More Resources for Starting Preschool

Coping with Separation Anxiety at Preschool

It is common for your preschool to experience separation anxiety when they are dropped off at preschool. Dealing with a preschooler who does not want to leave your side can be difficult. If you are consistent they can learn to trust their new preschool environment and their new preschool teacher.

Signs of a Good Preschool

Finding a quality preschool for your child can seem complicated. As a parent you want to make the best choice that you can for your child at the start of their educational career. There are so many different types of preschools out there it is hard to know which is best for your preschooler. These simple guidelines will make your search for a preschool a little bit clearer.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Choose toys that grow with the child: open-ended materials (blocks, clay, art supplies) remain valuable for years; single-use toys with one correct answer produce brief engagement.

• Learning environments matter. A space with accessible books, puzzles, art supplies, and natural materials at child height encourages more learning than a child-proofed empty room.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should formal education begin for preschoolers?

Play-based learning is the developmentally appropriate educational mode for children from birth through age 6–7. Formal academic instruction (sitting at desks, worksheets, direct phonics drills) before age 6 consistently produces short-term knowledge gains but long-term motivation losses. The children with the richest preschool play experiences often outperform academically drilled peers by age 8, when the developmental advantage of play-based executive function development becomes apparent in school performance.

Related reading: See also our read-aloud guide and our kindergarten readiness guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🧠 Memory & Recall — Remembering rules, retelling a story in sequence, and practicing skills to automaticity builds working memory and long-term recall — the cognitive foundation that learning in every subject depends on.
• ⚡ Executive Function — Planning, sequencing steps, holding rules in mind while acting, and stopping a prepotent response all build executive function — the cluster of cognitive skills most strongly predictive of long-term academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Being asked "why do you think that?" and forming and defending an answer develops the analytical reasoning children need for reading comprehension, mathematics, and evidence-based argumentation.
• ✏️ Pre-Writing Development — Drawing, tracing, and early mark-making develop the fine motor control and visual-motor integration that handwriting requires — making every drawing activity a contribution to writing readiness.

Many preschoolers are nervous about the prospect of attending an early childhood program away from their normal caregiver. Even if your preschoolers has been in daycare or has experience in other social settings, they may be anxious about the idea of going to preschool in a new setting. A little preparation and encouragement before preschool starts can alleviate a lot of the first day jitters.

Meet the Preschool Teacher

Many preschool teachers hold an open house before the start of the normal preschool program. This is an excellent way for your preschooler to become familiar with the preschool environment and get to know their new preschool teacher. If your preschool teacher does not offer this, call and ask if you can stop by for a short visit with your preschooler a few weeks before preschool starts. Visiting the preschool can help your preschooler start to feel excited and calm many of their fears of the unknown.

Make a Pretend Preschool at Home

Pretend play is a wonderful way for preschoolers to get used to new ideas and deal with the stress they may be feeling about starting preschool. Set up a small craft area at a desk in your home and let your preschooler pretend to be the preschool teacher. Explain to your preschooler the types of things that they may do at preschool such as circle time, arts and crafts, math and science activities, and story time. Help your preschooler to gather together dolls or stuffed animals to use as preschool students and practice singing songs with them.

Reverse the rolls and let your preschooler go to school while you pretend to be the preschool teacher. Do a short circle time with your preschooler and a fun preschool activity.

Enforce Rules at Home

Preschoolers that are not used to having rules at home often struggle when they are suddenly required to follow classroom rules at preschool. If your preschooler is not used to having rules explain to them that they will have a few simple rules that they will have to follow at preschool. Prepare your preschooler for this experience by making a few home rules and listing them on a piece of paper. Make them simple and easy to remember. The rules at preschool are likely to be common sense rules and easy for preschoolers to understand. Use positive language such as "We are nice to each other" as opposed to "Don't be mean."

Read The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a wonderful book to prepare your preschooler to go to preschool. The Kissing Hand is a story about little Chester Raccoon being afraid to go to school. His mother tells him all the wonderful things he will learn at school and helps him to realize how much fun he is going to have. Chester's mother gives him a beautiful gift before he starts school so that he will always remember that he has someone who loves him and will be with him even when he is away at school. This classic tale helps preschoolers to recognize that they can take their parent's love with them and that when preschool is over for the day they will be picked up by someone who loves them.