Can your almost 4 year old/newly 4 year old...

1. Write their name?
2. Color in the lines?
3. Draw pictures of things you can recognize?
4. Write down a word when you spell out the letters for them?

Just curious. I have one who can do all of the above (she likes to draw things then have us tell her how they are spelled so she can write that on what she drew). The other is getting pretty good with her name, but her coloring is still mostly scribble. I'm just curious if one is behind or one is just ahead. Trying to figure out if I should work with Grace on it more or just let her go at her own pace.

Thanks.

 

Yes on all 4 (and I'll add to 4 that they enjoy sounding out and spelling words that I say). That said, I don't think a child is BEHIND if they aren't doing these things yet.

Some of it has to do with a child's interests. Coloring in the lines, for example, is a concept I had to explain to my boys. They are able to do it when asked but prefer to draw on paper with no lines. They also do things like add drawings to their coloring pages while telling a story about what's happening. I think that's much more interesting so I'll take it over methodically coloring in the details.

 

I'm a little worried now. My girls won't be 4 until July and they can't do any of those! :cry: Lauren can color in the lines, Mattie probably could, but she is lazy...

 

They both like to do the sounding out/spelling thing. Probably should have clarified I was slightly concerned on Grace's small motor control, if that's what we may need to work on. This is brought on mostly because she was my DD who did not walk until 20 months. Then again, she's my very stubborn daughter so it could very well be nothing to worry about at all.

 

I think 4 is early to do all of those things personally.

Yes, Emilie can. Trevor can write a few of the letters.

Somewhat. This is a pretty hard skill though I think.

A few things yes, not many though.

I have never done this, but I am pretty certain Emilie could. Trevor would try and might get a letter or two.



Emilie is definitely better on all of these than Trevor. Although Trevor really concentrates more than Emilie when coloring, so he would probably be better about coloring in the lines than she would.

 

:hug: Remember how long 6 months is for little kids. What couldn't they do 6 months ago that they can now?

 

Ellie will be 4 on Saturday.

1. Write their name? Yes, she writes Ellie and she can spell both "Ellie" and "Elizabeth"
2. Color in the lines? Sometimes, when she wants to be careful
3. Draw pictures of things you can recognize? She can draw a person
4. Write down a word when you spell out the letters for them? I've never tried this!

 

Sarah can do all 4. She still has trouble with W's, Y's, N's, M's. some of those letters with lots of angles and such. She actually sat down the other day and wrote her own name with no help at all and spelled it correctly. Allison, on the other hand just could care less. She has wrote her name assisted, and loves to draw pictures and can color pretty good, but she's not into writing letters and it's really hard to get her to sit down and concentrate.

 

Ditto on that! 6 months is a very long time for little human learning sponges.

 

Do they have toys like pop beads or stringing beads? Something like that might be more fun than coloring for her and it's still working on fine motor skills.

Another thing I thought of... I bought T&T some pencil grips (the kind that help them hold the pencil properly) and getting to use the grips made them more interested in practicing writing. As an extra bonus, they helped me help Trent learn to hold his pencil correctly with his left hand (which was completely unnatural for me) and he's learning to write without a hook from the beginning so yay me!

 

1. Yes (both, but Sarah is pretty shaky on the R)
2. Not so much
3. Sometimes (a person or a house, yes -- everything else, no)
4. Usually

There is a huge range for these things in their classroom -- Amy seems to be ahead of the curve on writing and Sarah is somewhere in the middle, but they're among the oldest kids in their class.

 

Mine are a little older (they will be 5 in 2 mos). McKenna can write everyone in our families name without me telling her how to spell them. She is awesome with it and has a HUGE interest in learning more. She knows sounds of every letter and will copy other words (like when she is making a card for someone I will write it out and she just copies). Her coloring is awesome and she actually stays in the lines. She draws and I can usually figure it out. But could she do all of this a year ago...NOPE. 6 mos ago...maybe a little more than half of it. So it does come on fast. She learns so much in preschool. She is so eager to learn to read. She keeps wanting more! I do have to say I love to brag about her because she is my baby who had a grade 3 brain bleed on both sides and we were told she would more than likely never talk, walk or eat on her own. So I am reminded everday of what a miracle she is!!! I am soo enjoying watching her learn all this!!
Mitchell can write his name and will copy anything I write down. His coloring is great, doesn't always stay in the lines but is getting there. He draws some cute stuff. I usually can't figure it out until he tells me what it is but then I usually see it. He isn't behind in learning but is behind his sister.
From 4-5 sooo much changes for them. Preschool really helped. But I think it comes on fast for most, they just "get" it!

 

nope. my one 4 y/o can color sort of in the lines and their people are bodies with legs and arms sticking out from the head but that's about it. Amelia can write an "A" and they can both trace dotted lines that form the letters of their names but that's about it. Mine were 4 in November.

 

All of the skills you listed are kindergarten skills. My DS is in kindergarten and they work on all of these things. He could do all of them before entering kindergarten, but I just wanted to tell you that these are things that are not expected of them until kindergarten.

 

I have one that can do most of those (maybe not the writing every letter you say, but she could do most). My DS on the other hand really has no interest in it and I'm on the fence on how to get him to do more of it. He can trace his name if I dot it out. I worked with him the other day on his pencil/marker grip and he did pretty well actually. But, he doesn't like to color or draw really. He does like to paint and do other art stuff, but I don't know how much to push it. They will be doing Jr. K next year (young 5's K), so I'm hoping that that will help him get in the routine of school work. He gets some in preschool now, but I think if he doesn't want to do it then they don't force it.

 

1. Write their name? Jazz can really well, Jessy can write all the letters but scatters them over an area
2. Color in the lines? both can
3. Draw pictures of things you can recognize? people, flowers and the such. I have a really cute pic of a bunny jazz drew
4. Write down a word when you spell out the letters for them? jazz probably could but we really haven't tried

 

My boys were extremely early readers - by 2 they could read children's books no problem, now at 3 they can read chapter books and sound out any words they don't know...and yet they can barely do any of the tasks listed here. I've long suspected that they have a small motor delay, but I think another part of the problem is that I haven't spent a lot of time sitting with them to work on these skills. The other day I got concerned when I discovered that a friend of theirs with major language delays can write his name unassisted no problem, so I sat down with one ds to work on it with him. After 3 tries, he was writing his own name, but the letters are still somewhat scattered. My other ds has no interest in writing his name, and I'm also hampered by the fact that he's left handed, so it's hard for me to model it for him. The only time we ever draw is on blank paper, so I have no idea if they can colour in the lines (maybe I'll try that this afternoon), and the only times they've ever drawn anything recognizable is if I've talked them through each step (i.e. make a circle for a head, draw on two dots for eyes, etc.). They turn 4 in May and start Junior Kindergarten in September.

 

Nadia could do all of these things at just-turned-4, but she was somewhat ahead in those types of skills. Her coloring in the lines was okay, not great, at 4 -- now, at 6, it's nearly perfect.

Here is a self-portrait she drew in Feb. 2008 (she had turned 4 the previous month):

Self-portrait

You can see the letters N-A-D-I-A on the page, but she didn't know at the time that they had to be written in order, in the same line. But, she was able to write her name fairly well given a blank sheet of paper.

And, here is a picture she drew of our cat Fred at the same time -- notice it looks like a person, too:

Fred

But, I'd say she's made huge strides in both writing and drawing since starting kindergarten -- it's really amazing what happens between 5 and 6. I really wouldn't worry too much at age 4. I noticed there was a wide range of ability among the kids in Nadia's 4-year preschool class.