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The Toddler to Preschooler Transition: Social Skills and Your Child

  • By Admin
  • •
  • 04 May, 2018
  • •
Florida Preschool Childhood Development — The Toddler to Preschooler Transition in Sunrise, Fl
Preschool offers your child much more than a place to go when mom or dad is at work or away. It, like any other school, is a place where young children go to learn. Even though your child will start building an academic foundation (learning their A, B, C's and 1, 2, 3's), that's not all they'll do during their preschool day.
A quality pre-k program helps young learners to develop social skills. Like an academic education, social abilities are something that your child will carry with them into grade, middle, and high school - as well as beyond into the adult years.
Before setting social learning expectations for your child as they transition from the toddler years into preschool, it's important to understand how these skills and abilities develop. Starting with typical toddler social milestones can help you, as the parent, to get a better grip on what's going on with your child right now. Along with understanding current development, take a look at some of the most common questions that parents have about toddlers, preschoolers, and their social skills.
Do Toddlers Have True Friends?
Your tot has a class filled with friends at child care. But when you watch the children at play, it doesn't seem like they're truly interacting. Your child might happily play in the sandbox while another 2- year-old is digging in the dirt nearby. What is going on here and why isn't your child playing with the other toddler?

Don't worry. The fact that your tot is playing with their friends doesn't mean that something is wrong. They're most likely engaging in a completely normal part of social development that's known as parallel play.

Parallel play is exactly as it sounds - your child is playing parallel to another. In other words, they're playing next to or near another child, without actually interacting. They may be engaging in the same activity, but there's little to no conversation or interactions.

Keep in mind; this doesn't mean that your child won't get excited or show happiness when with other children. They may smile, giggle, laugh, or look giddy when they get to daycare (or another place where there are groups of children). Just don't expect your two-year-old to ask for their BFF to come over and play.
Do Preschoolers Have True Friends?
Simply stated - yes. As your child moves into the preschool years, they're starting to take an interest in other children. This may mean that they develop new friendships based on shared likes (such as a favorite cartoon character or an activity) or that they enjoy working together during playtimes.

You are likely to notice your child talking more with other children, engaging in organized games or creating elaborate pretend play experiences.
What Other Social Skills Do Toddlers and Preschoolers Build?
Along with the ability to make friends, toddlers and preschoolers are also developing other social skills. Sharing, taking turns, compromising, listening to others, and helping a friend in need are all becoming part of your growing preschooler's social repertoire.

Even though a preschooler is building these skills, don't expect to see full mastery yet. Your two-yearold might agree to share a treasured toy one moment, and swiftly take the plaything back almost immediately. This is a normal part of the development process.

Social skills aren't abilities that your child builds immediately or at a set-in-stone age. Even though a preschooler should be able to take turns, this (like all their other new skills) is still developing.

Preschool provides an interactive environment in which your child has the chance to practice social skills with other similarly-aged kids. Contact Neighborhood Kids Preschool for more information on how our programs can help your child to develop crucial social skills.

Preschool Science: Take the Learning Home

By Admin • 07 Mar, 2018

Preschoolers are naturally curious. Exploration, discovery, and experimentation are activities that your 3- to 5-year-old is constantly ready to tackle. Here's where science comes into play - literally. It may seem like your child is just playing during their school day. But they're actually learning. That is, they're learning though play.


Science is one of those traditionally academic subjects that your child will dive into during their preschool years. Even though you may remember science as lengthy lectures by a boring professor or endless pages in a dry textbook, in the early childhood classroom this subject looks very different.


Along with the science activities your child engages in during their school day, you can extend the learning at home. What can you do to help your child explore science concepts? Don't worry if you don't have a PhD in chemistry. Take a look at these easy ideas for playing with science at home.

Prevent Separation Anxiety During the First Week of Preschool

By Admin • 05 Jan, 2018
If your child is one of the 4% of all children who suffer from separation anxiety disorder, or if they just seem a little anxious about spending hours each day in a new facility, then you may wonder just what you can do to ease this anxiety during their first week of preschool.

Don't worry; you can easily help your child make the transition from home to preschool as seamless (and tear-free) as possible.

Read on to learn four tips for preventing separation anxiety during your child's first week of preschool.

Reasons for you to Consider Preschool

By Admin • 03 Nov, 2017
There are different philosophies about the rate of growth of your child's unique personality and intelligence. One of the most widely accepted models is Piaget's theory of cognitive developmen t . It involves four developmental periods of change, which each human goes through. It begins as an infant and continues through early adulthood.

Two of the most fundamental of these four stages occur during the years between infancy and toddler. These periods in your child's life are vital to building a solid foundation to mature both intellectually and emotionally. There are a number of things you can do as a parent to help your child's growth.

One is to use structured teaching practices at home with your child, plus you can introduce them to outside experiences through enrollment in a quality preschool program. Here are the two early stages in Piaget's theory and how they apply to children of preschool age.

Preschoolers at Play: How Young Children Learn in the Pre-K Classroom

By Admin • 08 Sep, 2017
The preschool classroom is buzzing, busy and filled with the giggles of young children as they whirl and dash around the place. Sometimes what seems like controlled chaos in this classroom is actually much more than you think. Learning in pre-k doesn't always (or often) look like learning in grade school.

Your child's preschool teacher understands the developmental issues at play here and creates lessons and activities that promote learning through methods that might not always seem standard. At least, they may not be when it comes to what many adults picture when they think of "education." If it looks like the preschool classroom is all about play, and not focusing on learning, think again.

Take a look at how young children learn and why the early-childhood environment isn't a strict instructional setting.
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