What a busy first few weeks the children have had in Preschool! It has been lovely to see how well they have all settled into the new routines and watch them make new friends. We have lots of new faces in our Preschool class and the children have had many names to learn. We have been playing a lot of ‘getting to know you’ games to support the children with this.
Starting Preschool is a big deal! As parents, what should you expect from your pre-schooler? Check out these developmental milestones to get an idea of how skills typically develop by the end of your child’s third year:
Physical Milestones
Most 3-year-olds learn to do things like these by the time they’re 4:
- Run and walk without tripping over own feet
- Jump, hop, and stand on one foot
- Walk backwards and climb stairs one foot after the other
- Kick and throw a small ball
- Catch a big ball (most of the time)
- Climb
- Start pedalling a tricycle or bike
- Draw a circle with a crayon, pencil, or marker
- Play with toys that have small moving parts and/or buttons
- Turn the pages of a book one at a time
- Build with Mega Bloks and create towers of six or more blocks
- Work door handles and open twist-on bottle tops
Cognitive Milestones
This year, children start thinking about the world in new ways. You may see some creative approaches to tackling tasks and activities. By the end of this year, kids typically can:
- Name the eight colours in a crayon box (red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, black)
- Recite numbers to 10 and start counting groups of things
- Start understanding time in terms of morning, night, and days of the week
- Remember and retell favourite stories
- Understand and talk about things that are the “same” and “different”
- Follow simple three-step directions (“Brush your teeth, wash your face, and put on your pyjamas.”)
Language Milestones
Three-year-olds have a lot to say. They also understand more of what you say—even though they may not always follow your directions. Children this age typically can:
- Use the basic rules of grammar, but make mistakes with words that don’t follow the rules, like saying “mouses” instead of “mice”
- Speak well enough that most strangers understand what they’re saying
- Use five or six words in a sentence and have a two- to three-sentence conversation
- Tell you their name, the name of at least one friend, and the names of most common objects
- Understand words like in, on, behind, and next
- Ask “wh” questions like “Why?” to get more information about things
Social and Emotional Milestones
At this age, children show an interesting mix of independence, playfulness, and fearfulness. As they approach age 4, most 3-year-olds do these things:
- Be interested—although hesitant—about going new places and trying new things
- Start to play with other kids (as opposed to only playing side-by-side)
- Start being able to comfort and show concern for an unhappy friend without prompting
- Take turns while playing (even if they don’t like to!)
- Play “real life” with toys like play kitchens
- Start finding simple ways to solve arguments and disagreements
- Show (but maybe not name) a variety of emotions beyond happy, sad, and mad
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