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When does a toddler become a preschooler?
Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Development
My son will be 3 in February. Does this make him a preschooler or a toddler?
I'm rather mystified by these labels--I teach school age kids, not itty-bitty ones, so I'm not familiar with the developmental milestones associated with these words. Does a preschooler have to be a kid whose going to preschool? Does a toddler stop being a toddler once he no longer toddles? Does the T on a child's clothing size (i.e. 2T) indicate 'toddler' or something else?
I keep writing about my son as a toddler, but I get the feeling he's nearing the cusp of some other definition. I look back through a years worth of pictures on Picasa, and marvel at how small and toddler-like he looked last year. Since we started recording his height on the door frame in the kitchen last November, he's grown about four inches. He can reach the light switches now, and the counter tops, and does so with the specific, direct intent of a kid who is distinctly not a toddler.
But when does the switch take place? When does a toddler become a preschooler? Seriously, I need your help.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nancy 11-12-2007 @ 9:00AM
It's funny, my ten year old daughter asked me just the other day when my 22 month old son became a "toddler" instead of a baby.. I told her that once a baby starts to walk, they are a toddler.. (To which she replied, "well what if a baby walks at 4 months?").. Now I am wondering the same toddler/preschooler transition as well.. I think that at about 2 1/2 or most certainly 3 years they are a preschooler. Maybe its when they are potty trained? Or maybe when they are old enough to enroll in preschool?
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Mama2kids 11-12-2007 @ 9:11AM
I think the switch happens around 3. My son is 3 1/2 and I have noticed a huge difference in him physically and socially over the past year. While the attitude and tantrums seem more challenging now than ever before, he is a lot more independent. I am starting to see him as more of a little person than a baby or toddler now. He can do more things for himself and he has developed a lot more new interests than even six months ago. As for the T on clothes - I think it does mean Toddler. I am not sure the reasoning, but I have seen the T label on clothes up to 5T.
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Ethel 11-12-2007 @ 10:45AM
Technically babies are babies until they turn 3 - then they become children. So, since a 3 year old doesn't usually enroll in kindergarten until 4.5 -5 years they're preschoolers. Usually by 3 most kids use the potty, can talk, run and kick, have an opinion about things, are immersed in imaginative play, and just aren't babies anymore.
I just wish there were more of a physical signal that folks would see that indicates their age since my son looks like and is the size of most 5 year olds, but he really isn't 3 yet. He acts like a 2 year old becuase he's 2.
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12mj 11-12-2007 @ 3:11PM
I always took the T on clothing to mean Tall. i.e there is size 3, 3 Tall, 4, 4 Tall etc. (instead of 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5) I could be completely off base, but that's my guess.
When to call them a pre-schooler....I'll probably start calling my 3 year old that after I register her for Junior Kindergarten this coming February. (for some reason the thought of which is scaring the crap out of me)
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Jen 11-12-2007 @ 9:41PM
I work in early education, and our "tods" become "preschoolers" at 29 months. But definitely by 3 years.
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