Skills, Goals & Milestones

Preschool Children Learn Process Skills:

Observing and Exploring

• Noticing things in the environment and noticing how and when they change

• Manipulating objects to understand their properties and how they work

Connecting

• Linking new learning to prior experience

Problem Solving

• Identifying a problem, thinking of ways to solve it, and trying out solutions

• Related to creative thinking = generating new ideas, using materials in a different way, and taking risks to try something new

Organizing Information

• Breaking a whole idea or problem into parts, classifying, and comparing

Communicating and Representing

• Talking about observations with a friend or adult

• Using representations, such as drawings, dramatizing, graphing, or making a model

Goals for Preschool Children:

Goals for SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• Achieve sense of self = know self and relate to other people

• Taking responsibility for self and others = follow rules and routines, respect others, take initiative

• Behave in a prosocial way = show empathy, share, take turns

Goals for PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:

• Achieve gross motor control = balance and stability, running, jumping, hopping, galloping, skipping, throwing, catching, kicking

• Achieve fine motor control = self-help skills, manipulate small objects such as scissors and writing tools

Goals for COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

• Learning and problem solving = purposeful about acquiring and using information, resources, and materials

• Thinking logically = gathering and making sense of information by comparing, contrasting, sorting, classifying, counting, measuring, and recognizing patterns

• Representing and thinking symbolically = use objects in a unique way, imagination

Goals for LANGUAGE & LITERACY DEVELOPMENT:

• Listening and Speaking = use spoken language to communicate, enlarge vocabulary, express oneself, understand oral speech of others, participate in a conversation, use language to solve problems

• Reading and writing = make sense of written language, understand the purpose of print and how it works, gaining knowledge of the alphabet, writing letters and words

3 Year Olds

Social and Emotional - Children at this age are learning to trust, are ecocentric (all about ME!) and want you to notice their newly acquired skills. Specifically, by the end of age 3 we hope that children:

• Copies adults and friends

• Shows affection for friends without prompting

• Takes turns in games

• Shows concern for crying friend

• Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers”

• Shows a wide range of emotions

• Separates easily from mom and dad

• May get upset with major changes in routine

• Dresses and undresses self

Language/Literacy - Children at this age are beginning to talk in more detail, ask questions and are excited to share thoughts and participate in conversations. Specifically, by the end of age 3 we hope that children:

• Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps

• Can name most familiar things

• Understands words like “in,” “on,” and “under”

• Says first name, age, and sex

• Names a friend

• Says words like “I,” “me,” “we,” and “you” and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)

• Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time

• Carries on a conversation using 2 to 3 sentences

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) - Children at this age are using their senses to learn and are exploding with thoughts and ideas. Specifically, by the end of age 3 we hope that children:

• Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts

• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people

• Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces

• Understands what “two” means

• Copies a circle with pencil or crayon

• Turns book pages one at a time

• Builds towers of more than 6 blocks

• Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle

Movement/Physical Development - Children at this age are practicing their gross and fine motor skills though sustained and focused play. Specifically, by the end of age 3 we hope that children:

• Climb well

• Run easily

• Pedal a tricycle (3-wheel bike)

• Walk up and down stairs, one foot on each step

Among the Fine Motor Skills your child will perfect in the preschool years are the abilities to:

• paste things onto paper

• clap hands

• touch fingers

• button and unbutton

• work a zipper

• build a tower of 10 blocks

• complete puzzles with five or more pieces

• manipulate pencils and crayons well enough to color and draw

• copy a circle or cross onto a piece of paper

• cut out simple shapes with safety scissors

4 Year Olds

Social and Emotional - Children at this age are independent and social, and enjoy imitating adult behaviors. Specifically, by the end of age 4 we hope that children:

• Enjoys doing new things

• Plays “Mom” and “Dad”

• Is more and more creative with make-believe play

• Would rather play with other children than by himself

• Cooperates with other children

• Often can’t tell what’s real and what’s make-believe

• Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in

Language/Literacy - Children at this age are progressing rapidly in their language and literacy skills. They like to communicate and try out new words. Specifically, by the end of age 4 we hope that children:

• Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she”

• Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus”

• Tells stories

• Can say first and last name

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) - Children at this age are beginning to understand cause and effect, and are full of imagination and curiosity. Specifically, by the end of age 4 we hope that children:

• Names some colors and some numbers

• Understands the idea of counting

• Starts to understand time

• Remembers parts of a story

• Understands the idea of “same” and “different”

• Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts

• Uses scissors

• Starts to copy some capital letters

• Plays board or card games

• Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book

Movement/Physical Development - Children at this age are increasingly able to control their muscles, and their fine motor skills are improving. Specifically, by the end of age 4 we hope that children:

• Hop and stand on one foot up to 2 seconds

• Catch a bounced ball most of the time

• Pour, cut with supervision, and mash own food

Among the Fine Motor Skills your child will perfect in the preschool years are the abilities to:

• paste things onto paper

• clap hands

• touch fingers

• button and unbutton

• work a zipper

• build a tower of 10 blocks

• complete puzzles with five or more pieces

• manipulate pencils and crayons well enough to color and draw

• copy a circle or cross onto a piece of paper

• cut out simple shapes with safety scissors

Social Skills Behaviors:

Cooperation

Assertion

Responsibility

Empathy

Self-Control