Is my child ready for preschool? A simple Randburg parent's checklist
"Is my child ready for preschool?" is one of the most common questions we get from Randburg parents, usually delivered with a mix of excitement and worry. The honest answer is: readiness looks different for every child, and it isn't a single moment. It's a gradual gathering of skills.
Here's a simple, four-area checklist we share with parents who are weighing up the move into our Hedgehogs, Squirrels, or Bunnies classes.
1. Sleep and routine
You don't need a perfect sleeper. You do want a child whose day has some shape to it.
- Does your child have a roughly predictable wake time, nap time, and bedtime?
- Can they cope with a slightly different routine on weekends or when visiting family?
- Are they getting somewhere close to the sleep their age needs (most under-threes need 11–14 hours including a nap)?
If naps are still chaotic, that's fine, preschool routine often helps consolidate them. What matters is that your child can recover from a tired moment without the day falling apart.
2. Separation
This is the one parents worry about most. Some children wave cheerfully on day one. Others cry at every drop-off for two weeks. Both are normal.
What you're looking for is the capacity to recover. Can your child be comforted by another familiar adult, a grandparent, a babysitter, a family friend, within a few minutes? If yes, they have the foundation for separating at school. The rest is practice and a teacher who knows how to ease the goodbye.
"My son started with Luluki when he was around 8 months. The teachers are amazing, supportive and caring. My son gets so excited to go to school." — Hayley Francke, Luluki parent
3. Language and communication
Children don't need to be talking in full sentences to start preschool. They do need to be able to communicate somehow, pointing, gesturing, single words, eye contact, or sentences, depending on age.
By age:
- 12–18 months: Can your child point to ask for things? Use a few single words or sounds consistently?
- 2 years: Around 50–200 words, starting to combine two words ("more juice", "mommy gone").
- 3 years: Short sentences, asking simple questions, mostly understood by people outside the family.
- 4–5 years: Telling a simple story, following two-step instructions, using "why" and "how" questions.
If something feels off, talk to your paediatrician or a speech therapist sooner rather than later, early intervention is powerful, and a good preschool will partner with you on it.
4. Social play
Social skills are the ones preschool develops most directly, so you don't need them already in place. But a few signs suggest your child is ready to thrive:
- Interest in other children, even just watching them.
- Some capacity to share or take turns with an adult helping (this is age-appropriately limited under 3).
- Tolerance for short periods of waiting, for food, for a turn, for help.
- Comfort being held, comforted, or guided by adults other than parents.
What about toilet training?
At Luluki, toilet training is not a pre-condition. Our Hedgehogs, Squirrels, and most Bunnies are still in nappies, and we work alongside families when the time is right. If a school is pressuring you to potty train before three, that's worth a conversation.
What if some boxes aren't ticked?
Don't panic. Almost no child arrives "ready" on every dimension, and the right preschool environment is precisely what helps the missing pieces develop. What matters is finding a school that meets your child where they are, not where a checklist says they should be.
That's the philosophy at Luluki. Our curriculum is designed around developmental stage, not chronological age. A two-year-old who isn't quite ready for the Bunnies routine slots into Squirrels for another term. A four-year-old who is racing ahead of Otters joins Meerkats early. The goal is the right fit, not the box on the form.
Still not sure? Come for a tour, bring your child, and watch how they react. Book a visit here. Most of the time, you'll know within twenty minutes.