{"id":985,"date":"2009-11-16T18:35:02","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T01:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=985"},"modified":"2009-11-27T14:59:10","modified_gmt":"2009-11-27T21:59:10","slug":"what%e2%80%99s-happening-at-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=985","title":{"rendered":"What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Happening at 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagination goes into overdrive this year.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Remember:<\/span><\/em> Every child develops at her own pace. These guidelines are general. There is a broad range of what is considered “normal.” It’s not unusual for a child to be advanced in one area, lag slightly in another. Check with your doctor if you have any concerns.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Four-year-olds are full of energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity. Their imaginations are working on overdrive. They are full of “whys” and can conduct a sophisticated conversation in which they incorporate the knowledge they seem to absorb. They play more cooperatively with other children; enjoy fantasy and often engage in dramatic play; and are better at following rules and exercising self-control. Still, they are only four years old, and may often act impulsively. They may begin to plan ahead \u00e2\u20ac\u201d “I’m going to build a parking garage with the blocks” \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as opposed to building something without a plan and then finding a purpose for it. They enjoy a variety of hands-on experiences and love to learn about the workers in their community (firefighters, police officers, postal workers), and field trips enrich the preschool experience.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Language<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nThey are learning about:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 different kinds of books \u00e2\u20ac\u201d fiction, nonfiction, poetry
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 wordplay and silly songs, language
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 telling a story
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 using puppets to dramatize a story
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 drawing pictures specifically to illustrate a story, rather than just painting or coloring
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 noticing details in stories and adding details to their own stories
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 predicting what will happen in a storybook using the illustrations as a guide
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 singing songs and making up their own verses
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 identifying letters, printing some letters, perhaps their own name, maybe others<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Physical<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nThey are developing:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 large-motor skills. They can pump a swing, climb a rope ladder, slide down a pole, skip, hop.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 fine-motor skills. They can use scissors, smaller brushes\/crayons\/markers, string small beads, build with smaller Legos, buttons.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Intellectual<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nThey are learning about:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 sorting and classifying not only by color and size, but also by category (for example all dolls go in the bin, all the accessories go in another box)
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 sequencing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d can organize a series of events in order of before and after
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 counting from 1 to 20 (or higher)
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 cause and effect: “If I add too much juice to the cup, it will overflow,” but there is still “magical thinking” (which can be as simple as believing in Santa Claus, but also can be “if I think a bad thought, it will make it happen”)
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 comparison \u00e2\u20ac\u201d more\/less<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Social\/Emotional<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nThey are learning about:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 collaborating with others on projects, cooperating, taking turns, helping others, empathy
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 family roles and responsibilities
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 managing fears and controlling impulses (but still have many fears and are not always in control)
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 similarities and differences related to gender, race, other physical characteristics
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 making choices: “I want to build with blocks, so I can’t paint during free play today”
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 themselves, such as their likes and preferences
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 being goal directed in activities: “I want to climb to the top of the jungle gym and slide down the pole”<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0 Imagination goes into overdrive this year. \u00c2\u00a0 Remember: Every child develops at her own pace. These guidelines are general. There is a broad range of what is considered “normal.” It’s not unusual for a child to be advanced in one area, lag slightly in another. Check with your doctor if you have any concerns. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,15],"tags":[409,303],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2460,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/2460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}