Hello, welcome to this week's mindset video. It's time for another congratulations and another check-in on where you're at, how far you've come, and what you have left in the course.
Progress check-in: What your preschooler has learned so far
So by this time:
- We've worked on advanced fine motor grips and really getting ready to write.
- We've done a deep dive into some social-emotional objectives in your child's social-emotional readiness for kindergarten.
- We're all the way up through the letter S in the alphabet as far as learning letters, letter recognition, and letter sounds go.
- We're counting by ones, tens, and fives all the way to 100.
- We’re learning the names of the days of the week and months of the year.
- We’re learning about different animal characteristics and other scientific principles.
- We’re studying history and how to talk about time with your child.
- We’ve worked on 2D and 3D shapes.
- We’ve done a lot of art.
So, so many things, and they're just in preschool. The topics that you can cover with small children are really amazing. They can absorb so much. It's been an amazing time, and you're getting close to the end of the course.
What preschool skills are coming up next?
Here are some things we still need to cover before the end.
- We're going to explore some additional concepts related to time and money.
- We're going to, of course, finish the alphabet and learn letters, letter recognition, and letter sounds.
- We're going to continue to work also on the animal characteristics.
Overwhelmed? Here’s how to simplify preschool learning
If you're not able to cover all the objectives, either due to time constraints or because your child isn't yet ready to tackle them, that's perfectly fine. I want to highlight for you the main things to focus on, so that you can narrow down and limit it if needed.
Academics
Counting and number recognition, letter recognition, and letter sounds. So as far as academically speaking, if you need to cut out the rest, if it's just too much and you don't have either the time or your child is resistant to working on other things, you can feel free to cut out the names of the months of the year, or shapes or maybe even some of the cognitive objectives.
As far as academics go, just stick to the basics of number and letter recognition, basic accounting, and some of those letter sounds. That's the very basic foundational skills.
Social-Emotional development
And then, of course, we've also talked previously about the importance of social-emotional learning for kindergarten readiness. So, don't be afraid to cut out some activities and objectives if you need to make room for social-emotional development.
How to teach preschoolers through daily routines
It's not always possible to keep up with everything, and that's okay. When it comes to maintaining progress, even if your life is hectic and you don’t have time for the entire course, taking small steps still makes a significant difference.
Just reading to your child for 15 minutes a day and counting something, both of which can be easily incorporated into your daily routine, can go a long way.
For example, you can integrate learning into activities such as bath time, mealtime, car rides, or while getting your child ready to go somewhere. These moments make it easier to do "double duty" and fit learning into what you're already doing.
If you can take a little time to sit down and read with your child daily, that's fantastic. Don’t feel the least bit bad if that’s all you manage on a regular basis. You don’t need to take time for a big project at the end of the week. Even those few simple actions mean you’re still making progress and building a strong learning relationship with your child.
Why one new concept at a time works best for preschoolers
Do remember, though, that if you're feeling crunched and trying to wrap up the course, focusing on only one new or difficult task at a time will help you get in as many objectives as possible.
You don't want to try to incorporate a lot of new or challenging things into a single learning session for your child. It's really counterproductive.
It feels to us, parents, like we're accomplishing a lot if we can check off multiple items from the objectives list. However, try to give them at least a little space between those things and ensure that when you're engaged in a learning project with your child. Keep that rule in mind: only one new or difficult thing at a time.
Your child will thank you for it. You will thank yourself for it. You'll save yourself frustration. You'll actually make way more learning progress with your child by using that approach. And things will stick with them more. They will be, again, less frustrated with the activity. So, even though it may not feel like you're covering as much, in reality, you're probably ultimately covering more, and you're really engaging your child in deep learning in a way that's more effective than trying to fit more objectives into a single learning session.
Celebrate small wins: You’re making more progress than you think
That's my advice for this week. Again, congratulations on how far you've come so far on all of the things that you've covered, and we'll see you back next time.