Your Four Year Old

Parallel to the Teenage Years.

Socially and emotionally, this age tends to be bossy or boastful at times. He or she greets people with “Hey!” or “You know what?” Is extremely social and always seeking play with small groups or a close friend. Loyalites can shift frequently, these children can be assertive and cocky. Your child may experiment with teasing, humor, being silly, can cover up insecurities with bravado. He or she may test limits, be impatient or be insistent on selfish needs. This age group is working on conflict resolution and need to find the drama in situations to further develop their language in handling social conflict. “Your not my best friend.” “You can’t come to my birthday party.” Drama, drama, drama.

Cognitively, this age has big ideas! They are more allowing of change without preparation. They can be a fabricator and enjoy telling stories. They begin to show interest in wondering about life and death, today and tomorrow and understands simple reasons for things. This age can do two things at once, has an attention span of 8–12 minutes and begins using generalizations. At this age they should have some recognition of letters, sounds and begin to take on number quantities.

Physically, children this age begin to lean out, making accurate but quick body movements. They can jump about their own height and land upright. They can throw and kick with some accuracy. They should have a comfortable pincer grip in which they can draw most shapes and are beginning to form letters and numbers.