Preschoolers 101: What are they doing?

Hooray!  Today is the first day of Preschoolers 101!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  I am happy to announce that Luke and I have had three very good days this week!  I have only had to discipline him two times, which is a miracle... so apparently I don't need these posts anymore...HA HA HA!!  Who am I kidding?!?  I need this more than I care to admit, so I won't waste anymore time getting down to it.  Here's Heather from a happy wanderer!  

So you have a preschool-aged child and you thought those “terrible twos” were over, but now your child is three and there are still tantrums...and arguments...and some unsightly behaviors from both him and you.  What can you expect from a three year old?  Here are some general guidelines.

Preschool aged children are typically learning the following things:

Academic: 

-colors (both pointing to them and naming them)

-numbers (rote counting, 1:1 correspondence, quantities up to about 5)

-shapes (circle, square, and triangle usually come first...shapes are a little tough, so don't worry if it's taking a little while!)

Fine Motor:

-writing simple lines: vertical & horizontal, circles, plus signs, a square

-representational drawing: faces, simple people with facial characteristics and body parts

-cutting: holding scissors, making snips, cutting along a line

Gross Motor:

-kicking a ball

-throwing overhand & underhand at a target

-climbing a playground ladder

-riding a trike

As far as learning styles go, at this age most children learn using all of their senses.  Some prefer one sense over another, and that's where we, as parents, need to be on the lookout.  For example, while learning how to count, one child might need some blocks to count with while another might benefit from learning it in a song.  While learning colors, one child might pick it up while fingerpainting while another might learn them as they are putting a puzzle together.  What I like to do is to take something that a child likes, such as cars, and use them to help learn a concept.  You can count cars, you can sort them by colors, you can learn about big and little.  All while your little one is enjoying “playing” with cars.

Behaviorally, there is a huge span of “typical” behaviors.  Some children are shy and some are outgoing.  Some children are leaders while some children are followers.  Some children have tantrums while some children have...well, tantrums less often :)  What most children this age thrive on, though, is some type of consistency.  That consistency can look different in different households, but as long as both you and your child are aware of the expectations and what the consequences are for not meeting those expectations, that's what matters.  

In the next post, I'll talk more about your preschooler's emotions and how they might effect their behavior.

Oh, I can't wait for that one!  I think preschoolers are a bit like teenagers... they can fly from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other in two shakes of a lamb's tail!  Thank you Heather, for sharing a few basic things with us today.  

Make sure to come back for the next Preschoolers 101 post on Monday! 

 Have a great night and go give those little ones a big hug and kiss!