Preschoolers

The preschool years are increasingly being recognized as the ideal time to identify potential developmental problems and provide remediation. This period, which includes ages three to five years, is notable for remarkable growth. Preschoolers are particularly well primed to incorporate new information into their existing cognitive and behavioral repertoires, or create new behaviors to adjust to novel information. This form of adaptation is highly flexible and active during the preschool years, making this age well suited to instruction and intervention.

Preschoolers are maturing across several domains of development, including:

• Fine and gross motor skills
• Speech and language development
• Cognitive development
• Social skills and competence
• Self-help and adaptive skills

Maturational changes in biological structures precede the emergence of developmental milestones. Critical and precise physical changes in muscle mass, bone growth, neuronal connectivity, sensory–motor integration, and other physiological transformations support the newly acquired skills of the preschooler.

Although preschoolers are biologically primed for growth in these developmental areas, growth is maximized through interaction and practice with their environment. Play is used as the primary means through which preschoolers practice their burgeoning skills and enhance development across the five domains indicated previously. For instance, a young child who engages in a fantasy play scenario with a same-age peer in the kitchen play set learns valuable skills, including:

• Interactive social skills (e.g., negotiation, fairness, and social problem solving)
• Cognitive skills (e.g., classification of foods, sequencing of cooking steps, and consequential thinking)
• Fine motor skills (e.g., stirring, mixing, and holding utensils)
• Self-help skills (e.g., feeding, basic food preparation, and clean-up)
• Communication skills (verbal scripts that are enacted by the two children depicting a variety of real-life scenarios or themes)

Preschool and child care centers provide the ideal environment to meet the enrichment needs of a developing preschooler. Typically, the preschool years mark the initial entry into early childhood care and/or education. Parents often wait until their child is at least three years old to enroll him or her in a child care or preschool setting, because at that age the child exhibits increased independence and an ability to separate from caregivers, and is toilet-trained (a requirement of many child care sites).

This early school experience is instrumental in preparing for school readiness and fostering growth. A high-quality day care or preschool experience, characterized by low adult-to-child ratios, safe and stimulating environments, and hands-on instruction is associated with the greatest gains in development (Frede, 1995). These gains include enhanced social and cognitive development (particularly social competence), self-regulation, and communication skills, which also serve as resiliency variables against future school failure, referral to special education, and dropouts (National Association of School Psychologists [NASP], 1998). Unfortunately, many child care programs are considered poor or mediocre by experts, and as many as 33% are rated as inadequate and potentially harmful to a child's development and safety (Children's Defense Fund, 2001). Full-time child care costs can easily reach $5,000 to $10,000 a year, far beyond the affordability of many single-parent families and families living at or near the poverty level (Children's Defense Fund, 2001).

Recognizing the importance and need for a quality early childhood education, the federal government established Head Start in 1965 to provide low-income children and their families with a comprehensive range of services, including early childhood education; medical, dental, and mental health; nutrition; and parent involvement (About Head Start, 2002). In 1994, through the reauthorization of Head Start program, Congress established Early Head Start, which extends services from birth to three years, and includes assistance for pregnant women (About Head Start, 2002).

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