Tips for Creating Preschool IEP Goals

One of the most important topics you’ll discuss in your child’s IEP meeting is what goals to set for their first year at school. Whether academic, behavioral, functional, social, or communication-based, IEP goals prioritize the specific skills that your child needs to make progress in school.

Here’s what you need to know to write appropriately challenging goals for your child.

Parent input and needs identification

Goals are developed based on your child’s identified needs in areas such as math, reading, or social skills in the Present Levels of Performance (PLOP) section of your child’s IEP. Your input as a parent is incredibly valuable when it comes to determining which skills to prioritize.

Here are some of the questions that you are most equipped to answer in the IEP meeting:

• Are there academic, functional, social, or communication goals that would be valuable in both the home and school setting?

• Which skills will support your child’s independence and long-term development?

• Which skills provide the essential building blocks your child needs to be successful in a subject area?

If you aren’t asked to provide input during the meeting, interrupt to let them know that you’d like to contribute to developing your child’s goals. You are an integral part of the IEP team, after all.

Early childhood age-level standards

While considering IEP goals for your child, we recommend learning more about general expectations for three-year-old children. The California Preschool Learning Foundations and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five contain research-based standards for what young children are typically capable of based on their age.

Some of the benefits of using early learning standards to create IEP goals include:

• Ensuring that your child will have the greatest access to the preschool curriculum

• Helping them meet state standards for kindergarten readiness

Non-academic goals

It’s important to note that not all IEP goals need to focus on your child’s academic skills. Functional, or non-academic goals, can be just as important.

Here are some areas you might consider creating non-academic goals:

• Safety skills (for example, your child may need support learning pedestrian safety)

• Self-care goals (for example, your child may need help learning to feed themselves)

• Behavior goals (for example, your child may need support learning how to calm themselves down when they become upset)

IDEA states that all IEPs must include:

• A statement of measurable annual goals for your child that meet your child’s needs resulting from their disability, so they can be involved in the general curriculum and make progress in school.

• A description of how your child’s progress toward meeting their annual goals will be measured, and when you will be provided with periodic reports on their progress.

We recommend using a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) design. Here is an example of what a SMART goal might look like for a preschooler:

You can create SMART goals by making sure each goal includes the important components of the time frame, condition, skill, supports, accuracy, and evaluation:


Read more about writing IEP goals and get printable IEP templates here!