Preschool Developmental Milestones - What Are They and How Can You Help Them?

Parents must continually be interested in preschoolto ten, recognize letters of the alphabet, and be
developmental milestones, because these canable to remember his phone number and address.
present significant indications as to the5 Years
development of your child in a variety of areasAt this age you can expect your child to dress
and how they measure up to to other children ofhimself, brush his teeth without help, play
comparable age.agreeably with other children, play board and card
This is not calculated to concern parents, but togames and follow the rules, name colors, hop,
act as an early warning technique to permit themwalk down stairs alternating feet, skip, talk in 4-5
to intervene early to enhance development inword sentences, sing songs, listen to stories,
preschoolers in areas such as vision, speech andshares things on impulse, recognize some letters
language, gross and fine motor, sequencing and soof the alphabet, print letters, recognize his phone
on.number and address and his speech must be fully
The genuine quandary is that, if you find thatdiscernible.
your child is struggling in development in a givenThis is a time of growing self-sufficiency and
area, the methods of enhancing and encouragingchildren at this age require to be thought of as
these areas are few and far between! My chiefmore responsible. To help promote this sense of
emphasis is to impart a positive, cheap andresponsibility, now is a good time to begin giving
effective method of training any deficiencies inyour child an allowance. The amount is not very
preschool visual development, and given thatimportant, but is usually 50¢ to $1.00 per
vision is the leading sense in learning, I can almostyear in age and must be used for particular things
certainly ensure that I can provide targetedthat your child desires. Managing an allowance will
therapies to assist any child who shows anyassist to instruct your child about the value of
deficiencies in these developmental milestones.money and the significance of saving.
Anyway, here are some wide-ranging milestonesAlthough it is also essential that your child begin to
which could impart you useful information as tohave regular age appropriate household tasks
how your child is developing.(setting or clearing the table, taking out the
Three Yearsgarbage, cleaning their room, etc.) around the
At this age your child is becoming morehouse, these must probably not be locked to their
autonomous and you can be expecting him toallowance. Positive support is essential for
dress himself, button clothes, brush his teeth withcompleted chores, and failure to complete chores
assistance, stack 9-10 blocks, draw circles andcan be punished by loss of a privilege (TV, video
squares, use scissors, walk up steps by alternatinggames, etc.). Permitting your child to have a
his feet, jump from a step, hop, walk on his toes,judgment of which chore to do at times helps
pedal a tricycle, play with imaginary friends, havewith compliance.
a large vocabulary and use 3-4 word sentencesEncourage self esteem and a positive self image
and his speech should be 3/4 comprehensible.in your child by using encouraging reinforcement
Over the coming year his speech will become fullyand frequent praise for things that he has
understandable.achieved. Encourage your child to be curious,
Other developmental milestones include starting toexplore and undertake new challenges.
ask 'why' questions, telling stories, rememberingThe Task Of Vision
nursery rhymes, appreciating special events, andAll through the above mentioned developmental
understanding every day routines.milestones vision plays a chief role, even for skills
Your three year old will now start to playlike gross motor development, counting and
considerately with other children in small groups,recognizing letters. Vision development requires
share his toys and develop friendships. Playtimedeveloping visual skills, and if a child displays any
will include structured games and fantasy activities.deficiencies in these areas, their learning future
Most children take one nap during the afternooncould be massively affected, and yet teachers
of about 1 hour in length (he will cease taking napsand parents are frequently at a loss to recognize
between 3-6 years of age) at this age and arewhat to do to help.
able to sleep all night. If not make certain thatAs a Behavioral Optometrist for over 20 years, I
your child has a good bedtime schedule and hashave developed a special program of therapies
developed the correct sleep associations.which will significantly advance your child's learning
4 Yearsability, whether they are behind their peers or not.
At this age you can anticipate your child to dressGenerally such therapies would cost thousands of
himself, brush his teeth without help, play boarddollars, but I have decided to publish them in a
and card games and follow uncomplicated rules,layout you can do at home for a tiny proportion
name 4 colors, hop, walk down stairs alternatingof the cost you would generally pay.
feet, talk in 4-5 word sentences, sing songs, listenSo, don't leave your child struggling with preschool
to stories, shares things spontaneously, count todevelopmental delays. Check out preschool vision
4, and his speech should be fully understandable.and find out how uncomplicated it is to help your
Over the next few years he will be able to countchild in their preschool development.