globos ir ugdymo institucijos aplinkoje, sakytinės kalbos tyrimo rezultatai. Išryškinamos vaikų kalbos kai kurios pragmatinės, semantinės, fonologinės bei morfologinės charakteristikos. Pristatomi ankstyvojo amžiaus vaikų kalbinės saviraiškos lygiai ir ypatumai, kurie nustatyti tiriant specifinės aplinkos vaikų kalbos tekstyną, aiškinantis kalbos reikšmių ir funkcijų perpratimo galimybes.

The article discusses urgent problems of preschool education in Lithuania: the variety in young children education programmes and education organisation order, change in pre-school education and possibilities for its development. Having decentralised pre-school education and development of pre-school education programmes, there occur possibilities for a more intensive change in children education programmes. The article discusses the goals and content structure of programmes developed by pre-school education institutions and points out how alternative pre-school education systems and trends, children needs and priority areas of education are reflected in the programmes of different institutions. The variety in order of pre-school education organisation is also discussed and possibilities for expansion of pre-school education organisation order are discussed.