In doing some research for various things, I came across two very good articles that can help parents of preschoolers. The first article focuses on common mistakes parents make with their 3-5 year olds and ways to be more skillful and effective parents. WebMD put together some great tips on ways to help make parenting “easier” with this age group, if that’s possible, and I think their advice is really terrific.
Here’s the link:
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/parenting-preschoolers-mistakes
The second article, based on some research that is a little old (although the article is new) reveals some interesting facts about mental health issues in young children. According to the researchers, 1 in 5 preschoolers shows signs of mental health problems before they enter kindergarten. It seems that many children show signs of difficult just as they are about to begin formal schooling, and the article highlights for us all that young children are at the same risk for difficulties as their older counterparts.
Here is the article:
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/07/08/1.5.preschoolers.us.demonstrates.mental.health.issues.when.entering.kindergarten
So the real question that I have is what are we doing to help these children make the smoothest transition possible? It seems that the earlier we can identify the problems, the more likely we are to be able to help effectively. Parents need to be unafraid to ask for help if they are concerned; pediatricians need to be less fearful regarding recommending therapy if it seems to be necessary; mental health stigma needs to be reduced. If we can make these things happen, the prognosis for these kids could really improve.
