Preschool years, 3 to 5

A research-based look at what preschoolers are actually developing between ages 3 and 5: self-regulation, social skills, imaginative play, and the executive function that makes kindergarten readiness about far more than letters and numbers.

Format
4 modules, 15 lessons
Status
Enrollment open
Price
$49 once, lifetime access
Enroll, $49 See the syllabus

Checkout is here, with Stripe, and the lessons live under My classes.

Birth to 12 months Toddler years, 1 to 3 Preschool years, 3 to 5 The whole family, any age (in development)
Fig. 1Where this class sits among the four. Each covers one window of the same childhood.

By the end of the class

You’ll understand what your preschooler is actually building. Clear about what’s known. Honest about what’s not.

  • What changes in the preschool brain between ages 3 and 5, and why your child can still fall apart over small things.
  • What self-regulation actually is, how it develops, and how adults support it without doing it for the child.
  • Why child-directed play is doing more developmental work than most structured activities.
  • How preschool social skills develop, and what to do (and not do) when children fight or exclude.
  • What kindergarten readiness research actually measures, and why executive function matters far more than academic skills.

Four modules

For the years between toddlerhood and school.

  1. Module 1

    The Thinking Preschooler

    4 lessons

    What changes between ages 3 and 5 in impulse control, working memory, and emotional capacity, how self-regulation grows with an adult’s help, and why a preschooler can seem so much more capable than their behavior on a hard day.

    1. 1The Preschool Brain
    2. 2How Self-Regulation Grows
    3. 3Minds and Feelings
    4. 4Behavior at 3, 4, and 5

  2. Module 2

    Play as the Work

    4 lessons

    What the research says about pretend play, rough-and-tumble, and risky play, how free and guided play each teach, and what screens do and don’t do at this age.

    1. 1Pretend Play
    2. 2Rough-and-Tumble and Risky Play
    3. 3Free Play, Guided Play, and Teaching
    4. 4Screens at 3 to 5

  3. Module 3

    Friends and Feelings

    3 lessons

    How play moves from side by side to together, what sharing, fairness, and helping look like at this age, and what to do (and not do) when children fight or leave each other out.

    1. 1From Playing Beside to Playing Together
    2. 2Sharing, Fairness, and Helping
    3. 3Conflict, Exclusion, and Big Feelings With Others

  4. Module 4

    Ready for School

    4 lessons

    What kindergarten readiness research actually measures: talk that builds thinking, early literacy and early math without worksheets, and why executive function matters more than academic drills.

    1. 1Talk That Builds Thinking
    2. 2Early Literacy Without Worksheets
    3. 3Early Math: The Counting Ladder
    4. 4What Readiness Really Means, and the Year Ahead

Free reading for the preschool years.

Who teaches it.

Matthew McArthur

Created and taught by Matthew McArthur, who holds an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from San Diego State University, where he studied how parent stress, changes at home, screen time, and back-and-forth interaction shape language and thinking from 6 months to 5 years, after working with developmental researchers at UCLA, and he wrote “Why Early Chatter Matters” for Frontiers for Young Minds.

He then spent two years in state-funded early intervention, coaching families with children under 3 who were experiencing delays.

Matthew writes and reviews every lesson. The narration is an AI model of his own voice, reading his script word for word.

A few things parents usually ask first.

How do I start, and how do I get back in?

When you enroll, you create a free account, pay securely with Stripe, and the class opens right away. After that it lives in My classes, which remembers where you left off in every lesson.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Within 14 days of buying, and as long as you’ve watched 4 lessons or fewer, you get a full refund: email Matthew with the address you bought with. A refund ends your access to the class.

Is this medical or psychological advice?

No. The class is educational. For concerns about your own child, your pediatrician and your child’s clinicians are the right people to ask, and the class will help you ask better questions.