Tell us about your preschooler!

Colleen - posted on 09/18/2011

What's their name? Our son's name is Henry Paxton.

How old are they? Henry just turned 2 & 1/2 on September 10th...he was born on March 10, 2009, and I turned 37 on March 11, 2009!!!

Are they in school/daycare? Henry has been attending an early childhood center since he was 6 months old when I went back to work after maternity leave/summer break, as I am a full-time secondary education teacher. My husband and I are absolutely thrilled with his care providers, as they are all college educated and certified by the state of Michigan in early childhood education. He has blossomed and flourished in his environment, which as made the transition for me much easier to handle. In his last two months in the big toddler room, he was made "teacher's assistant" since he had already learned his colors, animals, surroundings, ABC's, and counting to 20.

What are their interests and hobbies? Henry absolutely loves playing football, basketball, baseball, and is showing interest in soccer. He loves relaxing by "reading" his books, and playing quietly with his toys/cars. He has two doggies, Timber and Hardy, that he met when he was just 2 days old. He loves those fuzzy guys as much as his Mommy & Daddy do. He has a very humorous attitude, and is notorious for his joking manner. He's not shy by any means, and says "hi" to anyone (although we work on the whole stranger thing...). He has taken an interest in the "Cars" movie, as well as Nick Jr. programs like Fresh Beat Band and Wonder Pets.

Tell us about their personality? Henry is incredibly outgoing and positive. He's always been a vibrant child, and is willing to try new things, which makes him rather adventurous for his age. He has always been a smiley, happy kid that likes to be around others. He has made some really good friends (his close "circle" includes Logan, Alex, Dante, Sophia, Mia..)

What challenges do you face? Right now we are in the process of working on potty training, but thankfully the Y has a state certified potty training program that they work on with the kids when they are ready. He can also be a little cranky when he gets sleepy, so he still needs his naps everyday, which is tough now that he's moved up to pre-school...

Angela - posted on 09/15/2011

I know what you man Robyn, it is as if my daughter suddenly started going deaf....

Robyn - posted on 09/15/2011

My son's name is Xavier he is 4 in a half years old. he goes to this privated daycare called the Malvern school and he is in pre K. he enjoys playing outside, swimming building things and playing with his cousins and friends. he has a great personality very out going and very active. he is very very curious and adventuresous. Right now my challenges i face with him is him listening to me and he thinks he is like 10 and he really is not. Im tryna get him to listen to me and do nautral punishments instead of spanking but there is very little progress.

Jennifer - posted on 09/12/2011

Name: Peyton Elizabeth

Age: She'll be 3 on 9/22

School/daycare: She goes to a FANTASTIC in-home daycare 3 days a week. The Lady that runs it is amazing with the kids and does all sort of things with them! They a set structure to their day but the only parts of it that involve sitting in chairs are lunch and craft time. They also do a "learning cirlce" in the morning where she goes over letter and number flashcards with them and reads to them; she asks them questions about the story too so they have to think about what they're hearing. Most of the afternoon is spent out in a yard that is the size of a small park lol and has swings, a slide, a mini climbing wall that leads to a fort type building (which has a kid friendly ladder on the other side so all the kids but the very smallest can get into it) and all sorts of riding toys for them to play with. Since she covers most of the pre-school stuff already we aren't going to bother enrolling her in one.

Interests and hobbies: Lord there are so many! She LOVES to be outside running around and yelling at the top of her lungs hehe. She has just gotten a soccer ball, which she asked for, and loves to throw and make ME chase after lol. Loves the park and swimming and helping Nana and Papa with their yardwork (we live in an apartment so don't have yardwork ourselves) like helping Nana water the flowers or helping Papa push the lawnmower. It's adorable to watch.

If we have to be inside she loves her books and wants to learn how to read them herself. She also adores her flashcards, including the dry-erase set we just got to help her learn to write her letters which she things is terrific fun! She loves her Disney movies (especially "Belle" lately) as well as a select set of cartoons. I am really picky about what she watches and we don't have cable so I can pick and choose what she watches on netflix and the DVD's I buy her. She also has a wonderful time with her Duplo blocks (toddler safe sized legos) which she builds into towers and then smashes and starts over lol.

