Helping Children Meet Their Educational Milestones

Children are amazing creatures. They have a hunger for information and are interested in exploring the world around them. As parents, one of our main concerns is that our children are developing on schedule, especially their educational development. Educational development is sometimes difficult to judge because it is not always easy to determine what a child knows, especially if they have a learning disability, physical impairment or psychological impairment. However, if you are interested in determining if your child is hitting her/his educational milestones then you will want to look for these common educational milestones.

Educational Milestones: 3 to 5 Years

During the preschool years, ages three to five, your child is going to develop basic cognitive skills like shape identification and sorting, learning their ABCs, learning to count to ten and mastering fine motor control skills like cutting on a line and pasting shapes onto a pattern. Most of the educational milestones that your child will develop during this phase of their education will be social, such as learning to share and learning how to take turns. Learning how to groom and clean their bodies is another set of skills that they will develop during this stage of life.

Educational Milestones: 6 to 8 Years

The next stage of educational development will occur between the ages of six and eight, or between first grade and third grade. During this three year period you child will learn how to read, how to write, they will dramatically increase their vocabulary, they will be able to tell time, they will learn the days of the week, their attention span will increase and they will be able to describe people, places, things and relationships. Emotionally this phase is great for parents, as their kids' emotions will level off during this phase and they will generally be pleasant to be around. Social development during this phase will include forming peer groups and gravitating towards same sex friendships.

Educational Milestones: 9 and 10 Years

In the fourth and fifth grade the academic achievements will be more intense. Students will improve their ability to comprehend and recall information from more complex stories, they will develop more complex math skills, they will start to develop special interests and they will also begin to understand more abstract concepts. This is the age to start exploring career options.

Meeting Educational Milestones

Meeting common educational milestones are important. If you think that your child is not meeting these milestones then you need to talk with their teachers to figure out why they are having a problem. Early intervention for learning disabilities is important. The earlier you identify a learning problem the sooner you will be able to address the problem and find a solution.

On the other hand, if your child is surpassing these educational milestones then you may want to discuss the possibilities of special classes that will provide your child with an academic challenge and that will encourage the development of their special skills. These classes not only provide gifted students with the opportunity to excel, they also keep the students from getting bored with school which often can sometimes lead to behavioral problems.