Preschool Pedagogy

Choosing the right preschool for your child might be a challenge, but before that, do you know if your child is ready to be in a classroom full of other kids?

If after looking around and researching, and your partner and you have finally agreed on a possible preschool, you’ll now have to ensure that your child is prepared for this. Read on…

Going potty

If your child refuses to sit on a potty, it might be a problem when attending pre-school. Potty training your child will help put your mind at ease and not trouble preschool teachers too much. Also, when at home, place the potty in the toilet and encourage your child to to use it, as preschools will have toilets and the setting will be familiar to the child.

Putting stuff away

A child often mirrors activities at home. If children see their parents putting away things and keeping things in order, chances are they might follow suit and do the same, with a little guidance. In a school setting, there are bound to be such situations and knowing how things should be kept away at home, the child would follow suit and keep things where it should be in a classroom.

Building confidence

Your child will not be the only one in a classroom. So, if junior is shy, does not make eye contact and does not talk much, it will be good to have your home and family or friends as training ground to develop those communication skills and boost confidence in speaking to others. However, sometimes allowing them to develop those skills at the preschool itself might be a better alternative.

Social skills

Does your child say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’? Or apologises if he or she did something wrong be it on purpose or by accident? Child experts have long agreed that apart from academic readiness, social readiness plays a pivotal role in creating a well-rounded individual. As such, skills such as sharing, taking turns, playing with peers, and participating in pretend play will be needed if a preschool education is just around the corner. The most natural way for your little one to learn these skills is during peer play, so have your child participate in plenty of playdates prior to the first day of preschool.

Tempers and tantrums

Throwing a hissy fit while every other student is behaving themselves can be embarrassing if it happens often. Worst still, if it involves hurting another student, teacher or individual. However, scolding the child without addressing the reason behind the emotional or physical outburst will be a waste of time as the situation will only occur again. As such, it is best to administer the groundwork earlier on, that such behaviours are unacceptable. Reiterating that violence or anger will not solve the issue, one way to teach your child to convey their frustration is by helping them to express themselves.

Independence

If a child falls, the instant reaction is to immediately help him or her up on their feet. However, allowing the child to fall, at times, is in itself a learning process. It teaches your child to learn how to be independent and eventually bring themselves up on their feet, by themselves. In similar ways, it is also important to have the child become independent of certain self-care skills such as hand washing, nose wiping, opening lunch containers, zipping a backpack, and covering his or her mouth when coughing or sneezing. It is also beneficial to teach your little one how to dress and undress.

Motor skills

Perhaps it never occurred to you that you’d have to teach your child to grasp a pencil correctly or throw a ball, even. Developing fine and gross motor skills will come in handy in the classroom as well as at play, like when a child wants to maneuver through a play tunnel or climb a playground ladder. Good motor skills will serve your child well during pretend play activities at a preschool too.