Getting Toddler Ready for Preschool

Stay away from the academics unless he's genuinely interested. He's going to get that learning, in small, appropriate steps, in preschool. Right now, he needs play, play, and more play, to build his imagination, his vocabulary, help him understand his place in family and the larger society, and help him develop motor skills and exercise his cute little body.

The size of a child's vocabulary is the single most reliable predictor of their future success in school. Reading to him is wonderful. Counting and the ABC song, or manipulating alphabet magnets, can be fine during all this play, but don't sit him down like a little student and give him work to do yet. Very few children show early gains from that approach, and even if they do, it all levels out by around 4th grade.

he will start preschool in 18 months?? you have a long time before then..

He know letter numbers... ???He will learn all of those things in preschool.. they have a new letter each week.. they count the numbers on the calendar every day.. they do shapes and colors.. they learn the days of the week, they months of the year..

So you really dont have to get him ready for preschool becuase they learn all of those things in preschool..

Preschool is really about learning to socialize and seperate from mom.. they learn to go to the potty independently.. to walk down the hall quietly. they learn to take turns and wait patiently. to eat snack nicely at the table with other kids.

He needs to learn socialization.. does your school district have a playgroup??? several of my local school districts have playgroups.. Kind of mom and tot preschool.. we did it for 2 years and ti was great.. play with their toys, read a story, do a craft, have a snack.. just mini preschool in 1 hour...
take a class with him,, kindermusik is good, gymnastics, dance,, soccer swim.. play play play..
dstarfall.com is a great website.. for learning letters..

He's ready. The best thing you can do for him is to read to him. this will help to build his vocabulary and learn good sentence structure.

When you play with him, reinforce what he already knows. Count things together, say things like would you like to play with the big red truck or the little blue car. Make learning fun.

I agree with Peg M. My son went at 34 months; when he did, he also knew his colors, alphabet (I was home with him so had lots of 1 on 1)... and the teachers really didn't care... they learn all that. He's definitely curious, etc and a quick learner, very imaginative- which is good, but I agree that his whole future will be full of academics... we sent him that early more for the socialization with kids his cage, since we had 13 month-old twins as well. The social interaction (sharing, playing together, listening and following directions, etc) is most likely the most important.

I would ask the director of his preschool. See what they will be working on throughout the year. You know him better than anyone. See if there is anything he might struggle with and help him in those areas. For the most part, at 3, they work on social interactions more than anything else. That's what my guy needed the most anyway. He was ahead of the game with the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors and a bit bored. We were working on phonics at the time he started school, but with an October birthday he's the oldest.
I had to get my guy ready for the structure of the day. Our preschool is only 2 1/2 hours, but he was used to doing what he wanted, when he wanted. We colored when he was in the mood, we played trains when he was in the mood. I knew he would struggle with that the most.

You don't need to worry about getting him ready for preschool. Preschool is for learning your letters, numbers, colors, etc. As well as working on social skills and how to behave in a class setting (taking turns, following direction...) You don't need to do specific "work" with him. He will learn naturally through playing with you.