Personality: 3 going on 25 lol! She is VERY smart and opinionated and quite the talker! She has no problem telling you what she thinks or making up long, rambling stories that go all over the place with her fantastic imagination. She loves to learn new things and is, mostly, a pretty good girl. There's not a drop of shyness in the child, though she'll fake it sometimes and she can be quite the little drama queen. :D

Challenges: Sheer stubborness! This child can dig her heels in like nobodies business...yes she gets that from me. When she has her mind set it can be very hard to change it and it, honestly, works better to distract her with something else and then come back to whatever the stubbornness was about later. Sometimes that's not possible though and you have to dig your heels in back. For example, tonight she didn't want to pick up her toys before dinner. She just wanted to eat and watch a movie. Since there wasn't a distracting her til later I told her she couldn't have dinner OR her movie until the toys were all picked up and that if she kept arguing with me she would lost her movie, and if she STILL kept arguing she'd go to bed as soon as she was done with dinner. Once she was motivated and picking them up I got down and helped her and then she got a hug when we were done.

Josephine - posted on 09/08/2011

My Amira is 4 years old and she is in school in pre-k. She likes watching TV, playing with her big brother & sister and asking tons of questions! She loves to take pictures (she poses all the time) and she likes to be dressed up and have her hair done. The challenges I face with her are behaviors that mimic my 7 year old daughter which I don't want her to follow behind her at all! And I still have not figured out how to get her to stop sucking her thumb.

Teresa - posted on 09/06/2011

Jake is almost 4 (10/12). He started going to a childcare at 1 for a few hours a week. Then I change that up and had a babysitter come to my home twice a week for 4 hrs each day so I could get a break. Now he's been attending a private childcare/preschool since he was two. We started at only 2 full days a week and this last January we started him at 3 fulldays a week. We were on a waiting list for this school. The teacher is wonderful. Her program is pre-K readiness. He loves it too. I have seen my son change so much that its great!



Jake loves the outdoors, rain or shine, he wants to be outside. He is learning to entertain himself by playing with his dogs, which are truly his best friends. He does have goats, sheep and chickens but no matter what Bear and Shasta are his best friends (dogs). His favorite goat is MooCow, and he tugs on her and tries to walk her too.



Since our family is into hunting and shooting, he loves it whenever we take him to the shooting range and we sit him on our lap and teach him about his little cricket .22 and how it works and let him pull the trigger. He continually talks about when he grows up and how he's going to go hunting with his daddy.



He's got a great memory for what you tell him and how things operate. He can start up the riding lawn mower if he could reach the peddles, can start the car, can tell you what P R N and D are for as well. And when I make a right on a red he tells me I ran a red light (lol). Too good for his own britches.



His personality is like a lot of toddlers, he has his own mind, and when it's made up there is no changing it. He'll tell you if he likes something or not. He doesn't like the word NO, or being told NO. He loves to repeat everything I say, which isn't good. Can't yell at him for repeating what I say. My husband just says, I wonder where he heard that at? Hmmm.



Our biggest challenge is his temper tantrums and being told NO. He will stomp, jump up and down, arms go a swinging everywhere. We've tried, time outs, taking toys away, swats and still he's strong willed and determined. His temper and rages have caused me to cry at times because I'm so mad, frustrated and exhausted. I'm exhausted and feel like I've exhausted my resources. I did order Love and Logic, and do get their little news letters periodically.



That is Jake in a nutshell. He's my buckaroo and I love him like no tomorrow. This is only a phase and it too shall pass like all stages of child rearing.

Brooke - posted on 09/06/2011

My daughter Kiya just turned 4 on August 5th.

We opted out of preschool this year. I have an Early Childhood degree and work in childcare at the YMCA so we do school related activities at home. I only work part time in the drop off childcare so she can come with me which helps lets her socialize and make friends with other children. Next year my daughter is going to participate in a High Five program within our district instead of Kindergarten because her birthday is close to the cut off.

She is very active, creative, and talkative. She is very girly- loves dressing up and wearing heals. She loves animals, books, the outdoors, and babies which is probably a good thing since we are expecting twins.

One of the challenges we are currently facing is getting back to a set routine. With the babies coming I don't know how well a routine will work or if it will even be followed, but I'd like to be on more of a schedule to help ease transition. She was also not interested at all about the babies at first. She has come around, but I am constantly looking for more ways to get her involved. I don't want her to think she's not as important or that we are too busy for her. I'm going to need to find a balance and I think this transition is going to be hard to all of us, but well make it work we always do.

