What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

What are some basic things that are good for a 3 year old to know, esp when starting preschool?

I am just not sure what my DD should know at her age....

for ex, counting to what #
their name
age
colors
abcs?

Or things like dressing oneself, zipping jacket, putting on shoes, etc? KWIM?

What do you think? Is there some kind of developmental guidelines I can look at b/c I am just not sure what most 3 year olds know or what is then too much pressure for them to know?

Message edited 7/29/2011 12:42:17 PM.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know when starting preschool?

I don't know if there is a standard, but DS is almost 3 so I can tell you what he does. He can count to 13 , recite the alphabet (though he messes up LMNOP as a lot of kids do), knows most of his colors, and basic shapes. He knows his name and can recognize the letter L (for Luca) plus a few other letters. He can also recognize some numbers.

He can undress himself but cannot dress himself yet.

I have no idea if he is ahead or behind in anything, he started preschool at age 2 and neither of his teachers ever told me I had anything to be concerned with.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

At this age, I think 3 yos (esp. the ones closer to 4) know her/his own name, pronouns, a few numbers and letters, shapes and colors already.

I know of children who are 3 who even know how to read at this time but no need to worry if your child hasn't learned to recognize her ABCs yet. That's what school is for, isn't it?

I would be more concerned about the child being able to put a few word sentences together and be socially ready - ie. knowing how to share, take turns, and communicate basic needs.

Here's a basic chart:
toddler milestones

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

This is a good question. DS turns 3 in September so I've been wondering the same thing. Right now, he knows his first and last name, can count ty 20 in both english and spanish (thanks to Dora...we are not a spanish speaking family so I only taught him what I remember from high school), knows his primary colors, basic shapes, his abc's both in song and can recognize most of the letters (sometimes gets confused with the letter Q), and read his name, knows right/left/up/down, can ask for something in his "polite" sentence ("may I please have....") and he can take his clothes off but can't put them on by himself yet (he'd rather run around naked ). I don't know what they need, but I'm going to look at the milestone checklist PP posted and see what that says.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

at almost three my kid:

-throws tantrums
-picks his nose and eats it
-does not know how to share well
-makes a mess when he eats
-still uses a binky for nap time
-c ra ps and pees in his diaper


Isn't this what three is about?

And here i thought my kid was ahead of the game

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

I agree MrsFlatbread. But its nice if a child knows its name and if possible contact info since you never know if a child could get lost.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Mine are same age as yours I think within a mnth or two right?

They can-count to 10 reliably. I have heard Ronan count to 20 but not all the time

They can say the ABC's up to K or so

They can take on and off their bottoms and diapers(working on that one) and can get their shirts over their heads but have trouble with the arms

They know clors if I ask them like show me the blue crayon, but if I point to something and say what color is that they say red

They know simple shapes-circle triangle square(thanks Barney )

This has all hapened in the past 6 months or so.

They cannot tie their shoes-but we donlt have any shoes that tie...

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

at almost three my kid:

-throws tantrums
-picks his nose and eats it
-does not know how to share well
-makes a mess when he eats
-still uses a binky for nap time
-c ra ps and pees in his diaper


Isn't this what three is about?

And here i thought my kid was ahead of the game

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Posted by DRMom

Posted by Dulcinea

At this age, I think 3 yos (esp. the ones closer to 4) know her/his own name, pronouns, a few numbers and letters, shapes and colors already.

I know of children who are 3 who even know how to read at this time but no need to worry if your child hasn't learned to recognize her ABCs yet. That's what school is for, isn't it?

I would be more concerned about the child being able to put a few word sentences together and be socially ready - ie. knowing how to share, take turns, and communicate basic needs.

Here's a basic chart:
toddler milestones

that list is funny because my kids do stuff in all those categories

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

I don't think you have anything to worry about. YOur child will learn all of this stuff in preschool. At this age, these things should be taught in a more natural environment and not forced. My girls are going to be 3 in Nov. they can count to 10, sometimes more, know most of their colors and basic shapes, and can identify a few letters. We teach it while we are coloring, identify shapes and letters while doing puzzles, and playdoh.

