Jul 18 2008
Your Preschooler at 4
I am always amazed at the leaps and strides in development that children have over the first five years of their life. There is so much going on and before you know it, you have a person with a complex personality that can be almost mind boggling. Not only do they have distinct dislikes and likes, they have separate personalities traits depending on where they are.
One of the funniest experiences I had with this was with one 3 year old that I taught. She was a great child in my classroom and every day she would ask me to do her hair, either a french braid, two french braids or a multitude of other hairstyles that I can do. She would go home almost neater in appearance than when she arrived and I would often sing her praises to her mom at pick up time. “Oh, no, there was no problems with little S today. She helped bring down snack and she went to sleep right away at nap and…”
Her mom would stare at me, slack jawed and answer, “Are you sure your talking about my kid? You’re not confusing her with someone else are you?”
The moral to this long story was that S behaved completely different with me than with her parents right down to the hair battle, which was so bad that her parents would ask me to do her hair if something special was going on that evening or weekend.
And that brings me to four-year-olds because even though I was chatting about a three-year-olds personality, hers were nothing compared to the difference that you see in a four-year-olds.
By the time your child is 4, there are a few developmental milestones that you should be seeing. Remember that this is a range of normalcy so there may be things where your child is advanced and things where they are behind. Don’t worry, all children catch up.
- can feel and express many different feelings verbally.
- Is able to take turns and should begin to play cooperatively.
- plays role playing and other imaginary games
- begins to recognize patterns
- is beginning to have more spacial awareness
- grasps the concept of time but not the actual duration.
- able to manipulate scissors
- can use the pincer grip while holding a pencil
- has more control over stopping when he or she is running
- can stand on one foot
- should be able to jump
- can catch and throw a ball
- should be able to dress and undress by himself. He may need assistance with some items.
And the biggest one that all children seem to share regardless of age or developmental milestone: Continues to amaze you each and every day.
Sirena Van Schaik
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