Danielle - posted on 08/29/2011

Name: Paris Serenity
Age: Just turned 5
No she's not in shool or daycare ATM but I'm hoping I can put her in soon.
She loves animals. Her favorite would be Tinkerbell (her pygmy goat that thinks she's a dog lol) She loves to play in the dirt, swim and jump on the trampoline =)
Her personality is wonderful, she's a very friendly little girl (we have to be careful b/c she doesn't seem to meet a stranger lol) Very spunky and wears me out constantly lol. She's full of personality.
Challenges? Oh that's easy. She's got a mouth like her momma lol. I dread the teenage yrs =D

Amanda - posted on 08/28/2011

I have Ethan who is 3yrs 5 months. He was in daycare one day a week until June this year.

He loves books, singing songs, craft activities, trains and cars, climbing, riding his scooter, typical little boy stuff. His new favourite games are hide and seek and eye spy.

He is extremly active, never sits still for long and always on the go. He is quite strong willed and knows what he wants. Everything has its place, and has to be in exactly the right spot.
He's very chatty if he is in an enviroment he is comftable, he's witty and abit of a smartass like his dad.

My biggest challenge with him is getting his letter recognition up. He can recognise some letters so we are starting to get there. I am also trying to get him to control his emotions, he can get worked up very easily and sometimes over the smallest of things. He is also very excitable and doesn't know when to calm himself down.

I also have Ashleigh who will turn 2 in 2 weeks. She was in daycare one day a week with her brother.

She loves anything girly, ballerinas, fairies anything that is pink, dolls, playing with hair as well as everything her brother does.

Ashleigh comes across as a princess but is a tomboy at heart, she can climb with the best of them. She is extremely stubborn, very strong willed, independant and a proper little bossy boots. She chats up a storm and speaks nearly as well as her brother. She is not afraid to tell you what she thinks. On the other hand she is the sweetest, most caring, affectionate little girl.

My biggest challenge with her is she takes her nappies off if I'm not watching and leaves them around the house, or she will do one wee in them and put them in the bin but refuses to use the toilet if I ask her if she needs to go. She also has recently started lashing out at her brother but I think we are starting to get on top of that.

Jayce - posted on 08/28/2011

Rhys is 3.5 years. He'll start school next fall, he's never been in daycare.

He loves books, telling stories, singing, music, and tickling and wrestling matches with mommy and daddy, oh yeah, and jumping on the bed. He's into pirates, cars, trains and superheros. He likes to pretend but doesn't like to dressup. He likes to help mommy bake. He likes playing games both board games and computer games. As much as I try to interest him in colouring, painting, play-doh etc., he could care less. He would rather scale the coach or chase the cats.

He's an active, loving child. He's stubborn (hmmm, wonder who he gets that from ;) ) and knows his own mind. He can be shy but once he warms up to a situation, he wants to be in the middle. He's cautious. He's sarcastic and a smartass. I think he's going to have a wicked sense of humour. He hates to see anyone upset or angry and thinks all problems can be solved with a hug and a kiss.

My biggest challenge with him is potty training. He has no interest - nada, zippo, zilch. He knows what he's supposed to do, he's potty trained his stuffed animals but he won't go himself. It's like he can't be bothered. I've tried everything and no go. In another month or so I'm going to try the "three day potty training". It's supposed to be for younger kids (I think 2 or less) but at this point I'm out of ideas.

Rosie - posted on 08/28/2011

lucas is 4, and hasn't been to daycare ever. he will start preschool on the 7th of sept. so we'll see how he does!



he loves to go to the park (what kid doesn't, lol) and he loves to help me cook (which i adore). he is the sweetest child you will ever meet. he's very quiet and reserved, yet not so much that he won't say hi, or bye, or tell you a story once he gets to know you. :) his major challenges would be having to deal with two older brothers who have different interests than him, and they don't want him playing with them. his baby ways are to much for his BIG brothers, sigh. my oldest has ADHD and likes to annoy the shit out of his two younger brothers, lucas doesn't really know how to handle that, so he screams at them or starts crying.

