What are some reasonable academic expectations for 3 year olds in preschool?

My son is 3 (i also have a 4 1/2 yr old daughter) and in his class they teach him numbers, alphabets, some general spanish words, opposites, and some of the general preschool things like storytime, artwork, etc. You should look for a school that is preparing your 3 yr old for the 4 yr old class. Of course he will not master all those skills but the school should be at least introducing him to it.

The preschools that my boys attended focused mainly on exposure to these things but each of the children picked up on things at different rates. Maybe they can't make that much of a commitment. My boys loved preschool. They were both reading numbers and letters by the end of their 3 years. They also learned how to get along with other children, take care of a plant, pets and being humane and also simple exposure to different things. They went to farm markets for picking fruits and little petting zoo's and they loved those days. So did I. They come out with the funniest things with their certain interpretations. You really don't want your child in a preschool where he's not exposed to lots of different things. I liked the fact they they were into a little of everything. They are both pretty well rounded and they have a little interest in lots of things. We had a dead "bug" collection that later turned into several science fair projects that scored really high, so exposure is my opinion as to what will encourage your child's learning. JMO. I am absolutely no expert but my kids still struggle with different times in their lives. Just enjoy them while they are so little. They won't be all grown up and unable to count. You are too concerned of a parent and your child will be absolutely bright in his school years just because of the type of mom you are. If you want to move at a faster pace than the school, we always had computer learning fun software and there are so many more things now for a 3 year old. I loved that age! Good luck to you. You are doing all the right things.

Hi Whoami, and welcome to GreatSchools!
I found an article that might be of interest to you called, "How Academic Should a Preschool Be?"
www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/3653

healthy11- thank you for your comments about my concerns for my child turning 3. It's not so much that I want him solving calculus questions by the time he's 4, but I am concerned that the school will not tell me the goals of their 3 year old room, nor give me a curriculum guide. In the 2yr. old room he already learned his colors and is sort of learning shapes. I would expect the 3 year old room to reinforce this and add something like letter or number recognition. I'm just curious if this is too much of an expectation. I believe that children should have ample opportunity to have fun and socialize with peers as well as be academically challenged. It's just that since I will be changing his school, I'm concerned about what I should be seeing. For instance, his current teacher (2 yr. old room) is introducing opposites. I think it's too soon for his age. She's not pushing it. They just talk about it and move on, but where is the line, you know?