Preschool Period

1. Preschool Period 3-6 years

2. 3 yr old Physical Development At three years old a child physical development increases quite a bit. They are growing in height and weight, but there motor skills are getting better as well . At the age of three your child should be on the move a lot. This is the time where they are learning and discovering things about their body. MOTOR SKILLS AT 3: • Turn the page of book without ripping the page • With practice, can use safety scissors correctly • Start to show dominance in either left or right hand • Begin building towers Overall Physical Development at 3 • Understanding of basic safety rules Ex. “Don’t touch the stove it’s hot !” or Holding hands as you cross the street and look both ways • Can dress and undress themselves sort of. Ex. putting on pants and shirt but still may put shoes on the wrong foot • Can wash their own hands • Sometimes show signs of potty training readiness, but still some occasional bed wets

3. 3 yr old Cognitive Development During cognitive development in a 3 yrs older it is about absorbing information, asking questions, and understanding. There mind is developing more ; this causes the child to want to know more , and see what else they can discover. Your child will be asking lots and lots of questions. He/ She will be asking “why” basically to everything . This is a normal development milestone. Your kid should also be able to • Correctly name familiar colors • Understand the idea of same and different • Turn rotating handles • Screw and Unscrew Jars • Can speak in short 3-5 word sentences • Vocabulary should be at least 250 words • Responding to straight forward questions ex. “ Are you hungry, How old are you, What is your name ?

4. 3 yr old Social Development Social and emotional development is one of the most important parts of your childs growth. During this time your childs temper tantrums tend to increase because around this age your child is learning how to deal wtih stressful situations. Three year olders are able to start developing true friendships with new friends and sometimes imaginary ones. These friendships are gained through your child understanding how to play cooperatively with other children. At the same your three year older will still be attahced to you in a way.Your child will be able to : • indicate preferences for things and understand what belongs to them • start to tattle if they feel they have been wronged by another child or sibling • Share and take turns ( may not always like it) • will begin to copy actions and behavior of others ; Particularly children

5. 4 yr old Physical Development Your four year olders physical development is changing in many different ways. He/She will be able to perform task more independently. Both small and large muscles are improving. An average four year older is 40lbs, and 40in.tYour child should be gaining about 6 grams in weight everyday. There vision should be 20/20 and there balance should be improving as well. Your four year older should be able use utensils effectively to feed thereself. They should be able to ride and steer a bike with training wheels.

6. 4 yr old Cognitive Development • Vocabulary of more than 1,000 words • At least counts to 4 • Some words that a 4 yr old uses can not be fully understood • Learn/sing simple songs • More understanding of time (difference between night and day) • Lacks concept of right and wrong • Rebels when there are too many expectations • Can tell the difference between two objects baed om size and weight

7. 4 yr old Social Development • Conforms to group decisions • Cooperates with teacher • Prefer to play with gender appropriate activities • Share and cooperates • Your child will often put his/her arm around a friend, and understands when a friend is upset • Still lacks a sense of loyalty to friendships Ex. Maggie is Sally’s best friend, but when sally gets to go on the slide before maggie; maggie then gets mad and sally is no longer her best friend.

8. 5 yr old Physical Development At 5 many begin to grow out of chubby cheeked toddlers into skinny grade schoolers they soon to become. Your child will lose fat and gain muscle. This is the time when he/ she start to lose there baby teeth and grow in there permanent teeth. Having new teeth means kearning to take care of them . Some kids will be able to brush on there own with still some supervision. Your child should now be able to start washing there self and wiping there own bottoms.

9. 5 yr old Cognitive Development At 5 your child is starting to master the alphabet. He/ she may know some simple words while others may be reading on a first grade level. Your child can remember stories but the details will not be exact. Even thought the details may not be good; he or she understands a story has a beginning , middle, and end. Just like understanding a story your child should be able to understand the concept of time. For example your daughter or son will understand “ Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday. Your childs imagination will expand as well. He/ she should be able to participate in more complex playing such as “make believe”.

10. 5 yr old Social Development Friendships is more important to 5 yr olders. He/ she may begin to gravitate towards certain select friends. They may form close-knit bonds with 2 or 3 kids. Your child will understand rules and will want to follow them to please the adult. At the same time your 5 yr old may try to push boundaries as he/ she try new things; and assert their likes and dislikes. Pushing boundaries is not the only curiosity of a five year old. They become more interested in knowing about how memebers of the family are related to each other. Your child also will enjoy sharing as well as recieving.

11. 6 yr old Physical Development 6 year olders enjoy physical activities. They enjoy moving in a variety of ways. Even though they are far from perfecting motor skills; they still get excited about trying new activities/ sports. Your 6 year older should be able to : • Jump and land • Rolling and transferring weight from feet to hands • Hand and foot eye coordination is still developing

12. 6 yr old Cognitive Development Reading really takes off at the age of 6. Your 6 year older will begin or continue to develop independent reading, and will enjoy writing there own stories . Especially stories about themselves; for example writing a short paragraph about what they did over the summer. Also your 6 yr older should be able to : • Start learning punctuation and capitilization in sentences • Begin to understand “evens” and “odd” numbers\ • May learn how to add up to 10 in there head • Learn to identify simple patterns • Learn how to identify coins and count money

13. 6 yr old Social Development The social development in a 6 year old can be somewhat complex. Your 6 yr old loves to show off their talent and is confident , but has a mean side . On the other hand your 6 year olds friendships are unstable and sometimes he/she can be mean to his/ her peers. Your child will feel the need to win competitions and if possible change the rules to have a better outcome. A 6 year older will: • Start to show more interest in adults and peers outside the family • Will tell you what he or she is doing • Clean there room on there own and make there bed 6 year old friendships and other social relationships with peers and adults become more complex and mean more as the child grows. They begin to come aware of the world around them, and their role in it.