As for the name, address, and phone number. MY girls know their names. We are working on the other two. This is something that I believe needs to be taught at an early age

eta: I was a preschool teacher for 3 years and I can tell you that many children could not count, recognize letters and numbers when they were coming into my 4 year old program.

Message edited 7/29/2011 10:54:50 PM.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Message edited 7/29/2011 11:21:58 PM.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

My dd will be 3 in sept. She knows most colors and shapes, can count to 20, can say abc's, knows her first middle last name, can recognize her first name when written, can dress herself, is getting good at going on the potty, can put on her own shoes (not tie anything though).

We are working on letter/number recognition.

She will be starting preschool in Sept!!

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

You sound like you are doing a great job. The key word is "playing." Children at this age should learn from playing. They are like sponges and will learn things as they are playing/being taught.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

I wouldnt worry too much. As I was talking to preschools this year I found that alot of them teach the basics in a 3yo program. ABCs, basic letters and identification, counting 1-20, basic shapes and colors.
MY DS is an "old 3" meaning he will be 4 in december so he will be one of the older kids in his class so in some ways I was expecting more because he knows alot of this stuff, but thats what school is for really.

I would want my DS to be ready for the social aspect, using manners, sharing, communicating needs with teachers etc more than the academic stuff when entering nursery school.

ETA: My DS is VERY interested in academics ie He already knows his abcs, can identify them in upper and some lower case, knows all the letter sounds, can write his name, can count from 1- twenty-teen (as he calls it) knows basic and some complicated shapes (hexagon, pentagon etc)....but I Have to say alot of this was learned through programs or self taught (he taught himself to write his name by looking at hte letters and copying what he sees) But he has NO Desire to dress or undress himself, put on his own shoes, anything like that. He wont let me help him write the letter R or even make suggestions on how to do so, but put on his sandals or pull up his pants after pee pee he NEEDS me to do...every kid is different

Message edited 7/30/2011 12:11:01 AM.

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

I think there is a huge variation at this age, and that is perfectly normal. My daughter is 2.5, so here are some things she knows:

all abcs
pretty much all colors
many shapes
her full name
my full name (which is a different last name)
her sisters full name
dad's full name
pop pop's full name
her birthday
her age
her sister's birthday
her sister's age
her dad's age (i dont push mine!)
she can count past 10, but doesnt always do it on command
she can count to 10 in spanish, but again, doesnt always do it and usually does it in segments. for some reason, she loves "ocho" so usually starts there, or does uno, dos, tres.
she can pretty much dress herself-shoes, socks, underwear and pants, but has trouble with shirts overhead
she sings lots of songs

Re: What might/should a 3 year old know, esp when starting preschool?

Honestly, I don't think they really need to know anything - except maybe how to follow directions Seriously, i thought that they would be expected to know so much going into school...really, all kids are at different levels at this age so i think they really expect nothing. When he started preschool DS had just turned 3 - he knew all the things you asked...
-full name, birthday, phone number, address
-a,b,c's and could recognize all letters upper and lower case and knew the sounds for most letters..
-colors and shapes
- could count indefinitely but, sometimes would forget the transition number i.e. 49.....and then if you told him 50 he could keep going. could recognize all numbers through 20.
- could put on his shoes and somewhat dress himself, - they actually showed them how to put on their jackets- i never thought to do this! always too rushed - he was potty trained when school started (wearing underwear and never had an accident) and within the first month or so of school he was going to the potty by himself.
- wealth of knowledge on useless subjects for a 3 yr old - cars, trains, planets etc. LOL

at his mid year parent/teacher conference the teacher said he was the smartest kid in the class - way above all the other kids in the class - i was floored bc i thought he just knew what everyone else did. point being - NONE of this is considered average for preschool so i would worry AT ALL about her knowing anything!

Message edited 7/30/2011 12:47:56 AM.