Children entering elementary school require considerable transition support from parents and teachers. However, most studies on preschool–elementary school transition have focused on Western contexts. Therefore, this study investigates children’s perceptions of elementary school in South Korea before and after entering school. The study sample comprised 160 participants, including 84 five-year-olds and 76 first-grade students enrolled in preschools and elementary schools in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Daejeon, South Korea. As part of the research methods, children were asked to draw pictures and describe their elementary school; in-depth interviews were also conducted to understand their perceptions of elementary school. The study results are as follows. First, children showed positive perceptions of elementary schools concerning “relationship building with new friends,” “acquiring new knowledge,” and “interest in new activities,” and negative perceptions, such as “mental pressure to follow the rules,” “being scolded by scary teachers for doing something wrong,” and “burden of learning.” Second, perceptions of elementary school differed by age: six-year-old children showed a lower “burden of learning” and higher “interest in new activities” than five-year-old children, showing that six-year-old children who experienced elementary school enjoyed the new activities conducted at the school instead of experiencing the burden of learning. Accordingly, this study proposes the need to provide proper information about elementary school practices and ensure cooperation between preschools and elementary schools to promote optimal learning that supports young children’s holistic development to prevent prejudices against elementary school.

进入小学的孩子需要家长和老师的大量过渡支持。然而，大多数关于学前班到小学过渡的研究都集中在西方背景。因此，本研究调查了韩国儿童入学前后对小学的看法。研究样本由 160 名参与者组成，其中包括韩国首尔、京畿道、大田的幼儿园和小学的 84 名五岁儿童和 76 名一年级学生。作为研究方法的一部分，孩子们被要求画画并描述他们的小学；还进行了深入访谈，了解他们对小学的看法。研究结果如下。首先，孩子们对小学的“与新朋友建立关系”、“获得新知识”和“对新活动的兴趣”表现出积极的看法，而对小学则表现出消极的看法，如“遵守规则的精神压力”、“被责骂”。因做错事而让老师感到害怕”和“学习负担”。其次，不同年龄阶段对小学的认知存在差异：六岁儿童比五岁儿童表现出较低的“学习负担”和较高的“对新活动的兴趣”，这表明六岁儿童经历了小学享受学校开展的新活动，而不是承受学习的负担。因此，本研究提出需要提供有关小学做法的适当信息，并确保学前班和小学之间的合作，以促进支持幼儿全面发展的最佳学习，防止对小学的偏见。