he also isn't potty trained at night, but he has a medical condition, so i'm sure that'll continue well into the next few years just like his brother. speech is a problem with him as well. we just recently started to understand most everything he says with a few exceptions. he puts the "P" sound whenever there is a "sm" sound, so smell is pell, smart is part etc. i hope it doesn't limit him in preschool this year. he's not as "smart" as my other two children were at this age either. he can count to 11, knows most of the colors, and can kinda sing the ABC's with a few mixups, and knows a circle, but that's about it. shapes are to hard for him, and he can't write or recognize letters yet. my oldest two could do everything, and my eldest could actually read when he was 4. i'm terrified he's going to be so behind the rest of his class. :(

he likes to help me clean, and cook so hopefully that will continue, lol.

Toni - posted on 08/28/2011

When it's out your hands like that you could try saying something like mommy can see Eric is sad ... had to go home, Eric can still play, what does Eric want to play with? That way your validating his feelings because he was having fun and didn't expect it stop.

Laura Zoey - posted on 08/28/2011

Yeah I mean to do that too, sometimes I do but often I forget to warn him. And it's really hard when it's out of my hands like he's playing with a kidand their mom says ok we are leaving and erics devastated :( that happened today at church the girl he was playing with left abruptly and Eric fell to the ground crying!

Toni - posted on 08/28/2011

Laura have you tried giving him a warning that things are ending, I find it helps with Ethan, we never just stop an activity unless he chooses to stop it. For example if we were painting and it was time to finish because we needed to wash before having dinner I say to him Ethan we've got five more minutes then we have to tidy up or if he is playing in the bath we say five more minutes then we have to get out, then if he argues or moans or shows signs of tantruming we remind him that his time is up and we have to... (whatever we have to do next). Likewise if we're at the ballpark I tell him five minutes before we have to leave, I give him these time warnings because as an adult I hate it when someone says ok thats it we're going (my hubby does this all the time when we go out for food), it's much nicer when someone says ok are you almost ready to leave, then I get into leaving mode (I know I'm a saddo).

With the TV progs we say goodbye to the characters as the credits roll, then if he is getting frustrated I distract him with another activity (getting juice or going to the toilet etc). We also only allow tv at certain times, so if he is showing negative behaviours with it he would lose tv for a day.

Laura Zoey - posted on 08/28/2011

Name and age? Eric is 2 yrs and almost 5 months :)
School/daycare? No, neither! He's been babysat by grandma and grandpa a few times and played without me in the church nursery a few times but other then that he's always with me. We will be homeschooling!
Interests/hobbies? He loves motorcycles, trucks, cars, anything with buttons! He loves playing outside which involves alot of running, he runs so much. He loves push toys and pull toys too, especially his toy doll stroller. He loves playing with his figures in his doll house and loves puzzles and balls! Kicking and throwing! He loves our cats and pets others dogs whenever he can but is timid around dogs in general. He loves flashlights and phones and remotes too :)
Personality? He is very active and talkative and loud and articulate and energetic when he's comfortable, like here at home, grandparents house etc. But if hes with new people he's sweet kind quiet talkative but reserved and easily scared. He has a personal space bubble so don't touch him and never pick him up! He hates strangers or even acquaintances touching him and he cries and runs for me :) he's very into his patterns, like i have together him out of bed not daddy, and daddy has to play chase not me, and grandpa does bubbles, and grandma sings with him, and only I can change his diaper.
Challenges? Lately he's So whiny, it's like a constant stream of whines, like he doesn't even do it for a reason just wjines on and on. It makes me so angry! I try to ignore it but it doesn't stop! Then I flip out and yell and he says shh mom, lol then I get embarrassed and try to distract him but he keeps whining! It's awful. Other challenges are he really prefers me over his dad alot and matt feels rejected sometimes we don't know if we should force Eric to deal with daddy when he wants me or if we should go with the flow and wait it out. Also he is still hitting our cats in fun, that's a challenge. And also he hates when something fun ends. Well I guess that's not unusual but he has big meltdowns with so much tears when anything ends even something small like a tv show.

