Pre-school Vision
Preschoolers use their vision to guide all their learning experiences. From ages 2 to 5, a child will be fine-tuning the visual abilities gained during infancy and developing new ones.
Stacking building blocks, rolling a ball back and forth, coloring, drawing, using scissors, or assembling toys all improve important visual skills. Preschoolers depend on their vision to learn tasks that will prepare them for school. They are developing the eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills and visual perception necessary to learn to read and write.
This is also the time when parents need to be alert for the presence of vision problems such as crossed eyes or lazy eye. Crossed eyes or strabismus involve 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. In addition, parents should watch their child for an indication of any delays in development. Difficulty recognizing colors, shapes, letters, and numbers can occur if there is a vision problem.
Steps taken during these years to help ensure their vision is developing normally can provide a child with a good head start for school.
PARENTS GUIDE TO CHILDREN’S NORMALVISUAL DEVELOPMENT–From Infancy to Preschool