Courtesy Collegiate School
Ask most parents what it means for their young child to be ready for school, and the answers may sound familiar: recognizing letters, counting numbers, knowing colors and shapes, or writing their name.
Those skills matter. But school readiness also begins with something less tangible. Can your child recover when something goes wrong? Ask for help when frustrated? Take turns during play?
For preschoolers, these aren’t simply behavioral milestones. They are foundational developmental skills.
Collegiate School, an independent JK-12 school in Richmond, Virginia, supports early childhood learning in the Greater Richmond community. The School recently brought together preschool administrators and teachers for a professional development workshop focusing on the social-emotional journey of children ages 2-4. Attendees came away with proven examples and concrete tools for how parents and educators can navigate this important stage in a child’s development, which Collegiate identifies as having three interconnected areas at the center: emotional regulation, problem solving, and connections.
Courtesy Collegiate School
Emotional Regulation: Learning What to Do with Big Feelings
Young children are still learning to recognize, name, and manage their emotions. When frustration takes over, they may cry, yell, grab, or throw.
Rather than fixing the situation, adults can help children identify what they are feeling: “I notice you are frustrated. Let’s take a deep breath together.”
The goal is not to eliminate difficult emotions but to give children opportunities to practice responding to them in healthy ways. Over time, “I can’t do it” can become “This is hard. Can you help me?”
These skills can be practiced during calm moments through books, play, conversations, games, and breathing activities.
Problem Solving: Resist the Urge to Fix Everything
Consider a familiar preschool dilemma: Two children want the same toy.
The easiest solution is for an adult to decide who gets it. But doing so can mean the child misses an opportunity to practice self-reliance. Instead, an adult can help children identify the problem, consider possible solutions, and choose one. Using simple language such as “stop, think, choose” can help children slow down and think through what is happening.
When children are allowed to solve small problems themselves, each successful attempt builds autonomy and resilience.
Connections: Learning How to Be a Friend
Relationships are learned, too. Between ages 2 and 4, children begin moving toward integrated play. They are learning to communicate with peers, take turns, and navigate friendships.
Even “sharing” involves impulse control and problem solving. In the classroom, educators can make the concept concrete by teaching turn-taking: “You can have it when I’m done,” or “Can I have a turn next?”
At Collegiate, these developmental skills are part of the foundation for successful classroom participation and complement academic learning. Literacy and math remain essential, but they develop alongside the ability to communicate, collaborate, and solve problems. Through purposeful play and developmentally appropriate experiences, children build academic foundations and social-emotional skills that support them throughout their JK–12 education.
For parents considering an early-childhood program, the question should not be simply, “Is my child learning enough?”
Ask instead: “Is my child learning how to solve problems, manage challenges, and be part of a community?”
Because before children are ready to learn everything a school has to teach them, they are first learning who they are and how they belong in the world.
For more than a century, Collegiate School has empowered children to discover who they are, recognize their potential, and grow into inquisitive thinkers, responsible citizens, and compassionate leaders. To learn about our admission process, visit www.collegiaterva.org or call (804) 741-9778.
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