Four Year Olds
We will focus on building your child’s confidence and self esteem by creating experiences for him/her that require independence such as a job of the week, unpacking his/her things in the morning, cleaning up after himself/herself, etc. Four year olds will also work on resolving conflicts, cooperating with others, problem solving, and expressing their feelings. Your child will learn these social/emotional skills through activities in large and small groups during centers and snack/lunch time with friends and during free play in the room or on the playground. These skills are what will help your child succeed in life.
Fours will enjoy activities such as the following during circle time:
- Discussion of the schedule
- Discussion of assigned jobs
- Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance
- Daily News
- Discussion of the theme & letter of the week
- Movement activities
- Songs/Finger plays
- Books
- Discussion of the weather and graphing the weather
- Calendar activities
- Activities with rhyming words and opposites
- Activities with colors, shapes, and numbers
Four year olds will continue to have a theme of the week but will also add a letter of the week starting with the letter L on September 13th and ending with letter Q on May 23rd. Letters will not be learned in alphabetical order, which will allow your child to focus on a particular letter rather than, for example, thinking that LMNOP is ONE letter. The order of the letters will be introduced according to the developmental order of writing: letters with straight lines first, followed by letters with slanted lines, curved lines, and wavy lines. The fours will focus on introducing and learning the letters and sounds. They will also work towards taking the sounds and blending them together to make words.
Students will also create an ABC book that will show their progression of coloring and writing. Letter pages will be completed in class and will be laminated and placed in a 3-ring binder. ABC books will be kept in your child’s classroom until completion of the alphabet by the end of May. Four year olds will continue to work on their gross and fine motor skills through play. With daily calendar activities, children will be exposed to numbers and counting on a daily basis. On a weekly basis, students will have activities that focus on rhyming words, opposites, colors, shapes, and numbers. Math skills will be learned through play with graphing, patterning, and counting. Fours will also enjoy activities and art projects dealing with the theme of the week. Show and Share will be scheduled at least once a month.
Centers include the following areas: art, dramatic play, blocks, manipulative/puzzles, music, books, writing, and science with sensory table.
