THREE YEAR OLDS: 3 Years to 3.5 Years
About
Children ages 3 to 5years have been labeled as “preschoolers”—the designated period of time in a child’s life just before entering formal education. Educational theorists and professionals have recognized this period of time as being vitally important in children’s development! Real learning is not reserved for the onset of formal education; rather, the preschool years is a period of time when significant growth and learning take place—in all areas of functioning—physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language.
At Growing Years, we attempt to establish positive and caring relationships with our preschoolers and their families because this provides the optimal conditions for growth. In addition, each day’s schedule and the classroom environment are intentionally planned to provide many opportunities for children to learn and grow. In this way, we hope our program promotes the development and enhances the learning of each child who attends.
Overall, preschoolers are an enthusiastic, curious, and imaginative age group that deserves our very best in terms of preparing them for the future.
Developmental Milestones & Assessments
As part of our assessment plan, our teachers keep a portfolio of each child’s work throughout the year to share with parents during parent/teacher conferences, held twice a year. This is a special time to talk about your child’s growth and achievements as well as any concerns you might have. In addition, parents will receive a developmental milestone report approximately every 3 months to let parents know what we are experiencing with their child at Growing Years. These reports become the vehicle we use to share our understanding of early childhood development as outlined by child development professionals.
Finally, we begin teaching literacy appreciation, print awareness, and phonics instruction in an attempt to build a lasting foundation for reading success!
As all of this information is reviewed throughout the year, it is important to understand that individual children may exhibit all or only a few of the behaviors for a given age group and still fall within the normal range of development. Obviously, children progress at different rates throughout all aspects of their development.
More Information
Although three year olds still need a lot of flexibility in their day, they also enjoy and need some structure and routine as well. Having a routine of events throughout the day gives young preschoolers a sense of security. They can begin to anticipate the order of events while becoming familiar with how those routines are carried out, such as group time, eating time, center time, and going outdoors, etc….