Your preschooler is full of curiosity and wants to learn about just about everything. In fact, you may feel that you spend your entire day answering his questions. Asking questions is the way that a 3 year old child learns, so it’s important that you give him answers. This is also a time when your child is learning how to make decisions and how to share.
Your Child’s Development
If your child asks a million questions every day, he is not alone. All children this age are curious and trying to understand the world around them. His questions used to be much simpler, such as, “What is this, mum?”, but now he wants to know “Why?”; and just when you think that you have answered his question, he will ask “Why?” again!
Answering your child’s questions encourages him to be curious. This is an important part of your child’s education, so make sure to always give him an answer. Keep it simple though. Too many details will discourage him. Occasionally, you can ask him what he thinks the answer is.
Another important skill that a 3 year old is actively learning every day, is how to make decisions. Therefore, it’s important that you give your child choices when you can. When your child makes a choice as opposed to being told what to do, it not only makes him feel independent, it also teaches him how to reason and make a good decision. The ability to make decisions is a necessary skill he will use his entire life.
It’s easy to put this into play. For example, when you are dressing your child, let him choose what shirt he wants to wear. At dinner time, ask your child to pick out what vegetable to have with dinner. Your child learns how to make decisions by watching you. So, talk about the decisions you make. Tell him why you decided to cook the pasta instead of the chicken. Little explanations like this make him start to understand reasoning and that making decisions is a part of every day.
Your child is also getting better at sharing these days. Sharing is a difficult concept for a young child. Seeing his possessions in the hands of another child is hard to understand. Children who grow up with siblings may learn this skill faster than only children, but even then, sharing must be taught. Teaching a child how to share requires constant reminding and talking about the importance of sharing.
To help your child learn to share, provide toys that require cooperation and taking turns. You can also eliminate potential problems by removing some of the toys that you know will cause a fight. And when an argument arises, it’s best to take the object that the children are arguing over and explain that since they cannot share the item, they both do not get to play with it. You can also make sharing easier for your child by allowing them to have a few items that they are not required to share such as a favorite blanket or teddy bear.
