Developmental Skills You Can Teach Your Toddler/Pre-Schooler

Teaching children is one of the most important responsibilities you can have as a parent. Helping children develop skills that will assist them in their overall physical, psychological and emotional development is essential for their success in school and life in general. Depending on their age children are at different stages of development physically and mentally. Toddlers and pre-schoolers should be learning developmental skills that include social development, physical development, cognitive development and language development.

Some examples of skills that should be taught in these different categories are:

Social Development.

Children this age should have a sense of self; this means they can adjust to different situations. They should trust parents and other adults in their lives such as grandparents, teachers, caregivers, etc. Toddlers can recognize their own feelings and know how to deal with them appropriately. They can also stand up for themselves when needed. Teaching these skills to your child can be a simple as allowing them to make some of their own choices. Let your toddler express his/her feelings through activities and socializing with other children.

Physical Development.

Toddlers and pre-school age children can demonstrate basic motor skills such as running, jumping and hopping. They should have great physical balance. These children can kick and catch a ball without trouble. Some fine motor skills they should possess are controlling small muscles in hands, coordinate hand and eye movement and use tools like pencils and crayons for drawing. In order to teach these skills to your child you can schedule playtime with them. Take them outside or to the park to run, play ball, swing and jump rope. It is important they develop good coordination early.

Cognitive Development.

This type of development consists of learning and problem solving. Children should observe objects with curiosity, approach tasks with persistence and explore cause and effect. Logical thinking skills include classifying objects, recognizing patterns, showing awareness of time and consequence and using one-on-one correspondence. Symbolic thinking and representation is when the child takes on pretend roles and makes believe with objects. Helping your child develop cognitive skills takes a little more persistence. Sing songs and play pretend games (role play). Teach them math skills by counting objects and money. Do fun activities like creating a craft where they have to glue patterns and objects. You can also cook something together and let them measure the ingredients. By doing things together and talking about your actions you can help children learn cognitive skills.

Language Development.

Listening and speaking are extremely important, especially in early development. Your child should be able to hear and discriminate between sounds, express themselves in words, understand and follow directions, ask and answer questions and actively participate in conversations. Helping your child develop good language skills can be as easy as communicating with them often. You can play games with them that help them learn letters and sounds. Ask your toddler questions and let them ask you questions about different things. Also make sure to take the time to offer a good explanation to their questions.

Assisting your child in learning skills that will help them in their physical, psychological and emotional development can be beneficial for both your and your pre-schooler. If children are able to obtain the proper skills at a young age it will help them tremendously in school. These skills will help with reading, writing, language and math. Teach your child these skills at home and they will be able learn more advanced skills at school. Playing an active part in your child's development is rewarding for you and your kids.