What happens while your child is in preschool…

What an adventure awaits your child as he enters preschool – new friends, new experiences and new kinds of FUN! You certainly want your child to enjoy himself, although he will also be practicing important skills that will prepare him for kindergarten and beyond. Your child will learn the fundamental building blocks of reading, writing, math and science, as well as how to interact with teachers and classmates. The overarching goal of any preschool experience should be to help your child feel good about himself as a learner and to feel comfortable in a school-like setting.

Daily Circle Time

During this group meeting, children practice important social skills, such as taking turns, listening to each other and sitting still. They’ll also hone their language skills by listening to stories and singing songs. In fact, singing is very important in preschool. “As kids get older, they can link song words to written words, and that encourages literacy,” Dr. Willer says. Songs also help children recognize rhythms and count beats, which enhances their understanding of math.

Art Center

In the art center, children use easels, chunky paint brushes, crayons, playdough and scissors. While art and getting messy is certainly fun, it also allows children to express their thoughts in a way they might not yet be able to in words. In addition, art helps kids develop fine motor control and a basic understanding of science concepts, such as seeing what happens when colors are mixed and how different media create varying textures. It also gives children a sense of how things change as time passes – paint dries and playdough hardens.

Block Center

Building with large blocks has been shown to help children develop crucial spatial and problem-solving skills. For example, your preschooler will learn that two of the small blocks equal one of the longer rectangle blocks – a fundamental principle of geometry. Boys tend to gravitate to the block center more than girls. To help interest girls, some teachers have found it helpful to place dollhouse furniture in the block center, because girls like to play house with the buildings that they create.

Manipulatives

These items build the fine motor skills that are necessary for writing. In addition, puzzles strengthen spatial skills; sorting and counting buttons or beads help develop early math skills; and peg-boards and stringing beads require hand-eye coordination, which is also an important part of learning how to write.

Water/Sand Table

Not only are both of these materials fun, but children can explore so much with them – space, size weight, force, pressure and volume. Of course, 3 and 4 year olds will understand these concepts only on a very rudimentary level, but when they’re older, they’ll be able to build on their preschool experiences.

Resources used from Parents.com Americas #1 Family Magazine