What can/could your 4 year do?

[Backonceagainwiththerenegademaster]

Could they read letters/sounds, words, books yet? Write letters, their name, sentences or nothing?
Just curious what sort of stage..ish, most 4 year olds are at.

My elder DD was still on Pink books in Yr1. Her handwriting was completely illegible then as well. Turned out she has Dyslexia. She spent her preschool year enjoying the mud kitchen...

Younger DD was taught phonics and writing in preschool (she "wrote" a story but it wasn't very legible!) and picked up reading very quickly in Reception.

Different kids who had access to Different things at different times.

Mine started reading around 6 really. Until then it was very ‘cat’ ‘dog’ with assistance.
Letters I suppose she had nailed around the age of 5 but with the occasional bit of confusion.
Once she got rolling with both, she advanced through reading levels very quickly and is now similar to ‘the average’ peer.
Maths has always been a weak point for her.
If you’re asking out of worry - I really wouldn’t at this stage.

My youngest was 4 in August and is in his preschool year of nursery. He can recognise about half the alphabet, recognise his name and write it (albeit not very well). I am working with him at home to try and teach him letters, writing and reading but he's only 4 and lots of that will come in time. He's much more of a physical play kind of kid.

By contrast DS1 was writing his name at approx 3.5yo, knew all his letters and was learning phonics, and practicing letters by this stage. I taught him to read and he was able to do so really well before he started school and can now read at a far more advanced level for his age. He desperately wanted to learn to read and write from the month he turned 4 though so it was a much easier process with him.

All 4 year olds are different..don't expect too much from them but don't be shocked if they surprise you!

My DD was 4 in august and can write her name, read / say sounds and is just starting to read (as in, she has started on a second book). She can count up to 30/40etc but doesn't recognise numbers up to the same level.

Just 4 or an older 4? There is a huge difference!

DD1 could write her name (plus form a few other letters) and knew half the letter sounds, but couldn't blend when she turned 4. She could also count to 100 and count in 10s. By the time she was nearing 5 (the end of reception for her), she had caught up with the rest of the class with reading and writing. She was writing sentences, over half way through the phonics scheme, could count in 2s and 5s as well as the 10s she already knew, and could do number bonds to 20 as well as simple addition and subtracts.

DD2 knew 1/2 of the graphemes and could read sentences at ORT level 3 when she turned 4. She was writing simple sentences. Her maths was less advanced than DD1's at the same age, but she could count to 20 and could work out 1 more/1 less up to 20.
By the time she neared 5 she knew all the graphemes and was able to fluently decode any phonetically spelled words. She was writing extended sentences although still struggling with some letter formations. She could also do the same maths as her sister at the same stage bar counting in 2s (she only knew 5s because her sister taught her).

He is a little bit. His speech isn't amazing, but nothing to worry about apparently, just a little behind. He didn't have a good start to life and spent a lot of time in hospital so it's amazing he's so incredible physically. V proud of him!

Ok don't take offence! Just meant to signify that the children I'm talking about have reasonably keen parents who are pretty pushy about them reading and writing early. In spite of that most of them are not reading by 4...unlike the poster I was replying to who said that her child and their classmates were reading whole books by 4.

Anyway there is no point pretending that parental socio economic status doesn't affect children's school achievement level. It's not a reflection on the dedication and skills of the teachers.

None of it at 4 when he started school.

All of it by 5 (but I taught him to read at home during covid school closures)

He is now 8 and at the top of his class.

It is much too early to make comparisons in any meaningful sense.

Dd is almost 4, can write her name and tell you phonetically how to spell her name, form letters but not very well better at writing numbers. Knows all her alphabet phonetically and knows a lot of the digraphs too. Can read green level read write inc books.

she is a younger sibling with a love of books. Some days at nursery she doesn't leave the book corner all day. Older sibling could spell out name/recognise name but not write it at the same age, count to 10 but no phonics.

My dd (summer born) has just started school, and can recognise most of the letters. She is good at sounding out simple words, so definitely understands the concept of sounds mixing together to make words. She gets a bit mixed up with upper and lower case letters, and so this slows down the actual reading of words at the moment. She can write letters, but isn't yet writing words.

My son could read and write simple words and sentences at 4.

