Please Tell Me What Your Just Turned 4yr Old Can Do.....

[DanJARMouse]

Can you please tell me what your summer born 4yr old can do in the following areas...

Writing

Reading

Recognising - Numbers/Letters

Counting

I just want to do a comparison after a meeting with the Reception teachers today!
Thank you!
(DD1 was 4 on 24th July)

My dd is 4.5.

She knows most of the letters and can play simple Eye Spy. As in she knows car begins with c, and apple with a. She can do this with all words so has obviously sussed out the sound - letter link. Gnome begins with a N

She can count to 20 but forgets sometimes.

She can copy her name and copies letters down, though does mirror sometimes.

She knows her colours and what colours you get when you mix 2 together.

Knows her shapes.

She's still at kindergarten here and won't start learning this stuff formally until next year. I try to encourage her and have bought lots of books/workbooks but don't force the issue.

my ds sounds the same as Smee's 4 year old
Can write his name but not neatly at all
Can recognise certain words like his name and our names
Can count to 20 sometimes most of the time he misses out 13 and 15
Can't read but can remember a whole story just by looking at the pictures after he's been read it twice

My DD1 is exactly the same age as yours and she can: count to twenty, recognise and 'write' her name, understand the concept that if she counts 10 things then 10 things are there, knows colours, shapes, err, that's it.
She is an bright child, loves puzzles, building blocks, memory and counting games. She loves 'reading' books alone ie looking at pics and telling herself the story.

If you read to her every day and point out the words as you go and if you play at construction, jigsaws, counting etc, she will grasp the concepts behind the 'three r's' which is a fantastic grounding for more formal education.
Remember in other European countries they do not teach reading and writing until 6 or 7. And the children grasp these skills much more quickly at that age.

It sounds to me like she id doing well. My DD is older than yours (May baby) but will not start reception until January. She can write her 6 letter name plus one or two other letters - o, x, capital T (as in To in a card) etc, she can easily count beyond 20, count backwards from 5, not read at all, seems to have no concept of blending, doesn't know all the letters (probably about half). So by January she will be way behind....

dd1 was 4 on sunday so is still at preschool (will literally go to school on her 5th birthday)

Writing - can do her name independently and write most things if I sit with her and talk her through each letter

Reading - recognises words but more to do with branding than reading ie Tesco etc

Recognising - Numbers/Letters - can reconise about 2/3 of teh alphabet and most numbers up to 10

Counting- can count to around 20ish if she can be botehred (if shes not in mood she'll do silly counting ie 1,4,6,3,2 etc)

Ds is only 3.3, this makes me think he is doing quite well with most of the academic stuff but not all of it.

Writing - not his strong area - he can have a stab at writing his name but is a lefty and struggles a bit so only the L really looks right. Can't really draw.

Reading - can sight read quite a few words - maybe 25 plus a few shop signs, and decode simple CVC ones

Recognising - Numbers/Letters - has known all letters for a long time (knew most of them at around 2). recognises numbers up to about 7.

Counting - can count to 30 without help and 40 with a bit of prompting.

Also knows lots of colours like beige, grey silver, gold etc.

But can't dress himself much so that's what we'll be focusing on more than academics in the run up to school in a year's time!

Nothing unusual there. I think Ds goes to show how much development is asynchronous as he is probably 'ahead' of average with most things but behind with others.

My ds isn't summer born but will be 4 in Nov so probably only a few months younger than your dd

Writing - Can hardly hols a pen correctly ans can't really do a straight line or circle yet.

Reading - Still confuses letters with numbers

Recognising - Numbers/Letters - Can sort of recognise 1 and 2 but that is about it

Counting - Can't reliably count to 10 yet. Still saying 1,2,3,6,9 etc.

I am incredibly happy he wasn't summer born. I can't see that 3 months will make THAT much difference.

I do not expect him to be able to read or write at all by the time he starts school in one year's time. If he does fine, if he doesn't that is fine too.

Whya re you worrying about what your 4 yr old can 'do'?

Whya re you worrying about what your 4 yr old can 'do'?

My November born son is very advanced at drawing snails and being a complete pain in the arse, if this helps.

Blimey a lot of your 4 yo's are doing loads mre than my ds. He was 4 in August and started Reception last week. He can recognise his name and the letters in his name in other words. He doesn't write yet I have consciously not pushed that. He can count to 20.

He is still learning to dress himself properly etc. My priorities for him at the moment are learning to be part of the school routine, independance and confidence in his abilities.

Academically he will be fine when he is ready his speech/ vocabulary is very good and he is interested in a range of subjects, loves being read to etc.

Tiger feet - you've just really freaked me out!!!

DD1 is also Lucy and was also 4 on the 2nd July and is developmentally at the same stage as your DD!

Do we secretly have the same child?!!!

