The child between the ages of 36 and 48 months will continue to grow not only physically but in their cognitive and affective skills. As the child approaches four, the following skills will be the basis of our program:

SELF HELP SKILLS

• child is able to button, zip, and snap his/her clothes
• is able to dress self

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• displays self confidence
• shows signs of independence
• takes pride in his/her accomplishments
• completes tasks
• participates in group activities
• has appropriate attention span
• works and plays well with others
• uses appropriate manners
• shows good health habits
• is willing to share
• considers rights and feelings of others

COGNITIVE SKILLS

Personal Curiosity
• shows curiosity and wants to investigate
• asks questions

Senses
• shows accurate sense of touch, smell, and taste
• can identify common sounds
• observes objects closely

Memory
• recalls objects that are visually presented
• identifies what is missing from a picture
• acts out simple everyday activities
• recalls information previously taught

Logical Thinking
• places familiar pictured events in sequence and tell what the pictures are about
• understands and points out correct order in a sequence of events

Relationships
• pairs related objects and pictures, such as a shoe and sock
• recognizes what doesn’t belong in a group of three items

Creativity
• begins to draw faces and bodies with facial parts and stick arms and legs
• dramatizes a simple story
• plays and use objects which stand for real objects
• uses animistic thinking (stuffed animals have human characteristics)
• participates in imaginative play or puppetry
• predicts what will happen next in a story

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Sentence Structure
• speaks in sentences
• expresses self well
• understands sentences and questions and will respond
• can memorize and repeat simple rhymes, songs, and finger plays
• engages in conversation with others

Listening
• listens to short stories and poems
• follows directions
• listens while others speak• understands prepositions (in/out, over/under, etc.)
• understands opposites (up/down, stop/go, etc.)

Visual Discrimination
• recognizes name in print
• begins to print name
• begins to use left to right progression
• recognizes some letters

Colors
• names colors
• able to point to color upon demand
• matches colors

MATH SKILLS

• counts to 10 or more
• understands how many objects there are up to six when given a number ofobjects
• able to sort objects by size, shape, and color
• understands size differences (big/little and tall/short)
• understands full and empty• names basic shapes
• matches shapes• matches sets up to five objects
• builds sets of blocks when given a model
• able to identify numbers 1 to 5 or more

MOTOR SKILLS - LARGE

Arm-Eye Coordination
• catches a large ball
• throws a ball overhand with accuracy
• rolls a large ball to a target
• throws a bean bag to a target

Body Coordination
• walks forward and backward on a line
• walks on a balance beam
• jumps with both feet together
• able to hop on one foot
• climbs
• climbs steps alternating feet up and down
• runs
• rides a tricycle

MOTOR SKILLS - FINE

Eye-Hand Coordination
• strings beads
• able to put pegs into a pegboard
• screws and unscrews nuts, bolts, and lids
• cuts with scissors
• paints
• able to copy basic shapes, crosses, and lines
• able to build puzzles
• able to lace following a sequence of holes
• able to stack
• uses right OR left hand

Finger Strength and Dexterity
• able to paste with index finger
• able to make balls or snake with clay
• uses good pincer grip