Children in the Pre-K I classroom are four year olds who do not make the cutoff date to attend kindergarten that year. In the table below, we've identified some milestones that children reach when during their fours. These are just guidelines, please remember that all children advance at their own pace.
|
Social & Emotional |
4 years |
rapid mood changes; easily over-stimulated and excitable; shows off, is cocky and noisy; can fight own battles; often resistant, testing limits; has food jags and food strikes - changing from one day to the next |
|
hits, grabs, insists on own desires; explosive and destructive, dominates, is bossy, boastful or belligerent; assertive, argumentative; impatient in large groups |
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cooperates in small groups; develops "special" friends but shifts loyalties often; likes power of including or excluding others, tattles frequently; may have scary dreams |
| |
great sense of humor, likes to tease and outwit; exaggerates and tells tall tales; alibi's frequently; |
|
Language |
4 years |
has more words than knowledge; great talker, questioner; likes words, plays with them; |
| |
has interest in poetry; loves being read to; interested in dramatizing songs or stories; enjoys taking turns to sing along, |
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able to talk to resolve conflicts; responds to verbal directions; asks "when?", "why?", "how?" |
| |
practices words; uses voice control, pitch and rhythm; joins sentences together |
|
Physical - Motor Skills |
4 years |
longer, leaner body; vigorous, dynamic and acrobatic; active until exhausted; play as work - builds, drives and pilots |
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Can jump own height and land upright; hops and skips; throws large ball, kicks accurately; jumps over objects; turns somersaults; |
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walks in a straight line; races up and down stairs using alternate feet; walks backward toe to heel |
| |
copies a cross, square; can draw a stick figure; holds paint brush in adult manner, pencil in fisted grasp; |
| |
can lace shoes; dresses self except for back buttons, ties; has sureness and control in finger activities |
|
Intellectual -Cognitive |
4 years |
does some naming and representational art; gives art products a personal value |
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full of ideas; dynamic intellectual drive;questions constantly; interested in how things work; interested in life/death concepts |
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can work toward a goal; has extended attention span; can do two things at once; has accurate sense of time; |
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judges which of two objects is larger; has the concept of three - can name more; |
| |
begins to generalize, often faulty; calls people names; has imaginary playmates; recognizes several printed words |
