Is Your Child Ready for Preschool?
How to Know if Your Three-Year-Old Should Be Attending School
Many preschools have three-year-old children attending. Many more parents wait till their children turn four. Some three-year-old children are ready for school.
Are younger children starting school early? Many preschools offer classes for four-year-olds, and now offer them to three-year-olds. Some parents actually enroll their three-year-olds in preschool because some believe it is never too early to start preparing for kindergarten, or other parents want their children to socialize with their peers due to similar ages.
Three-year-old preschool classes tend to be smaller than four-year-old preschool classes. This could be because many parents wait till their children turn four before registering them for preschool. Parents may have a variety of reasons for waiting to enroll their children in preschool. One reason is that it might be overwhelming for their three-year-old child to attend a ‘school’ environment, possibly hurting the chances of the child not liking school.
However, if the child is ready to attend school, then they should be registered if possible. Parents need to do their best to allow their child to attend school. This is to continue the creativity and thirst of knowledge and socialization found to be in the child. This type of child would not be overwhelmed by the ‘school’ environment. This is exciting for the child. It is the parent’s responsibility to support the child and his or her experiences.
To know if the child is ready to attend preschool, questions should be asked and parents should be able to answer. Questions include:
1. Is the child an only child? If so, is he or she always bored? Does he or she become excited when he or she sees other children? Does he or she interact with those children?
2. Does the child know how to recite the alphabet? Numbers? Recognize colors and shapes? Does the child show interest in learning?
3. Is the child afraid of strangers or people he or she meets for the first time? Does the child become less shy once he or she sees the same people?
4. Has the child ever been way from the parents? If so, how long and often? What was the child’s reaction?
5. Has the child seen the preschool? What were his or her reactions?
These are questions to help the parents investigate into the possibility of finding out if preschool is right for their children. These are meant to create thinking and inquiring on behalf of the children. It is also important for parents to speak with preschool staff and find out what type of curriculum and learning and social environment is offered. Parents should ask for a tour as well to determine if the facility meets the parents’ standards.
Attending preschool is just the beginning for the three-year-old’s mind to expand.
