Preschool learning standards for language arts are all about setting children up to achieve proper use of spelling, punctuation and grammar and to read fluently in subsequent grades. Preschool students should demonstrate benchmarks on their way to achieving language arts standards. These benchmarks include proving their ability to use scribbles and create approximate representations of letters, identifying letters and pairing letters with sounds. Additionally, students should be learning to express their ideas and emotions through the verbal dictation of stories.
Children's development of social skills and personal awareness in preschool will help lead to positive social interaction throughout a lifetime. During preschool education, instruction methods and guiding principles should be in place that help children develop social confidence. For example, preschoolers should demonstrate self-confidence, initiative and positive interactions with both adults and peers. By the end of preschool, children should be confident interacting with groups of their peers, exhibit the ability to focus on the task at hand and express their emotions in an appropriate manner.
Recognition of numbers, sequential numeration and a budding comprehension for basic mathematical concepts is an important standard for preschool education. Preschool students should be able to understand numbers and their sequential placement, comprehend shapes and use basic measurement techniques. Learning benchmarks include the ability to count objects, recognize written numbers and solve basic math problems using physical representations of numbers. For instance, children should be able to identify "how many" in a group of four jelly beans, if two are taken away.
Preschool students should be taught basic ideas that require the incorporation of science. While preschoolers are not expected to know chemistry, they should be taught how to use basic instruments like scales and magnifying glasses to investigate the world around them. Children are to make hypotheses, or "guesses" based on information that they know. Additionally, preschool children should display an interest in both environmental and personal changes, such as human growth and weather.
Setting children up for a lifetime of healthy choices is a major goal of preschool learning standards throughout the United States. Through classroom instruction and physical education activities, preschool students should develop refined motor skills, recognize situations or substances that are hazardous to their health and identify basic human body parts. Students should begin to learn about nutrition and be able to identify healthy foods in order to begin making positive health choices more independently.