Thinking about preschool for your child? Preschool comes with all sorts of benefits, from vocabulary building to friendship opportunities. One of the biggest benefits of preschool experience is that it helps children get ready for kindergarten.
Easing Separation Anxiety
Does your preschooler experience separation anxiety? Unfortunately, separation anxiety doesn’t often go away on its own. If you don’t help your child through their separation anxiety in preschool, they’ll likely still experience it in kindergarten.
How do you help your child with separation anxiety? With gradual, gentle periods of separation. That’s where preschool comes into play. Preschool drop-offs are usually more personal, gentle, and gradual than kindergarten drop-offs. In the elementary school drop-off line, the goal is to get all the children from the car to the building quickly and smoothly.
By taking your child to preschool regularly, you can help your child get used to the idea of being dropped off at school. This way, when kindergarten arrives, the idea may not seem so scary. Plus, as you return each afternoon to pick up your child, you’ll cement the knowledge for your child that you’ll always come back.
Getting Used to a Routine
Developing a kindergarten routine is no easy task for busy families. For children who have never had this experience, it can be especially difficult. It takes a lot for a young child to remember their shoes, backpack, and everything else they need for the day.
Preschool helps by easing children into a routine. Preschoolers don’t have to remember their homework, but they do go through a morning routine before getting in the car and going to school. A morning routine for a preschooler won’t be as complicated as a morning routine for a kindergartener, so the preschool routine can act as a stepping stone.
Pre-Kindergarten Foundations
Your child will learn all kinds of exciting things when they go to kindergarten. By the end of the year, they’ll likely know how to read. Want to give your child a solid foundation for all of this kindergarten learning? Then enroll them in a great preschool.
Think of preschool experience as the foundation of kindergarten. In kindergarten, children learn basic math, while in preschool, they learn numbers and counting. In kindergarten, they learn how to read, while in preschool, they learn how to trace letters. Everything that your child learns in kindergarten will be easier to grasp if they go to preschool first.
Getting Along with Others
Does your child spend a lot of time in groups? If not, then kindergarten might be a bit of a shock to your child. While there’s nothing wrong with some alone time for children, they also need social learning opportunities. Preschool helps by putting children into groups with their peers. In preschool, children learn how to get along with others and solve problems together. These skills will serve them well by the time they reach kindergarten.
Following Directions
In kindergarten, children must pay attention to directions. That can be a tough skill to learn, but your child can practice that skill in preschool. In preschool, directions are simple and straightforward. This way, children can strengthen their listening and follow-through abilities.
Preschool at Legacy Academy
Ready to find an excellent preschool for your child? Then take a look at Legacy Academy. At Legacy, children learn from caring teachers and a research-based curriculum that prepares them for kindergarten and beyond. Contact us today to learn more.
