Preschoolers (3-5 Years)
Preschoolers are quickly becoming more independent. They are able to spend more time away from their parents and are developing important relationships with adults and children outside of the family. Your preschooler may become more aware of his or her environment and ask many questions.
Development with Others
During this time your preschooler will learn to:
- Play well with other children.
- Become aware of gender identity.
- Distinguish between pretend and reality.
- Understand cause and effect.
- Drastically increase vocabulary and speak more clearly.
- Increase sense of morality.
- Understand concepts of time.
- Follow three to four step directions.
- Draw fairly recognizable pictures.
How You Can Help
Here are some things you can do to help your preschooler develop early literacy skills:
- Offer lots of opportunities for creative play and arts and crafts.
- Encourage your preschooler to play with other children.
- Help your child describe his or her feelings. Happy and sad are common emotions; work on things like embarrassed, shy, bored, anxious, etc.
- Ask your preschooler to tell you about his or her day.
- Read books with more interesting stories. Books about relationships and going to school are good choices.
- Follow your child’s reading interests. If your child is interested in cars, get books about cars.
- Praise your child whenever you honestly can. Positive reinforcement will help your preschooler be confident.