Four Year Old Develomental Milestones

These are the developmental milestones that should be achieved by the end of the fourth year of life. This information is from the AAP. Inwe fits all these descriptions. I've added my own comments in parentheses.

Movement

• Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds


• Goes upstairs and downstairs without support


• Kicks ball forward


• Throws ball overhand


• Catches bounced ball most of the time


• Moves forward and backward with agility

Hand and Finger Skills

• Copies square shapes


• Draws a person with two to four body parts (Inwe’s figures have fingers and toes as well.)


• Uses scissors


• Draws circles and squares (Her teacher told me on Monday that Inwe is one of the few who can draw a triangle.)


• Begins to copy some capital letters (She can draw nearly all her capital letters and many of her lowercase letters.)

Language (All you have to do is talk to her on the phone once and you’ll agree that she excels in this category.)

• Understands the concepts of "same" and "different"


• Has mastered some basic rules of grammar


• Speaks in sentences of five to six words


• Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand


• Tells stories

Cognitive

• Correctly names some colors (All colors. She even knows turquoise.)


• Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers (She knows a lot of numbers, but can really only recognize up to the number 11.)


• Approaches problems from a single point of view


• Begins to have a clearer sense of time


• Follows three-part commands


• Recalls parts of a story


• Understands the concept of same/different


• Engages in fantasy play

Social

• Interested in new experiences


• Cooperates with other children (Unless that child’s name is Larien.)


• Plays "Mom" or "Dad"


• Increasingly inventive in fantasy play


• Dresses and undresses


• Negotiates solutions to conflicts


• More independent (Haven’t I blogged about this?)

Emotional

• Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be "monsters"


• Views self as a whole person involving body, mind and feelings


• Often cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality (I’d say she has a great ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.)