YOUNG THREES: 2.5 Years to 3 Years
About
Young Threes are learning to make lots of important transitions in their development! They are primarily concerned with understanding who they are, especially in relation to others. This need to develop a sense of self has a lot to do with their desire and drive for independence and control. They want to “be their own person” and “do it themselves”! Such great qualities and when you combine that with rapidly growing communication skills, you have children making important transitions to becoming real preschoolers!
Teachers at Growing Years are busy modeling good behavior and guiding young three year olds into understanding social rules and making good choices while supporting their individuality and desire to assert themselves. It’s important to give this group plenty of choices of activities in a well-designed environment as they participate in group play, fantasy play, and independent activities.
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 Young Threes 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.