Age 3 to 4

Education

It's never too early to start thinking about your child's plans for their future. This includes teaching children to:

  • have a voice
  • enjoy positive relationships
  • have dreams and aspirations as they grow older

Preparing for adulthood starts at the very earliest stage of a child's education.

If your child is in childcare or early education, you can ask to speak to the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO).

Maintained nursery schools and classes must have a SENCO. Early years settings are expected to identify a SENCO and childminders are encouraged to identify a SENCO.

You can find out about support for pre-school children with SEND in the early years and childcare section.

Support

Some families who have children with additional needs may benefit from some extra help to:

  • improve their child's education
  • improve their parenting skills or behaviour management of their child
  • meet a specific health or emotional need
  • respond to a short-term crisis such as bereavement, or parental separation

You can seek help from your local Children and Family Wellbeing Service.

Family Hubs host SEND activities and groups plus behaviour management support such as Stepping Stones or the Triple P programme.

You can request family support directly from Home-Start UK. Home-Start volunteers work alongside families to overcome the challenges they are facing. Home-Start work with families to build on their strengths and give them the support that they want and need.

To help your child develop speech and language skills, lots of resources are available. See what's on across all services at Lancashire County Council for events at libraries or your local Family Hub. These include groups such as Chat, Play and Read and Development Matters.

You can see ideas for activities for you and your children to do together to help them learn and get ready to start school.

Friendships and leisure opportunities

If you use Facebook, follow "Lancashire Local Offer" on Facebook. There is lots of information about groups, events, activities and support for families of children with SEND.

Health

Health practitioners will make reasonable adjustments for children and young people with SEND attending health appointments. This can include:

  • using pictures, large print or simpler words to say what's happening
  • putting an appointment at the beginning or the end of the day if you find it hard to wait in a busy waiting room
  • booking longer appointments or having a carer with you.

At this age or earlier, children should begin to:

  • develop good bedtime routines with support
  • understand how important it is to drink and stay hydrated
  • understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods
  • learn to brush their teeth and know why this is important to keep their teeth from decay

There is lots of support available to you as a family. You can visit the Local Offer SEND Directory for information, speak to your GP or health visitor, or speak to someone at your local Family Hub for advice and guidance.