When your child starts preschool it can be an exciting and emotional time for the both of you. When my daughter started preschool, I wanted to make it as easy a transition as possible for us. Preschool readiness was one of the things we focused on.
There are many ways to prepare your child for preschool and a different environment. I wanted to share some things that worked for us.
I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience.
Don’t worry about having your child learn all of her colors, letters, and numbers just yet. That will come with time.
The main things you want to focus on are getting your child ready for preschool mentally and emotionally instead of focusing strictly on the academics.
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Tips for Preschool Readiness
Nurture your child’s love of reading
Read to your child as much as possible because it will help their vocabulary and their imagination.
It is also a great way to bond. I love reading time with my daughter. There are some great children’s books that can help prepare them for preschool and let them know what to expect. Our favorite is, “The Night Before Preschool!”
Set a routine
The sooner you can get your child on a routine the better. They will have a schedule in preschool so this will help them handle it better.
You can have a bedtime routine, morning routine, or an after nap routine. Something that is simple but also always consistent.
Have playdates
I take my daughter to a Gymboree class so that she can be around other kids and learn how to be social.
You can always put together some playdates with other mom friends so that your child can be more comfortable around other kids as well as other adults that they know you trust.
Leave them with other adults
A common problem that people have with the first few weeks of preschool is separation anxiety. Drop offs can be the worst.
To help get your child used to being away from you, let them stay with another adult for a few hours every week. This can be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, etc.
This will help ease them with the transition and they will learn that you will always come back.
Build up their fine motor skills
Show them how to color, make things with Play-Doh and make a craft.
You can let them cut Play-Doh with scissors to help build their hand muscles and they will learn to hold them the correct way.
This set has the basics that are perfect for helping their fine motor skills.
What Should My Child Know Before Preschool?
Following Directions
Your child should know how to follow directions and complete a full task. Ask them to pick up the truck off the floor and put it in the toy bin.
Have them sit and draw you a picture or color. This helps them stay focused and complete a task that they are asked to do.
Start teaching the basics
This isn’t necessary but it is helpful. I have been teaching my daughter her letters, numbers, and popular nursery rhymes and songs.
I want her to be as prepared for preschool possible and not fall behind.
If you want a digital option, ABCMouse.com and ReadingIQ are both great choices.
We have used ABCMouse and loved it. I am really impressed with how much she has learned already. I don’t like her just playing games on the iPad but if it is educational then I am all for it.
She is getting so much better with telling her colors apart and she loves singing along with all the songs that are available.
This is something that will grow with her. It is for ages 2-6 so your child can just advance in the lessons at their own pace. It has a classroom, zoo, and farm section.
She loves seeing the animals and learning all about them. I love that it has so many stories that she can listen to. I had a bad case of the flu and couldn’t talk, much less read to her, so this was great for us to have.
She still got her story time and I got to rest.
I also bought her the Teach My Preschooler kit. This is such a great little kit! It helps with reading, writing, math, and numbers.
You spend just 20 minutes a day teaching your child one of the sections. We love it and it is so affordable. They also have Teach My kits for babies, toddlers, and kindergarten.
I highly recommend trying these preschool readiness tips to prepare your child for preschool. My daughter is responding very well to these techniques and it made such a big difference when she started preschool.
Now if only I can make it through sending her off to kindergarten without crying like a baby!
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