How Best to Prepare a Very Active Child for Preschool?

If I were you, I would tell him about it, but other than that, nothing. Preschool is about learning about the demands of school. You should not worry about preparing your child for preschool. It is their job to teach your son, in a setting where you are not present to learn to follow the rules of school settings. Relax and enjoy your son while he is home, and worry not. As school demands increase he will learn it is necessary to conform to certain rules in certain settings while still being himself. It will all work out, every 3 year old is active and they all have the same things to learn and the same experiences to experience, your child and you will be fine on this new adventure!

Good Luck and enjoy this new phase of life, it is so fun!

J.

I also have a very busy almost 3 year old boy myself who has started preschool at an in home preschool at age 2.

He also was not interested in circle time at our playschool class so I was concerned that preschool wasn't going to work out for him this early. However I found a preschool that worked with the child's needs and had a hands on learn through play philosophy with a low teacher to child ratio ( which gives them more 1 on 1 time with teachers) and a small number of students in his class (12) also since this is a blended age group program which I believe give children the chance to learn from their younger and older peers.

It didn't take long for my son to take interest in circle time and as he got older the longer his attention span grew and the longer he would do the circle time activities. My son has been thriving at preschool and he is the independent type so starting him at 2 wasn't an issue he's a totally different child (behaves better) there at school compared to when he's with me.

Hi K., Have you been to the preschool to spend the day? Most preschools will let you do this. This way your son can participate and see what it is like. Also keep talking about it every day. My son's preschool sent home a picture sequence that describes what order things happen with pictures. Don't have high expectations for the first week. After he gets used to the routine it will be fine. This is my sons first year of preschool and after the first week he was fine, and now asks to go even on the weekends.

There's a couple of ways you can look at your situation, and you may have to try them all to find the answer that works for you.

It could be that your son is just immature for his age, and that being in a structured environment will be a hard transition but he'll grow in to it.

It could be that your son has some other issue causing his fidgety behavior, like a sensory processing disorder, in which case some work with an OT will help him.

It could be that he isn't ready for the program you've enrolled him in, and he would do better at another school. There are different philosophys about teaching young children, your son may benefit from a more open one.

Good luck to you! Hope this helped!

Fortunately, preschoolers are usually more cooperative with their teachers than with their parents. He will probably be fine! My second child is hell on wheels, and she has really loved her first year of preschool. Where she will throw monster tantrums with me, her teachers tell me she is an absolute delight for them - cooperative, follows instructions, plays well with the other kids. Who knew?? All you need to do is give him breakfast in the morning, the preschool can take it from there.

Hi K.,

Two year olds are not interested in group activities in general, and some three year old aren't either till they are closer to four. Don't worry too much about him and let the teachers decide how best to handle the situation and his activity level. I would be more concerned however about finding a preschool that will conform to his needs rather than placing demands like sitting in circle time on a three year old. In general a good preschool setting allows the child to explore and have hands on activities that work the mind and body for this age. Sitting in a circle will come with time, but if he wants to sit and stack blocks, rather than actually sit with the group at this age, then he should be allowed to.

You may be pleasantly surprised too at how well he will do in a school setting and when all the kids sit on the circle time rug, he may happily do so as well. Also without a parent present a child acts very different in these situations too.

Don’t stress too much about it! Get advise from local girlfriends about where they send their children and find one that fits your child.