How to Prepare Your Toddler for Preschool

How to Prepare Your Toddler for Preschool

We are currently on a waiting list for a Montessori preschool in my area. I am not sure if they will have room for him in the fall, but while we wait, I am doing what I can to prepare my three year old for the change from being home all day with me to being in a classroom setting with his peers. 

This is a super meaty post so be sure to save it so you can come back later. 

Why Preschool if You Are a SAHM?

We want our son to start to develop relationships (and his own personality) outside of his father and I. While I love spending my days with my son, I don’t want to hold him back by always being with him and not allowing him to discover how to interact without me around. 

I also feel that it is important to learn from different people, because everyone teaches in a slightly different way. Who knows, there could be an area where he and I don’t mesh well, but his teacher could teach him without conflict. 

This also simply gives my son a break from me (and vice versa). We are looking at either 2 or 3 days per week, for half days to start with, and as he grows more comfortable, we may amp it up to longer or more days. 

What is a Good Age to Start Preschool?

That really depends on your family dynamic. My son will be three and a half in the fall, and is eager to learn. For your kiddo, you might hold off until 4 or even 5. This is just what works for us. You can start to prepare your toddler for preschool at two and a half, even if you don’t send him until he is four.

What to Look for in a Preschool

Again, this is going to really depend on your family. I love the Montessori style of teaching, and I have tried to instill some aspects of it at home. I also know the director and most of the teachers at this particular school personally, which makes me much more comfortable with leaving my child with them. You may need a particular schedule if you are thinking about going back to work. You may be interested in a daycare/preschool so that your baby has care as well. Cost can be a determining factor for many people, especially those families on one income. Determine what is important to your family, and work backward to figure out what you need.

How to Prepare Your Toddler for Preschool

Focus on a Routine

Our days are laid out in mostly the same way during the week. You can check out my post on creating a daily toddler schedule to see what that looks like. My son knows what to expect on an average day, and that structure is helping to prepare him for the structure of a classrooms 

On the weekends, we have a bit of a looser schedule, and my husband isn’t working, so our days look different but we still try to have a similar flow in regards to meal times and naps.

Motor Skills

Parents often focus on the learning aspect of preschool (and we’ll get to that in a minute) but they forget about the tangible tasks that their child needs before going off to school. Things like getting dressed on their own and going potty (and wiping!!) by themselves are crucial for a positive preschool experience. 

Depending on the school and state regulations, teachers and aides may not be allowed to help your child go to the potty. They may not be able to help get him dressed. They also may not have the capacity to help every single child get their coats on or shoes off. 

A major way that I am preparing my three year old for preschool is by helping him learn independence. He needs to be able to get dressed on his own, which is why I started the (super slow and painful) process of letting him try and fail and try and fail over and over until he got it right. Even if he puts his pants on backwards occasionally, I know that six months ago he would have had a meltdown if the ankle got stuck around his heel. Now, he can dress and undress with minimal whining. 

We also started the potty process before he was 2, with the hopes that repeated exposure would make it a bit smoother. It worked, and he is now working towards wiping fully on his own. I don’t claim to be an expert in the potty training area, just sharing what’s worked for us so far. 

Putting on his own shoes and jacket were their own set of challenges, and we are still working on doing both consistently without tantrums.

Shoes

I started by using these boots to work on pulling them on. Once he got that down, I started narrating as I put on his regular, Velcro strapped shoes. Then I would ask him to point, wiggle his foot in, etc… 

After that, I began asking him to use his own fingers, holding the tongue out of the way and swooping around his heel to get the shoe all the way on. He even works on strapping them tight! This process has taken about three months of consistency, which can be super difficult when you’re in a hurry. Take it day by day and don’t expect instant results.

Coat

I started by helping him to put his coat on, narrating as I did. Then I would talk about the zipper. I let him play with the zipper on multiple occasions, to help familiarize him. I would help him shrug out of one arm at a time, until he was comfortable enough to shrug out of the other on his own. Over time, he was able to unzip and shrug out of both arms.

I also incorporated the flip method, where you lay the coat or jacket on the floor and have them stick their arms in and flip it over their heads. He can now put it on almost every time with little fuss. We are currently working on lining up the zipper to zip up as well. This process took about six months, but I think that had more to do with changing weather and the necessity for different types of jackets and coats. 

Early Exposure

You’ve probably already exposed your child to a learning environment and didn’t realize it. When I led my 2 year old classroom, the days were heavily focused on play. Young children learn best through play, so what you are doing at home is already helping your kiddo! 

Singing, dancing, crafts, sorting, dress up, pretend play, and building are all examples of activities you can do at home that will help your toddler prepare for preschool. Singing the ABC’s or counting toys while you clean up are a great place to start. 

Letters

I also began working on letters when my son was two. I focused first on the letters in his name and expanded as he started to recognize them. My goal was not to have him spelling before entering preschool, but rather to give him the tools to learn as he grows. 

Toddlers absolutely LOVE learning, and it does not have to be sitting at a desk and doing worksheets for them to learn. I got this great alphabet puzzle, and will ask him to find a letter while we are in the middle of playtime. When we are in public, he might notice the sign on the grocery store and point out a letter he knows. 

Colors

We started when my son was almost a year old to name the color of something as we talked about it. This could be:

• “Let’s put on your BLUE socks”
• “Do you see the WHITE cat?”
• “Wow, that flower is YELLOW!”

The only goal at that age was to show him colors, so that he could start mentally associating the name with the color. We also read books like Brown Bear Brown Bear and he of course has colorful toys.

As he got older and started speaking, we asked him to name colors, match colors (“can you put the red block in the red cup?”) and find colors during walks, grocery shopping, or play time. 

At two and a half, we were doing art projects where I would have him tell me what colors he wanted to use and then task him with finding the color of paint/chalk/crayon/etc…on the table in front of him.

Numbers

I have my son cook and bake with me pretty often. When we make eggs, I have him count the eggs before cracking them (this is FANTASTIC for working on those fine motor skills). I have him count cups of flour or the number of carrots we are using. 

In the playroom, I have him sort items by number and color, such as three green balls, five black cars, etc…

The newest addition to our ‘lessons’ are these mathlink cubes and they are great! Stay tuned for my post on how to use them! You most likely have a ton of things around the house that will make it easy to prepare your toddler for preschool, you just have to look!

Expect to Pivot

Give your toddler the opportunity to learn, and they may show you how they prefer to learn! If your kiddo is all about baby dolls, have her count the shoes or fingers or outfits the doll has. Talk about the color of the doll’s hat or practice trying on different clothing to practice those fine motor skills. 

If superheroes are more his thing, ask him to build a tower 5 blocks high and then use it as a superhero headquarters or to smash apart. Count the cool gadgets each hero has. Count the wheels on their vehicles and discuss what colors each hero wears. 

There are a million and one ways to be creative and prepare your toddler for preschool. What tips have worked for you when preparing your little one? Let me know in the comments below!