My oldest daughter knew the alphabet at 4, but took a bit longer to get the concept of blending sounds to make words. She could write letters.

you’re aware that ‘whole’ books for children that young are like 10 pages with a few big words on the page right?

Mine is nearly 5 and can write the alphabet and his name, recognise various words by sight. He hasn't really got the hang of phonics yet though.

He can also recognise numbers well into the thousands and tell the time. He can draw a washing machine and a hoover better than he can draw a person.

He struggles with getting dressed, using cutlery, asking and answering questions, following instructions.

He's being assessed for ASD.

My youngest is 4 (and 4 months), she can write her own name, recognise a lot of basic words and do number bonds to 10. She's still at preschool as we're in Scotland. Her maths is mostly due to her maths obsessed older brother.

She can also recognise all the letters of the alphabet and count to at least 50 in English and French. Her writing and colouring in are very good as well. Think it varies a lot. We did exactly the same stuff with her brother and age for age she's definitely ahead on reading, writing and drawing.

You said they mostly can’t write their own name legibly. Most four year olds can write their own name. Even if they aren’t middle class.

I was thinking of starting a thread like this. My 4 year old can recognise all letters of the alphabet, knows basic phonics, he can write letters of the alphabet bit not very well. I've been teaching him some first words at home.

I've been worrying that he isn't making progress but hearing the range of abilities makes me feel reassured.

My son has just turned 4 and he recognises numbers but not letters yet. Can't write. Several teachers have told me children don't need to know anything for starting school so I'm not worried! I guess he might pick some more stuff up by the time he starts in September but no big deal if he doesn't.

Mine drove me demented at 4. My 24 year old still does. Absolutely doing my head in chatting shit right now. Nothing much has changed. She still loves books.

My 4yo can read words like "cat nap taps hot" etc he can write his name and some easy words. He struggles with holding a pen and writing though.

@Guessie

Oh I didn’t mean it in a bad way. All I meant was to at at just turned four there really is no behind ‘academically.’ It’s such a wide scale and it’s just developmental at that age. Children are all over the scale at 3/4 and catch each other up quickly. Just like how some children won’t be riding their bike alone like he is but they’re not ‘behind physically’ because it’s just not how it works when they’re tiny. He sounds like a brilliant little boy too!

I had four four yr olds (not simultaneously) and they were all different in regard to reading. One could write sentences and read fluently at age 3. One could read quite well just before starting school at 5. The other two knew letter sounds at 4 ( well enough to play "I spy something beginning with letter sound") but didn;t start reading until P1 (they were both reading well by the end of first term).

By 4th birthday , they could all count, dress and undress themselves completely , including putting shoes on the right feet and fastening them, ride a 2 wheeler bike, swim, toilet independently including wiping bottoms.

DD is 4.5. She can write her own name fairly legibly and write and identify all the letters of the alphabet, but can’t blend and struggles to pick out letter sounds from words (eg. that cactus starts with c) She can count to 30 but no addition or subtraction yet. Still has stabilisers on her bike, recently gotten very good at doing buttons up which she is incredibly proud of

My DS was 3 in Aug. He knows the alphabet and the letter names/phonics and can spell out words with building blocks / magnetic letters. Nothing long but he can do his own name and basic words like dog, cat, bus. I think he recognises then when written down too but doesn't read per se. He's not massively in to drawing but can write some of the letters. He knows his numbers up to 100 and can do some very basic maths (eg if you have five or something and take two away, what do you have left). He is in to letters and numbers to the exclusion of pretty much everything else at the moment now though.

Definitely don't worry, although TBH your 4yo sounds like he's doing well! The amount they learn in their reception year is crazy and (barring AN) they catch up very quickly even if they start 'behind'.

My dd is 4 years and 2 months and she can write her name and quite a few other words like mummy, daddy etc. She knows all the alphabet and sounds, can count to approx 100 in numbers although sometimes gets stuck on the 70 & 80. I have recently been teaching her how to read and spell 3 and 4 letter words like cat, mat, sat, rat. She can spell at least 50 words, but she can't quite read a book independently yet.

Also I've taught her the days of the week and she know writes them daily on her whiteboard at home and just started teaching the months of the year.