3 Benefits Of Sending Your Child To Preschool

It can be difficult to decide if you should watch your child yourself, hire a nanny, allow a family friend to watch your child, or send your child to preschool The truth is, sending your child to preschool can provide your child with some pretty specific benefits in regard to your child's development.

Benefit #1: Chance to Build Friendships

One of the biggest benefits of sending your child to preschool is that your child will have an opportunity to build friendships outside of your friends and family circle. By sending your child to preschool, your child will interact with children from different backgrounds and home settings, and they will learn how to make friends with other children.

They will learn how to negotiate being around children they love and children that they may not like as much. They will start to learn the building blocks of friendship and getting along with others that are so important in school and in the real world.

Your child will learn how to express themselves to another child, and they will learn how to function with other children in one-on-one, small group, and large group settings.

Benefit #2: Chance to Interact with Other Adults

In addition to building relationships with other children, the preschool will give your child an opportunity to build relationships with adults.

Your child will learn how to interact with adults who care about them, but in a different way than their parents, grandparents, or aunts may care about them. Preschool will give your child an opportunity to learn how to listen to other adults and respect other adults before they head off to elementary school.

Benefit #3: Foundational Academic Skills

Most preschools are set-up to help with your child's social development, emotional development, and academic development as well. Your child will be introduced to the idea of small group and large group learning. If you start your child at age three, your child can complete three- and four-year-old preschool before attending kindergarten, giving them two solid years of learning. 

They will have guided play and exploration. They will be introduced to important academic concepts, such as colors, shapes, and letters. They will be read aloud to on a daily basis. Your child should walk away from preschool more prepared to start formal schooling based on the teachings they receive.

If you decide to send your child to a preschool, you need to start looking into preschool about six months before you want to start. Some preschools have waitlists, and this will give you time to move up the waitlist. Also, the process of visiting and figuring out what preschool fits with your educational philosophy can take time. 

Look for a preschool near you for more information.