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.

DS is 4 and 4 months. He can write his name (although often gets his J the wrong way round), can recognise all letters and their sounds and can read some simple words (rat, dog, bus). He is ahead of where DD was at this point in reception with his reading and writing.

Sorry forgot to say, she can also do simple addition and subtraction, 5 +2, 7+3, 10-6 etc

My son couldn't do any of those age 4 except write / read his name. He's has a high IQ but still struggles to read or write legibly, aged almost 7. AND we're vair middle class.

My nephew is 4 year 11 months and just started reception and he has been reading books independently for the last 6 months and can read books with words like excited, probably which I was impressed with. He's good at writing sentences such as " Have a good day eating cake" which he wrote last month in his cousins birthday card. He is very advanced to his peers and has counted / talked very confidently since he was very young.

My DD was almost 5 going into reception, and could write her name, but not really write any other letters and could definitely not read. Nursery had tried to introduce phonics and she wasn’t interested and I didn’t push it. Now a year later, she’s 5 nearly 6 and her reading and writing have come on enormously, she’s reading chapter books now and writes allsorts (with wonderfully incorrect spelling 😊) I honestly find the change in that reception year amazing.

I laugh looking back at the months I spent trying to teach my child things before he started school. Teachers can introduce a concept and get the kids to grasp it in an afternoon. There's really no reason to worry about trying to teach anything. Anyway the first couple of years are about laying the foundation for learning - they'll probably go over phonics and first sight words and mental maths counting and adding up to 20 again and again and again.

She can read simple books and sentences. She is an absolute book worm. She’s been reading with her grandad since she was a tiny baby almost every day. This is their activity together and they love it.

DD at 4 could read anything and was reading chapter books silently to herself (roald Dahl etc), writing and illustrating her own stories, etc but query ASD and social and gross motor skills are erm...interesting.

DS seems more 'normal' academically but still a bright boy. Knows his letter sounds, can read simple books, do addition within 10 and can write his name. He could probably do more but I can't get him to sit down and sit still even for 2 minutes (and neither can his teachers).

DD is 4 years 5 months, she started reception last month. By her 4th birthday she could sound out most letters and digraphs, and read simple words. Could count to about 30, and recognise numbers to 20. Quite slow with writing and needed a lot of support to get pencil grip correct, really struggled to write letters (likely hypermobile). She went to a Montessori nursery and was good with independence skills like dressing, buttons, zips, pouring, toileting, using cutlery, carrying trays. She can't swim, despite weekly lessons since age 4 months (minus a Covid lockdown gap of about 8 months).

Half a term into reception and she's reading simple books including some tricky words, writing all the alphabet letters and numbers and writing out simple phonetic (but misspelt) sentences, and doing simple sums. The older kids in the class (who have just had a 5th birthday) are writing sentences legibly and reading more complex books.

My 4 year old can read simple books by herself but she will not write anything with a pencil. She'll happily spell words out with her magnetic letters though. She can recognise numbers beyond 1000 and likes to do basic addition and subtraction. She is autistic though and numbers and letters are her special interest. She also will not sit still for longer than 5 seconds and really struggles socially with other children. She will start school next year

My 4yo can read words and can write his name. Can play piano quite well too. But i’m pianist/psychologist and my husband is scientist. We put lots of effort into discipline and teaching DS

Dgs is just turned three and can recognise all letters and numbers up to ten as well as quite complex shapes such as rhombus, trapezium, pentagon. He can recognise his own name and the names of his friends in pre school and is starting to write his name. I credit his lovely keyworker at pre school who happily paints water on the fences depicting letters numbers shapes etc allowing dgs to flex his really good memory.

All my 3 children could do their phonic sounds, blends, read a book. DD had reading age of 8 when she started school, DS1 was 7 years and 3 months and DS 2 7 years and 6 months. All knew their numbers up to 20. Could write their own names and a few words. DD could write quite neatly but both boys untidy writing at 4. The only reason they could do this is because I had taught them myself, before they started school.