In recent years increasing number of researchers emphasize the importance of social school readiness of children [9]. Effective adaptation of a child in the school environment to the large extent depends on his / her ability to build and maintain adaptive interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers and to meet academic requirements. An important role in the process of meeting these requirements is played by social skills of a child. Previous research revealed significant links between children’s social skills and their popularity in class [11], relationships with teachers [13] and academic achievement. [2; 10; 15]. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between social readiness of first grade pupils and school adaptation indicators, including popularity in class, relationship with a teacher, and academic achievement. Subjects were 84 first-graders attending three schools in Kaunas. Age of the subjects was ranging from 6 to 8 years. Subjects included 39 girls and 45 boys. Social school readiness of pupils was measured by Child Social School Readiness Scale (CSSRS) completed by class teachers. Class teachers completed the CSSRS about each of the pupils participating in the study. This scale was developed on the basis of the EDI (Early Developement Instrument) developed by M. Janus et al. (2007) and the BUSSE-SR (Social Emotional School Readiness Scale) developed by C. Bustin (2007). Measure of popularity in class was obtained by asking the subjects to select from the list of children participating in the study three kids, whom s/he would prefer to be friends with. Teacherpupil relationship was assessed by asking teachers to divide the pupils into five groups in terms of how much they like working with them. [...]

Purpose of the study was to investigate relationship between ability to recognize emotions and school adjustment indicators (academic achievement and popularity in class) among primary school children in Lithuania. Subjects in the study were 67 (31 girl and 36 boys) pupils attending 2nd and 3rd grade in one of schools in Kaunas. Age of the subjects ranged from 7 to 11 years. Material and methods. Ability to recognize emotions was measured using the Child Emotion Skills Questionnaire (CESQ) developed for the present study on the basis of the ACES questionnaire of Schultz, Trentacosta, Izard, Bear (2004). Information about academic achievement of children was collected from their class teachers. Popularity among classmates was assessed by asking children to indicate 3 classmates with whom they would like to be friends. Results. Results of the study revealed that ability of primary school children to recognize emotions is related to their popularity among peers in a non-linear way: though children, who were good at recognizing emotions, were not necessarily very popular, however, popular children demonstrated at least an average ability to recognize emotions (p = 0,03). Ability of primary school children to recognize emotions was linked to their academic achievement: as the ability to recognize emotions increased so did academic achievement (p = 0,009).