After you’ve chosen the right preschool for your child, you can rest easy knowing that they will be in the hands of trained caregivers and educators. Before that day comes, though, parents can do plenty to prepare kids to enjoy and grow in the preschool environment—on Day 1 and beyond.

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The Cleveland Clinic calls discipline a “key parenting skill” and offers five tips on how to master this skill. The first is to NOT view discipline as punishment. The first is “far more effective” than the second, but it does require more work. Disciplining kids, the article shares, involves teaching self-control and restraint whereas punishment is a “direct, pointed penalty or loss of privilege that serves as retribution.” 

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If you could do only one thing to help your child do better in school, the U.S. Department of Education says that would be the following: Encourage your child to read. When he or she learns how to read, it will help in all subject areas throughout the years of school, and also will help your child become a lifelong learner.

Encouraging your child to read comes in many forms. When a child is still a baby, it’s typically appropriate to read to him or her several times a day for a few minutes at a time. As the child ages, he or she probably will indicate when it’s time for storytime to last longer. When your child become verbal, encourage questions. Talk about the story together, and consider pausing your reading at certain points, inviting your child to predict what might happen next. When your child is ready, ask him or her to read out loud to you.

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When your child was a baby, perhaps he or she was comforted by a pacifier, and that felt like a lifesaver. But now that he or she is an active toddler — or perhaps even preparing to enter preschool — your doctor may be telling you it’s time to give up the pacifier. For plenty of parents, that's way easier said than done, so here are tips to help make that happen.

One piece of advice from EverydayFamily.com is especially important: don’t despair. There are many strategies to try, and it’s unlikely that you’ve exhausted the possibilities. Some children actually respond best to a cold turkey approach, one where you simply remove the pacifier from your child’s reach and don’t return it. This can be challenging, early on, but usually within a week or two, your child will have adjusted.

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Alphabet recognition is a crucial skill for toddlers and preschoolers to learn, and it serves as the foundation of reading and writing. This post explores the typical developmental curve for alphabet recognition and provides fun, age-appropriate, low-cost ways for your child to master this skill.

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“There's increasing evidence that children gain a lot from going to preschool,” says Parents advisor Kathleen McCartney, PhD, dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education. “At preschool, they become exposed to numbers, letters, and shapes. And, more important, they learn how to socialize — get along with other children, share, contribute to circle time.” (Parents.com)

Unlike kindergarten, preschool attendance isn't mandatory, but an ever-growing body of evidence shows that preschool is highly beneficial for children.

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When your child starts preschool — and then kindergarten and then elementary school — he or she should have certain skills to get the most out of his or her education. Here are strategies to use at home to help make sure your child is math ready. 

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One of the best ways to get your child prepared for preschool, according to the U.S. Department of Education, is to “Provide nutritious foods, safe places to play, regular medical care and a regular sleep schedule.” By doing all of these things, your preschooler will be rested, able to pay closer attention and otherwise get the most out of his or her preschool experience.

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Picture yourself walking into a social or work event, and you don’t know anyone else there. How do you feel? You might see it as an exciting opportunity to meet new people — or you could feel pretty nervous. No two adults would react in exactly the same way, and preschoolers are the same.

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Perhaps your child will be going to preschool soon. If so, that can be a very exciting time — and effectively preparing your child for preschool can make the transition much smoother. The most important tip we can give is to make the preparation fun! Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Education has recommended plenty of ways to prepare your child.

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