As your child reaches preschool age, they are starting to focus more on the outside world and becoming more independent. The interactions they have at this time will shape their personality and how they see the world. They are getting ready for school and learning more every day. By age five, their brains will be 90% developed.
In this section, you will find information and resources to help you understand what your preschooler is going through during this stage of development. You’ll also find answers to many of your questions with tips, learnings, resources and more for the next few years.
Great Start to Quality helps families find the best early learning settings for their children. Once you choose a child care provider, there will be many positive experiences. You may also have some concerns. Our Concerns in Child Care page has resources for those special situations.
Preschoolers will want to ask questions and explore the world around them more, becoming more independent. They can help dress themselves and recall songs or parts of stories. Here are some tips and resources to help their development, along with milestone checklists.
Just as important as the physical milestones, your preschooler goes through a lot of social and emotional milestones as they begin to interact more with others outside their world. Learning to become more aware of others feelings, developing friendships, and practicing being more independent – these are all social and emotional developments. Learn some of the things you can do with your preschooler to help them develop good social and emotional skills.
As your preschooler starts getting bigger and more independent, they need to be made aware of the things they can do to keep themselves safe. Things like staying out of traffic and not going anywhere with strangers need to be learned. We have tips and resources to give you everything you need to keep them safe and healthy – in the home, on the playground, going off to preschool and more.
Helpful tips, resources and ideas for parents with preschoolers. Whether this is your first child or you have been through this before, there are always new things to learn. We put together a list of helpful tips for parents.
There are a number of State and Federal programs designed to help families with preschoolers - from finding a preschool to extra help with developmental delays.