If you have been practicing academic skills with your child, great job! Continue to read daily with your child and familiarize them with numbers and counting in meaningful, day-to-day tasks.
To help your child prepare for preschool, parents should also help their children develop the following personal skills:
- Self-care skills: Children must be potty-trained (able to use the toilet, wipe, and redress on their own, without wearing a pull-up during the day). Children should be able to wash their hands, and wipe/blow their nose.
- Communication: Children should be able to communicate their basic needs, ideas, and feelings.
- Independence: Children should be able to make choices in play and initiate simple tasks.
- Ability to Follow Directions: Children should be able to understand and follow simple and multistep directions.
- Ability to Follow a Schedule: Children should be able to transition from one activity to the next without great difficulty.
- Social Skills: Children should be able to sit quietly for a short period of time, take turns, play with others, and keep hands and feet to themselves.