Preshool Vision: Age 2 - 5

Every experience a preschooler has is an opportunity for growth and development. You want you preschooler to get a great start in life, right? In their first few years, you make sure they've had the best nutrition, warm clothing and good medical care. They're up to date on their shots, starting to speak, and certainly by now most are a bundle of energy that you, the parent, get to chase. Your little preschooler is developing their own personality now, and can let you know their every want. But keep in mind, wants and needs are two very different things. Everything you've done for them up to now has been to ensure their life starts off on the right path. One thing you might not have thought about up to this point is their vision. Your child uses his or her vision to guide other learning experiences. From ages 2 to 5, your child will be fine-tuning the visual abilities gained during infancy and developing new ones.

Every experience a preschooler has is an opportunity for growth and development. Stacking building blocks, rolling a ball back and forth, coloring, drawing, cutting, or assembling lock-together toys all help improve important visual skills. Preschoolers depend on their vision to learn tasks that will prepare them for school. They are developing the visually-guided eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills and visual perceptual abilities necessary to learn to read and write.

Preschoolers are eager to draw and look at pictures. Also, reading to young children is important to help them develop strong visualization skills as they "picture" the story in their minds.

This is also the time when parents need to be alert for the presence of vision problems like crossed eyes or lazy eye. These conditions often develop at this age. Crossed eyes or strabismus involves one or both eyes turning inward or outward. Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is a lack of clear vision in one eye, which can't be fully corrected with eyeglasses. Lazy eye often develops as a result of crossed eyes, but may occur without noticeable signs.

In addition, parents should watch their child for indication of any delays in development, which may signal the presence of a vision problem. Difficulty with recognition of colors, shapes, letters and numbers can occur if there is a vision problem.

The preschool years are a time for developing the visual abilities that a child will need in school and throughout his or her life. Steps taken during these years to help ensure vision is developing normally can provide a child with a good "head start" for school.

It's a good idea to have your preschool-age child's eyes checked before they start school. With the latest technology, San Bernardino Eyecare Associates can detect vision problems in very small children, which if caught early enough can great and positively impact your child's learning capabilities for the rest of their life.

Thank you to the American Optometric Association for this fascinating, informative article.