The preschool years aren't about academic learning, but they do lay the foundation for later schooling. Your child will learn the basics of problem solving, observing, and discovering. Here are some specific cognitive milestones you can expect your 3- to 4-year-old to reach. Keep in mind that children develop at different rates and that every teacher follows a different curriculum, so your child may not do everything on this list.
In preschool, your child will learn to
- Solve problems. For example, she may ask another child to trade toys so they can each have a turn.
- Observe objects with curiosity and notice differences, such as how some rocks are smooth and others are bumpy.
- Explore cause and effect — shaking a jar of water, for instance, and noticing how it creates bubbles.
- Use something she already knows to attack a new problem. For instance, after learning to use a computer mouse to navigate around a site, she may test that skill by trying to play a computer game.
- Think logically. She'll be able to classify objects by size or likeness, for instance, and to recognize patterns.
- Be aware of her own body in space. You may hear her say things like "I'm up high on the slide."
- Understand the concept of sequence. For example, she may sort objects from smallest to largest.
- Use numbers and count.
- Understand basic concepts of time, such as "now," "soon," and "late."
- Identify six to eight colors and three or more shapes.
- Take on pretend roles. For example, she may hold a doll and say, "I'm the mommy" or look in a doll's ear and say, "I'm the doctor." You may also notice that she has a vivid imagination and perhaps even imaginary playmates.
- Understand that pictures and objects can symbolize something else. For example, she may tell you that something she's scribbled is a picture of a dog, or she may show you the "house" she built out of blocks.
- Complete a six- to eight-piece puzzle.
- Notice the features of people and animals that make them different. For instance, she may see that rabbits have big, furry ears while people have rounded, hairless ones.
- Understand the difference between herself and younger children.
- Identify familiar signs and labels, for instance stop signs and her own name.
By age 4, your preschooler may also be able to:
- Ask questions about birth and death.
- Understand and remember her own accomplishment.
- Understand the order of daily routines, such as the fact that she always brushes her teeth before going to bed.
- Follow two unrelated directions — for instance, "Take your shoes off, and comb your hair".
How the teacher will promote these skills
In class your child will be encouraged to do things such as arrange dinosaurs from smallest to largest, take three crackers from a bowl, and put puzzles together. These activities help lay the foundation for math. To teach your child how to relate words and images to experiences, the teacher may ask her to paint an abstract picture and then describe what it means.
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