Cathy - posted on 08/28/2011

Lucas is my youngest child.
He's 2yrs and 8mths old.
No school or daycare yet. He'll start in April next year.
He loves his cars and ramps (and anything that can be adapted into a ramp). He likes colouring and anything arty where he can make a colourful mess.
He has a very single minded and head strong personality.
Biggest challenge is his refusal to talk. He can talk but he won't. Odd words come out every so often when he's not thinking, even an occasional sentence, which the speech therapist suggests means he has atleast a 50-100 word vocabulary but he refuses to use it. He is however great at sound effects!

Jenni - posted on 08/28/2011

Kira is my step daughter.
She's 4 years old.
She's been in daycare (while her mom was in school) and she starts J/K in a week.
She's very agile! She loves climbing and playing at the park. She loves playing mommy to her little sister. Playing with dolls and doing crafts. Swimming and the beach.
She's very mature. Motherly. Kind. Funny! She use to be sooo shy as a baby/toddler but she's really come out of her shell with other children. She makes friends easily and will be the first to approach.
Challenges: We're going though the "me first's". Which seems to be fueling sibling riverly between her and Ben. She struggles to remember manners at times. Like pleases and thank you's But for the most part she's always been an easy child.

Benjamin
He's 3 years old.
He's been home with me since he was born. He'll start J/K next september.
He loves playing with cars and has been in love with vehicles of any kind since before he could talk. Always pointing out fancy racecars and reading the auto trader. lol
He also loves the outdoors, like me and my husband. Checking out bugs and going for nature walks. He finds nature fascinating.
He's a little intense and sensitive emotional-wise. He's usually rather calm. He gets frustrated easily! He's polite and empathetic. Always asking people if they're ok? Or are they 'doin good?' He's quiet and can be a little shy. But warms up quickly. He's very independent and prefers to do things 'his way'.
Challenges: Teaching him to express his intense emotions into words. Speech, he's very unclear. Overnight potty training. Whining over every hurdle! He gets frustrated so easily. So we're working on teaching him to relax and calm himself down. Also how to speak in a kind way and ask for things politely without whining. It has been working! Lately, he stops himself when he starts to whine and quickly corrects himself in a proper tone.

Toni - posted on 08/28/2011

Oh I forgot books how could I forget his books he loves reading as wel. He also likes cars and trucks and his favourite colour seems to be pink :-)

Toni - posted on 08/28/2011

My son is Ethan and is 22 months old (2 in October). I'm a SAHM so he isn't in daycare or nursery yet, he starts nursery next September (2012).

Ethan loves Bob the Builder because he is like daddy (daddy is a plumber/ gas engineer) and he loves colouring/ drawing and painting, at the moment this entails him scribbling and smooshing paint everywhere but I'm leaving him to do what he wants with his creations and artwork lol. He is very musical and loves singing and dancing as well as playing instruments and discovering new sounds and actions (like stomping). He also loves animals and learning about them.

Ethan is a really friendly, out-going child, he loves playing with other children of all ages, but is now a little wary of new adults (although if they are nice he soon comes out his shell). He is really caring and hates it when others are sad or upset and often he trys to comfort them to make them happy. He is Mr independant and wants to do everything by himself, even when he can't and he is also fearless and climbs on everything.

My biggest challenge at the moment is potty training as a few weeks ago he decided he wanted to potty train but has yet to do a poo in the potty (although I am pleased that he has no fear or apprehenson of the toilet and uses it as well as the potty). We are also having to keep a really close eye on him around his baby sister as he accidentally dropped her a few weeks ago (he was trying t be helpful) and we ended up in hospital overnight with concussion (it really scared us).

His behaviour is generally good although sometimes he is really frustratng and generally he eats and sleeps well. We use positive discipline methods to guide him and I feel it works brill :-)

Angela - posted on 08/28/2011

Claire Bear! She is at the moment 2.9 years and started preschool last week. She goes twice a week for 2 hours one morning one afternoon.

Claire is always singing and dancing, and loves to dress up as a princess or ballerina. She likes Disney movies, reading books, helping around the house and gardening. Also playgroups, climbing and paints. WATER, and driving my cats crazy.

Full of energy, a bit bossy, can be stubborn but will listen pretty good for her age. The biggest challenge is giving up her bottle, she ask for when sick or tired. We are down to one bottle a day....soon they will be gone. She was really sick child for a long time and on formula even after age 2 so is a bit behind but i am not too worried. We are potty trained during the day but night time not yet.