UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City

BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

STRATEGIES IN DEALING SEPARATION ANXIETY AMONG KINDERGARTEN PUPILS

IN BAGUMBONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SY 2018-2019

A Thesis

Presented to the

Faculty of College of Education in

University of Caloocan City

Congress Campus

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject

ECED 18 – B “Research in Pre – school Education”

In the Degree of Bachelor in Elementary Education

BY: BEED IV – C

Alfonso, Marie Joy – Nheal M.

Baniqued, Maria Liza T.

Benosa, Andrea DS.

De Guzman, Debbie G.

Puso, Wesley Ann M.

Simeon, Merryrose M.

S.Y 2018 – 2019

 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

STRATEGIES IN DEALING SEPARATION ANXIETY AMONG KINDERGARTEN PUPILS

IN BAGUMBONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SY 2018-2019
Chapter 1
The Problem and the Background
Introduction:

Home is the place where you feel in control and properly oriented in space and time; it

is a secure place. According to Robert Frost, “Home is the place that when you have to go there,

they have to take you in”. Home is the primary connection between the children and their

parents.

Family is the basic unit of society, traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children.

Family is the integral part of a child’s life. Children depend on parents and family to protect

them and provide their needs. They are the child’s first teacher and role models on how to act

and how to experience the world around them. By nurturing and teaching children during their

early years, families play an important role in making sure that children are ready to learn when

they enter the school.

School is the second home of the children, it is the home of education and every parent

wants to educate their child. They learn valuable lessons at school such as social skills and also

developing their behavior. School serves a number of purposes from building confidence to

teaching children the importance of teamwork. Entering school for the very first time is a

great opportunity to learn more things and meet people around them. All parents want

success for their child such as the reading skills will have developed, their counting skills that
 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

can be enhanced and they also learn how to add and subtract. All of this is possible if they

enter on their own without the presence of their parents.

At the age of 5 years old, a child started to go to school. They meet new people, new

environment that can change their lives. Most of the Kindergarten Pupils are afraid to be

separated from their parents. Most of them are crying, Tearful, tantrum-filled goodbyes are

common during schools. These children are suffering from Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

which manifests by School Refusal.

Separation anxiety disorder is a serious emotional problem characterized by extreme

distress when a child is away from their primary caregiver or their parents. Since most of the

children have stayed in a close network of family and a few friends, it is too difficult for young

children to become independent enough to manage without a parent nearby. It is a part of

normal childhood development. According to studies, it begins around six months from birth

and typically ends by the time children begins kindergarten or preschool but some children

have symptoms of separation anxiety during their Kindergarten until Grade School. Children

with separation anxiety shows severe crying when their parents leave them in school, becomes

agitated at the thought of being away from parents, and may complain of sickness to avoid

playing with friends or attending school.

Kindergarten teachers are having difficulties in this kind of scenario, because it leads

them into the whole class distraction once the pupil cries out loud. Teachers gave more

attention to this type of learner. Every kindergarten teacher wants to have fun and enjoyable
 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

ambiance in the school and it is only possible if a child will never be afraid of entering the

school.

So the Researcher becomes more interested in undertaking the study entitled “Strategies in

dealing separation anxiety among Kindergarten Pupils.”

Background of the Study

Separation anxiety is a normal stage in the development of an infant. It helped keeps our

ancestors alive and helps children learn how to master their environment. It is usually ends at

the age of 2, when toddlers begin to understand that a parent may be out of sight right now but

will return later. The key feature of separation anxiety disorder, however, is when the anxiety

exceeds what might be expected to give in a person's developmental level.

Is a condition in which a child becomes fearful and nervous when they are away from home

or separated from their loved ones -- usually a parent or other caregiver -- to whom the child is

attach. Their worry about being apart tends to mushroom far beyond the moment of

separation. But for some children the anxiety persists into the school year, and

becomes more rather than less pervasive. When kids with separation anxiety are away

from caregivers they can develop extreme fears that sound melodramatic to the rest of

us, but are very real to them.

Separation anxiety itself, when developmentally appropriate, is not necessarily a

bad thing. Though it feels uncomfortable, anxiety can be useful because it spurs us to

be more thoughtful and cautious when approaching a new situation. At different stages

of development it is normal to have problems around separation, because the world is

not safe, and you haven’t learned how to master being away from the people who take
 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

care of you. As you develop, and as you begin to master situations and develop skills, it

should get easier.

In the kindergarten pupils overcome the separation anxiety it will be easy for

them to understand the lesson and adjust to the new journey of their lives. Aside from

these factors they are able to interact to those people around them and meet new

friends that will help them to grow as a person.

