While the start of the new school year is still six months away, now is the time to be deciding if your child will start preschool in the fall.

St. James Elementary School preschool teachers Monika Chalupa and Sonya Love-Smith say there are certain traits kids should be showing to indicate they’re ready to go to school, Chalupa said, “If you want your child to be ready to partake in activities and interact with friends we’re looking for a little bit of independence. When they go to the bathroom can they pull down and pull up their pants? When we go outside can they put on a little jacket or sweater? Are they brave enough to ask for help if they can’t?” Love-Smith added, “And I would say, they just are ready to be with friends. Our job is to teach them all of the ABCs and 123s, a big part of early childhood is social and emotional, and that’s a big part of our program.” Also, children should be potty trained before going to preschool.

Principal Beth McBride says preschool helps prepare students for education ahead and they learn through play, “Their play is their work, and so they do so much learning, informally learning math skills and pre-reading skills. And a big thing are the social skills, learning how to interact with one another, and again those problem solving skills, whose turn is it right now and how do we solve this, how do we work this out.”

St. James is hosting preschool informational meetings on February 22nd from 4 to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Stewart Elementary School in Washington also has preschool pre-registration open with a registration night tentatively scheduled for March 22nd.