Your 3 3/4-year-old: Classes for preschoolers?

Time for Class?

We all want our child to shine. In this increasingly competitive world, is signing up for ballet, swimming, or music lessons now the best way for her to excel later? Not necessarily. While classes can expose your child to new things and spice up your day, overscheduling can actually hurt your child. At this age, kids learn as much, if not more, by playing than they do in structured classes.
去年九月起也想安排小馨上YAMAHA 音樂課、打擊樂課及奧福美育課程，不過經過幾次體驗與思考後，還是放棄了！因為小馨已經進入幼兒園，幼兒園的活動課程已經夠多采多姿了，坊間那些課程應該都是設計給尚未進入preschool的小孩，小馨在幼兒園已經有了體能課、畫畫、英語、捏陶土....正好讓我們省下一筆才藝課的經費。

Your 3-year-old now
Planned lessons, classes, and activities abound for 3-year-olds, but sign up with care. Activities can easily become too much. Preschoolers who have every moment planned for them don't learn how to entertain themselves, stunting their imagination, creativity, and independence. Even if you like to keep your child busy during the day, downtime is as essential as activity time.

How much is too much? Many child development specialists think one scheduled class or activity in a week is plenty for 3-year-olds.
專家說，一週一次的課程就已足夠
Pay attention to your child's behavior. Notice if she disengages during the class, cries, or refuses to go. Temper tantrums, disrupted sleep, and grumpy mornings are other signals that an activity might not be right or the day might be too structured overall.

Experts agree that there's nothing a 3-year-old can "miss out on" that she can't do in good time when she's older. So if you're the slightest bit unsure about whether your child is ready for dance or gymnastics, wait another year.
其實我也想讓她學彈鋼琴、舞蹈或打擊樂，不過四歲顯然還是太早，依照「美國」專家說法，還可以再等一年！


Your life now
Having your child strapped into the seat of a shopping cart has been a handy way to run errands ever since she could sit up. But as she heads toward 4, take care to monitor whether this is still safe. Many kids wind up in the emergency room each year when shopping carts tip over or kids clamber out and fall. When your child is too big for the front seat, she'll have to walk alongside you; the grocery part of the cart is not designed to hold children, and it's not safe. Don't ever leave your child unattended in a shopping cart, even for an instant.