- Preschoolers’ Emotional and Social Behavior.
Children in this "Romantic Phase" of their lives show a wide range of behaviors.
Their feelings easily swing from one extreme to the other. They effortlessly
make new "best friends" every few days. You can recognize future leaders,
easygoing followers, and highly intellectual loners among them. While many
struggling through inner emotional turmoil, this is also the time when they have
to start "competing" with their first baby sister or brother. Three- and
four-year olds also experience their first "entrance" into society when they
start preschool. They need to learn how to relate to a big group of children,
and how to adjust to a series of rules in the classroom. Parents and teachers
should be alert, and should look closely if the child is able to handle this
critical time without help. This is the age when many children see an
Early Childhood Expert the first time.
- Sleeping Problems. A number of children
have a hard time going to sleep, or they wake up in the middle of the night with
bad dreams. Are parents making a mistake if they start taking their kids into
their beds when they cry at night? Ideally, parents should be able to help their
children to go back to sleep. There are a couple of ways where little ones can
be taught how to stop having reoccurring nightmares.
- Fears and Separation Anxiety. Some
parents have vivid memories about their own fears and anxieties from this early
age. So they don’t worry about their own children. In most cases they don’t need
to. This is the age when there is a fine line between real fear and the
excitement of being scared. Children’s anxiety becomes a concern more at an
older age, when they reach latency.
- At preschool, having a hard time
letting mom leave in the morning for multiple weeks could be an indication of a
couple of things. It might be a stronger than usual attachment to the mother, or
it is an inexpressible discomfort at school. In either case, the matter should
be dealt with patience.
- Language Development, Speech Problems, and Communication Skills.
The second year in preschool, when teachers and parents start paying closer
attention to the children’s language skills. And they ask the question if a
child is well prepared for a very verbal-performance oriented school system.
Articulation problems should be treated before and/or during Kindergarten; and
language comprehension should reach the age appropriate level.
- If your child is consistently stuttering by the end of his 5th year, it could be an indication of emotional agitation over one or more issues in his life.
- Preschools put emphases on improving the children’s
social and communication skills while the kids are still fully involved
in play. It is widely known that successful relationships with others, with
peers or grownups, require both verbal and non-verbal communication proficiency.
Play-dates could improve those important skills if playmates are picked
thoughtfully, and the children get together regularly.
- ADHD is one of the most complex mental
health issues. Parents and teachers are experiencing difficulties on an
every-day basis. Working on this subject both on a personal and on a
professional level, I have reached the conclusion that ADD and ADHD can be and
should be detected very early. I also believe that the whole family ought to be
involved with the treatment, since everybody is affected by and contributing to
it. The more knowledgeable you are in this subject, the more you can accomplish
with your child.
- Dyslexia. There are some visible signs
of possible dyslexia at preschool, but many times children correct those
mistakes themselves without any help. If not, they can benefit from early
intervention. Many Occupational Therapists offer free screening for
preschoolers. Take advantage of it if you or your child’s teacher has doubts.
- Learning Disability and Academic Problems.
As a Proactive Parenting advocate, I believe in early prevention. Academic
difficulties can arise from the fact that some children start elementary school
when they are simply not ready yet. In Kindergarten, teaching occurs in a
structured environment, which could be too much of a challenge for certain
children. Starting reading, writing and math could be too early for some
five-year-olds. It is worthwhile to find out if your child is mature enough for
starting Kindergarten. Pushing him to speed up his development by teaching him
how to count, how to read and write, though, can be detrimental. Retaining your
son or daughter in nursery school for an extra year might sound like a drastic
measure, but could protect him or her from a series of failures in the future.
Feeling insufficient at school for years and years could become the root of
several physical and mental health problems as well. Stomachaches, headaches,
obesity, anxiety, anorexia nervosa, depression, and all sorts of anti-social
behaviors may come about later, in Middle School.
|