Theoretical Framework

Separation anxiety is a developmentally appropriate reaction of distress to

separation of the caregiver during infancy and central to the child’s psychological

development (Blatt 2004; Bowlby 1988, Mahler 2000). Although most children

sufficiently learn to regulate their distress reaction to separation, some children continue

to experience anxiety following separation. Normative fears and worries concerning

separation of the caregiver become non – age – appropriate and are associated to

school refusal and excessive truancy (Egger et al. 2003; Kearney and Albano 2004).

Separation anxiety is defined as feelings of negative emotions such as loss,

loneliness and sadness that are experienced by individuals when they are separated

from an important person in their life. It is typically used to describe the reaction of the

infant who is separated from a major caregiver such as the mother or father. Separation

anxiety, however, has also been noted to occur at other times during an individual’s life.

It can also be experienced at any age, when a significant person in one’s life is lost due

to death (Hock, McBride and Gnezda 1989).

 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

John Bowlby (1958) proposed that attachment could be understood through an

evolutionary context and stated that the term attachment is adaptive, as it increases the

child’s chances of survival. Bowlby identified that both infants and mothers have

evolved a biological need to stay in contact with each other (Bretherton 1992). He

explained this by demonstrating how a primary caregiver provides safety and security

for a child.

Erikson’s psychosocial theory places many of these children in the stage of trust

versus mistrust, which is most likely the main issue with separation anxiety. Piaget’s

cognitive theory shows these children to be in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive

development.

Separation anxiety is a reproduction of the trauma of birth, i.e. birth anxiety is the

prototype of all the separation anxiety subsequently experienced (Rank 1924).

Conceptual Framework
 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

• Strategies in Dealing
Separation Anxiety
Among Kindergarten
Pupils

Input

• Distinguish the Different • Develop Separation Anxiety

Behavioral Stages of Separation
Anxiety
• Determine the Strategies Used
by Teachers in Dealing with
Children having Separation
Anxiety
among Kindergarten Pupils
• Enables Kindergarten Pupils to
be School Ready
• To make Kindergarten Pupils
feel safe and secure

• Develop Separation Anxiety • Teacher becomes ready in

among Kindergarten Pupils handling students having
Separation Anxiety
• Conduct Survey from Selected
Public Teachers in North
Caloocan

Process Output
 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine Separation Anxiety among Kindergarten pupils which

will serve as a basis to determine the strategies on how to deal with Separation Anxiety.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the different behavioral stages of separation anxiety among

kindergarten pupils?

2. What are the strategies used by the teachers to deal with children having

separation anxiety?

3. How can teachers handle the different stages of Separation Anxiety?

Hypothesis

Scope and Delimitation

This study is focused in determining the proper strategies on how to deal

Separation Anxiety among Kindergarten pupils. The respondents were selected public

school teachers in North Caloocan School Year 2018 – 2019. The information gathered

are truthfully answered by the respondents on their own.

Significance of the Study

This study is about the Strategies used by the kindergarten teachers in public

elementary schools will be helpful to the following:

 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

Learners- To help them overcome and to become ready in entering school for their

formal education and to feel the school is fun and enjoyable.

Teachers- For them to use proper strategies as a basis for parental training and

students training as well to encourage both in making learning look easier.

Parents- This study will help them to be aware of their roles to prepare their children in

entering school for the first time without crying.

Future Researchers- This study will provide the future researchers with an overview to

the separation anxiety among kindergarten pupils basis to determine the different

strategies used by the teachers and other areas needed to be further explored as

subject of future studies.

Definition of Terms

Caregiver- a person who provides direct care (as for childre n, elderly people,

or the chronically ill)

Distress- extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.

Environment- the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is

surrounded.

Home- is a living space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for an

individual, family, household or several families in a tribe.

 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

Kindergarten- is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical

activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to

school.

Kindergarten Teachers- Is a type of early childhood educator who instructs children as

the youngest stretch of early childhood education.

Psychosocial- individuals in the context of the combined influence

that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical

and mental wellness and their ability to function.

School- is an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning

environments for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers.

Separation Anxiety- is the fear or distress that can happen to both children and adults

when they think about separating from home or from the people they've become

attached to.

Society- companionship or association with one's fellows : friendly or intimate

intercourse

Syndrome- a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition

characterized by a set of associated symptoms.

Tantrum- is an emotional outburst, usually associated with children or those in

emotional distress, that is typically characterized

by stubbornness, crying, screaming, violence, defiance, angry ranting, a resistance to

 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Congressional Road, Bagumbong, Caloocan City
BACHELOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COUNCIL

attempts at pacification, and, in some cases, hitting, and other physically violent

behavior.

Trauma- a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental

or emotional stress or physical injury