While children are still young, parents need to support and nurture them by encouraging their socio-emotional and cognitive development. The first years of pre-school can have significant effects on children’s development. Whatever children will learn at a young age usually reverberates into their adolescence and adulthood.
When children are in pre-school, they are taught the necessary dynamics of their world. Most children from 3 to 5 have some basic understanding of their environment. They’re also encouraged to communicate and socialize with other children.
The New Environment
Most of the time, children at this age are a bit “clingy” to their parents since the parents are the first people they have interacted with. Thus, parents and teachers need to encourage their children to play with others, allowing them to be more confident while developing fundamental skills.
By exposing themselves to different kids and adults, they can develop their language and communication skills and other vital skills until they mature. These skills can be built by initiating playtime and meeting new friends.
While interacting with people not part of the immediate family, they’ll also develop a broader range of emotions. Sometimes, the best way to let them learn is by making them aware that not everyone will look out for their feelings. It will help them adjust to other children in their surroundings.
By entering this new environment, children will also need to improve their physical and motor abilities. Although you want to keep your children safe, you need to let them explore different areas and places. This is a crucial part of letting them understand how boldly they will interact with their surroundings.
Being able to play with other children, interacting with the environment, and communicating with others can help with cognitive development. As they grow older, their mind must remain sharp, and their skills must mature at the same pace.
But what are some milestones that you need to look out for when nurturing your child’s development? What skills should they learn right after pre-school?
Milestones in Children’s Development
Keeping tabs on your child’s skills and interactions will help you recognize tangible signs of progress. These milestones will help you monitor their development during early and late pre-school years.
Improving Listening Skills
One of the most critical skills that children will need throughout much of their younger age is communicating and expressing themselves. Before that does happen, they will need to hone their listening skills to have a reasonable comprehension level.
Another great way of improving the listening skills and hearing of children is teaching them instruments. Distinguishing different notes at an early age and some form of understanding of music is related to better results in the child’s education.
If you’re looking for ways to get your child invested in musical instruments, you might want to enroll them in piano or guitar lessons. Professional music teachers can comprehensively teach children the basics of playing the guitar or piano systematically.
Roleplaying and Make-believe
Most children at an early age want to roleplay since this is the best way of learning basic social rules and roles in society. Make-believe games and roleplaying will give children a way to improve simple problem-solving skills.
Fine Motor Skills
Although cognitive development is leaning towards intelligence, fine motor and physical skills are still essential in honing hand-to-eye coordination among preschoolers. Much of their motor skills will also allow them to copy drawings, small details, scribbles. It will also teach them to be more careful with reading materials, such as turning pages of a book one page at a time.
Mathematical Skills
Throughout the middle and later years of pre-school, pre-schoolers’ cognitive abilities will improve. A part of this is discerning numbers and solving mathematical problems. Many children that are almost at the end of pre-school should be able to count to 10 or have at least an understanding of how time works.
Pre-school is the best time for children to learn social and communication skills. Although most parents might be pressured to oversee their child’s development, it’s best to let them have fun and enjoy their time. Although, most experts would suggest having at least a form of supervision in their activities.
