What should a 3-year-old know educationally is a major concern of many parents. Just help a toddler to increase vocabulary and reading skills.
A 3-year child is curious about everything. So, he is eager to ask questions. If you have a 3-year child, you are aware that he mostly asks questions “how” or “why.” You may also have noted that he mostly asks such questions when he sees something new. Actually, he is curious and wants to explore everything around him. It’s the time when you can shape the personality of your child. You can do so by engaging him in the right activities. In turn, it’ll help your child to grow.
But the question is, what should you teach your child at this age? And what should a 3-year-old know educationally/academically? In this article, we’ll guide you thoroughly to find the answer to these questions.
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What should a 3-year-old know academically?
When a child enters the age of 3, he starts recognizing things and starts memorizing the things. So, it’s the best time to teach them. But the question is, what should a 3-year-old know educationally? Let’s know the answer to this question.
Increase vocabulary
When you speak anything, the child grasps every word. You can also say that a 3-year-old child will add every new word in his dictionary. Furthermore, he will not only store words but will also try to speak that word. Thus, a 3year old child increases his vocabulary every day.
But the question is, what should be the vocabulary level of a 3-year-old child?
A 3-year-old child should be
- Able to learn vocabulary quickly.
- Tell his name and age.
- Able to create simple sentences.
- Able to understand two-word commands like, “Go and bring your toys.”
- Know a minimum of 200 words.
- To tell stories
- Answer some simple questions
- Speed sentences clearly
Parenting tips:
Now, it’s the time when you can add some positive words to his vocabulary. So, what should you do?
- First, you should talk and speak as much as you can with your toddler.
- You can also engage him with simple question-answer sessions.
- You can introduce new words to him. For instance, you’re in a superstore; you can tell him what the superstore is? Why are you here?
- Moreover, you can engage him in some storytelling activities. Like you can ask them how your visit to the park was. He would try to tell you each and everything he does in the park. It’ll allow him not only to speak effectively but also to arrange his vocabulary to make sentences.
Don’t worry, if your child is not doing all this at 3-year’s age. Each child is different and learns according to his own choices. Your duty is to provide an effective learning environment. Now, learning is up to them.
Identify objects and create an association between them.
The second most important thing a toddler should know is to identify objects. A child should be able to
- Identify different colors
- Know the color names
- Identify different shapes
- Compare things with different colors and different shapes.
- Separate things according to shape and color
- To create an association between different things. For example, in a bunch of pictures, a child should associate a picture with a crying baby with a milk bottle.
Parenting tips:
- Give the toddler object of different shapes and colors.
- Tell him to separate objects according to shapes.
- Let him separate objects according to colors.
- Give them cookies of different shapes to eat.
- Let them building blocks to play as they want
In summary, these activities can improve the creativity and imagination of a toddler. Further, if your child becomes strong in imagination, he’ll quickly understand the scientific concepts.
Reading level
● Finally, what should be the reading level of the toddler? Some people think a toddler starts reading when he is in school. But it’s a wrong concept. Although a toddler starts proper reading in school, he learns all reading skills at an early age.
● Actually, a toddler hears every word carefully and tries to pronounce it in the same way. Moreover, they would try to understand the meaning of every word. Thus, a toddler starts developing language skills at three years of age.
A child should be able to
- Recognize some alphabets
- Recognize some commonly used words, maybe from their favorite book
- Learn words with three letters
- Able to separate different letters and alphabets
- recognize upper-case alphabets
- recognize lower-case letters
Writing level
writing is essential for a child to express his ideas. It’ll also help you to recognize a child’s mental state. By writing for 3-years old does not mean he should write proper words. He should be able to
- hold pencil
- draw shapes
- do some movement to write anything on the paper
- try to draw alphabets from his favorite book.
Mathematical skills
A child starts learning mathematical skills since he starts exploring the world. He starts recognizing the shapes and counting his favorite things. So, what should your 3-year-old child know regarding mathematical skills? He should be able to
- identify different geometric shapes and arrange them to construct something
- sort by color and shape
- learn to count up to 10
- identify the numeral up to 10
- Parenting tips for reading and writing skills:
- Give your toddler flashcards to allow him to learn different alphabets and numbers
- When you’re out with him, ask him about words, alphabets, or numbers on various boards.
- Lastly, you can also ask the words written on the pack of their favorite snack or cookie.
Art skill
Art is important for your child’s cognitive development. Moreover, art develops creativity in your child. A 3-year-old child has developed some control over this hand and wrist movement. Thus, he is able to draw some shapes. Although these shapes are not recognizable by adults, they are unique. In art skills, your 3-year old should be able to
- Identify colors
- Use these colors to draw something they see
- Enjoy singing
- dance with freedom
Parenting tip: Never stop your child from doing some creative art even if he is creating a mess.
Personal and social development
A three-year-old child is in the magic years of his life. He is curious and friendly. Moreover, he knows the most important rule of friendship, selflessness. You would also be surprised to see that your child will become less dependent on you and start making friends. Now, it’s the time when you can teach them how to behave socially and What are the principles to be a good human and good friend.
So, when it comes to social development your child starts
- following rules
- working according to daily routines
- taking part in different social activities. Like he must be quick in starting new games with his friends.
- making friends in no times
- becoming frank with the adults
- participating in group activities
- sharing their toys and cookies with friends
- finding ways to solve their problems
- seeking help from adults to resolve minor issues
Parenting tips:
- Encourage your child’s friendly behavior
- Suggest him to use words to resolve their issues
- learn them how to behave with your friends
Some Activities for your 3-year-old development
The safety of the toddler should be the first concern. That’s why finding the right activities for your 3-year-old child can be a challenging task. Here, we come with some activities that will prepare your child for preschool.
- Solve some simple puzzles
- play with colors to do some creative art
- read different catalogs
- Play with some colorful stickers
- play their favorite game in the backyard
- Dance
- remember and sing some rhymes
- Go to the library
- Do some finger art
- Play with modeling clay to make some creative structures
- explore different numbers from the calendar, from the remote control, or from anything of daily use.
- Take some dyed pasta and separate them according to their colors and shapes
Final thoughts:
Hence, you have learned everything about what should a 3-year-old know educationally/academically. You should help your child in increasing vocabulary and reading ability. Moreover, it would be best if you also allowed him to identify and associate different objects. The only thing you have to do is to provide a learning environment for your toddler. Find the standard word power of a 2-year-old baby.