Pre Kindergarteners

Encourage!

 

Now you have an independent child that loves to play and explore wtih other adults and children.  Four-year-olds love to share their accomplishments whether hopping around, walking on a line, running through obstacles, or balancing on one foot for a short time. A tricycle or small bicycle invites faster movement.

 

Four-year old children love to play with materials and have long periods of sustained play. Towers grow from blocks of wood; clay turns into balls, cookies, and worms. Dollhouses get furnished and reconfigured with animals and people. Geometric shapes turn into cones, squares, and other formations. Painting reveals inner thoughts and scribbling turns into beginning letter formations. A four-year old prefers constant activity as well as opportunity to focus.

 

Outdoors give you and your child places to walk, ride bikes, explore plants and trees, and marvel together at nature and its seasonal changes. Whether a walk through a park, a hike in the mountains, a drive in the countryside, a bike ride along a pathway, each activity raises awareness and awakens the senses.

 

Quiet moments together inspire conversation. Your child uses past tense and plural nouns, and, although some words get misused or mispronounced, language builds rapidly. Your four-year old can learn as many as 2000 new words this year. Books are your best friends for introducing words in context and building your child's word bank.

 

Self-sufficiency becomes more evident this year. Your child watches everything you do and seeks to do everyday tasks. Your pre kindergartener can pour carefully from a pitcher, make a sandwich, button and unzip clothing, and take care of washing his/her hands and use the toilet independently. Your child's self-confidence develops from opportunity to try over and over and accomplish through practice. Play foster practice. Play creates learning!

 

Give your four-year-old a lifetime gift -- time to play!