VPK Programs 4 to 5 Years

 
How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves offers important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age.

Social and Emotional 

• Enjoys doing new things 
• Plays “Mom” and “Dad” 
• Is more and more creative with make-believe 
• Would rather play with other children than by himself
• Cooperates with other children 
• Often can’t tell what’s real and what’s make-believe 
• Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in.

Language/Communication 

• Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she” 
• Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus” 
• Tells stories 
• Can say first and last name.

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) 

• Names some colors and some numbers 
• Understands the idea of counting 
• Starts to understand time 
• Remembers parts of a story 
• Understands the idea of “same” and “different” 
• Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts 
• Uses scissors 
• Starts to copy some capital letters 
• Plays board or card games 
• Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book. 

Movement/Physical Development 

• Hops and stands on one foot up to 2 
• Catches a bounced ball most of the time 
• Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food 

 How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves offers important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age.

Social and Emotional 

• Wants to please friends 
• Wants to be like friends 
• More likely to agree with rules Likes to sing, dance, and act Is aware of gender 
• Can tell what’s real and what’s make-believe 
• Shows more independence (for example, may visit a next-door neighbor by himself [adult supervision is still needed])
• Is sometimes demanding and sometimes very cooperative camera

Language/Communication 

• Speaks very clearly 
• Tells a simple story using full sentences 
• Uses future tense; for example, “Grandma will be here.” 
• Says name and address

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) 

• Counts 10 or more things 
• Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts 
• Can print some letters or numbers 
• Copies a triangle and other geometric shapes 
• Knows about things used every day, like money and food 

Movement/Physical Development 

• Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer 
• Hops; may be able to skip 
• Can do a somersault 
• Uses a fork and spoon and sometimes a table knife 
• Can use the toilet on her own 
• Swings and climbs