(spooky music plays in background...)

Btw what age do kids typically start:

• telling the time
• knowing days of week and what day it is
• knowing what stuff is made of e.g. cutlery is metal, the table is wood, being able to tell what other stuff is made of on the whole.

Not about my ds but friend's kid who could do all this and I was impressed!

I don't understand why it matters what other kids can or can't 'do.'

My three are 13, 10 and 7 and they're all at the top end of their peer groups, but I'm more concerned with them being settled and happy at school.

I had no idea, when they were in reception, of other kids' abilities - in fact, they all spent 3 years in a Steiner school, so the youngest didn't start reception until the summer term (a month after his 5th birthday), and hadn't been exposed to letters/numbers/any formal learning before then. The 10 year old didn't start to read properly until she was nearly 8, and the oldest was at Steiner between 7 and 10.

I'm not championing Waldorf - we took them out - but I think if they'd gone to conventional school throughout their attainment wouldn't be a great deal higher.

A reception teacher once said to me that you can tell the kids who get pushed at home - they refuse to read or participate in the formal learning at school.

Any good teacher would not push a child beyond its capabilities so why would a parent?

I think some of your points are valid but who says anyone is pushing their child on here?

In answer to your question, why does it matter? Truthfully, I find it interesting. I can't compare in RL and I like being able to gauge where ds is at roughly.

I don't know if you all did, but I learnt these things at school without too much trouble.

I blame Early Years Education which has writing their own name etc as 'essential' skills. I'm not mocking anyone on here, we've bought into it too with ds1 who's 4.5, but I just wonder whether we need to? The problem is too is that ds seems to like doing this sort of stuff with us, but I wonder if that's because there's so much approval attached to it.

Resolves now to get muddy with the dcs on Friday and make a cake.

I could read by 4 and I am pretty sure that ds will not be able too (still 4 months, but I don't "teach" him and I am sending him to school in an environment where social and personal development is stressed until 6 when they start to learn more "academic" stuff. I was always considered bright, but actually (with a mother's bias, of course) think ds is brighter than I was, despite not reading yet or doing any writing yet. His brain just functions differently than mine did (although he loves being read to!)I chose to send him to a school where those things are not prioritised because I do not want his early years to feel like a struggle to him, for him to experience "failure" at the very beginning of his academic life. I know he will read and write, and do it well, in his own good time...

meant still 4 months til he turns 4 (he is not only 4 months - now that would be pressure! )

Chipmonks, dd1 is 7 and can do most fo telling th etime.

Dd2 is 4 and know days of the week and months. Think they do this at preschool every day.

Not sure about your last one! I guess they ask and then find out.
Dd1 woul dknow it all, but don't kno how!!!

Couple of weeks ago, avoiding rain in park we ended up back at someone's house so the kids could keep playing (don't know this woman at all). Her son (4.5) was pointing at a globe and could name every country (even all the teeny African ones). His mum was all proud, then told me he went to a nursery where they'd sat him down every day in front of a map until he could do it. Each to their own I suppose, though I know I'd be far from happy if DS was sat down like that at his nursery. Am really only saying this because istm that what they can do at this age is often down to where they are/ what they're pushed to do. Personally I reckon let them be, stick lots of different things in front of them and see what they naturally become curious about. Splashing in mud at four is definitely far more important imo

ds was 4 end of June and starts Reception next week.

Writing - can copy words. Independently writes his name, Mum, Dad, Cat, Dog etc.but not very confident and needs prompting.

Spelling - ditto above.

Numeracy - can count up to 100 and count backwards from 20. Can do simple sums (e.g. 10-3 or 4+6) Understands concept of Times Table.

Vocabulary - extensive.

Reading - words such as cat, dog, and, the, train etc. Learning patterns with word spelling and sound e.g.rain and train.

Knows flags and countries on map.

Vocab and maths stand out for me, but tbh I think most children are advanced in some things and less so in others and I wouldn't say ds is especially bright.........though of course he is perfect to me because I'm his mum By the way, he still struggles with dressing sometimes and bum wiping not great!

Oh and knows months of the year and days of the week.

Have never pushed him, only encouraged his natural interest in things.

at the idea of a nursery doing that too Smee....that's a bit weird isn't it.

Did the mum not seem bothered by this??

Hang on a minute re: Ladylush saying
"Knows flags and countries on map." are you Smee's mum in the park?

The mum was bemused I think. As I have to say was I. Was weird as I don't know her at all, so we kind of skated around it a bit. + no LL is not the other mum and tbh my DS does know a few countries, but then he's got an anorak for a dad who loves maps, so they sit on the sofa and look at Atlases together. My worry was the fact she said her lo was sat in front of the globe every day - sounded like some sort of forcing to me. Was mighty happy to leave mine at nursery this morning making pastry..