Understanding Four- and Five-Year-Olds Chapter 7 Understanding Four- and Five-Year-Olds

Terms to Know articulation stuttering rote counting

Physical Development of Four- and Five-Year-Olds Preschool children are growing in more than just size. Gross-motor development Fine-motor development Self-help skills

Gross-Motor Development Four- and five-year-olds can hop on one foot walk down stairs with alternating feet balance on one foot for about 10 seconds walk backward ride a bike with training wheels climb fences and march to music throw and catch

Fine-Motor Development Children find it easier to build straight and tall towers draw more refined forms recognize letters print a few letters control writing tools stay within the lines when they color understand that letters and sounds are linked

Self-Help Skills Preschoolers become more and more self-sufficient: Dress and undress with very little help Use spoons and forks with ease Take care of their own hygiene

Cognitive Development of Preschoolers Children in this group make many gains in understanding the world around them through language comprehension skills expressive language skills math skills

Language Comprehension Skills The language comprehension skills of four- and five-year-olds are constantly growing. They increase their understanding of space concepts become better at following three-step commands have better understanding of the difference between plural and singular start understanding the passive voice become confused about some statements

Expressive Language Skills Preschoolers become quite talkative. Articulation: the ability to speak in clearly pronounced sounds; improves at ages four and five Stuttering: repeating sound and pausing for unusually long times Vocabulary: four-year-olds have about 1500 words, and five-year-olds have about 2000 Grammar: children start to learn that there are exceptions to rules

Discuss What are some activities you can implement in the classroom to help preschoolers learn the meaning of the words?

Math Skills Number concepts become easier for children in this age group. Rote counting: reciting numbers in their proper order True counting: when an object is counted for each number named Money concepts: identify penny, nickel, and dime Time concepts: understand the difference between today, tomorrow, and yesterday

Social-Emotional Development of Preschoolers Preschoolers continue to be helpful and cooperative, and emotions are changing in these children. Social development Emotional development

Social Development These are some social characteristics of preschoolers: become more independent of adults start to value their friends prefer friends of the same sex become more willing to cooperate involve more and more interaction in play accept supervision

Emotional Development Characteristics of five-year-olds: Fear: still common, but only last a few months Anger: can become angry if unable to reach goals Jealously: likely to become jealous of a new brother or sister Sadness: start to learn that some situations are sad

Teaching Four- and Five-Year-Olds When teaching four- and five-year-olds, consider that these children like to help become quite talkative imitate adults play with each other may have imaginary playmates are proud of their possessions enjoy working on projects