What is apropriate day care curriculum for a 4 year old?

[Anonymous]

My oldest son is 4 and is currently in a day care facility that is highly regarded in our area. He turned 4 in May and is currently in the 3's classroom at his day care. He is one of the oldest kids in his class and there are many kids who will be a year behind him in elementary school. He will be going into the 4s class starting in September with his entire class. I'm a bit nervous because there are many other 4 year olds who are in the older classroom in his day care and I'm worried he is going to be far behind these kids and the other older kids in his class. He isn't anywhere near writing his name and he can only write a few letters, but not particularly well. Is this normal for a child his age? I haven't pushed to have him moved up to the older class, but I'm concerned that I should have done this a long time ago.

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Not writing his name? Writes a few letters?
OMG. He's TOTALLY FINE. Please relax.

[Anonymous]

Your child is hopelessly behind and will now never get into Harvard.

Seriously, it's preschool. The kids should be playing, learning how to solve problems and work out differences, and learning basic pre academic skills through play. If the 3 year old class ever did art projects or played with play dough, they were laying the foundation for writing. He'll learn to write his name when he's developmentally ready, and it doesn't matter if that's at 3 or 4 or 4.5.

[Anonymous]

Kids go to kindergarten not knowing how to write their names. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Just work on some of those skills at home OP. The important aspects of preschool are playing, learning how to navigate the classroom, social skills. The academic stuff is not what is so important, but you can address those things at home.

[Anonymous]

The "work" of preschool is play, OP. As a PP noted, much of the play is building skills kids will need for school, like fine motor skills and patience to sit through a class circle time. If he can identify the letters and their sounds by the time he starts kindergarten, he is in good shape for what kinder teachers expect.

He may know how to write his name by the start of kindergarten, but many kids don't and it works out fine.

Our school's 4s class does things like:
- Legos and fuse beads (fine motor)
- Collaborative storytelling (waiting for your turn, respecting others' ideas, being creative)
- Singing (music! and also patience to sit)
- Gardening (more learning to wait, cooperation, turn taking)
- Block building (problem-solving, collaboration)
- Outdoor play (gross motor skills, social skills)
- Storytime (learning to love books and reading)

None of it is explicitly academic. That's what kindergarten is for.

[Anonymous]

I'm swallowing all my sarcastic comments, but I'll offer this: Perhaps you can frame the situation to say that being with other children his age who have skills he doesn't have may inspire him to work at gaining those skills, too. Sometimes it's good to have a goal to work towards.

[Anonymous]

My kid is the same age. He went from a daycare center where his July BD made him one of the oldest kids in the class to a full day private preschool where the kids are on the school calendar and he’s one of the youngest kids in his class.

His old daycare buddies all write their names and sometimes names of parents and siblings. They will turn 4 this fall. Their program drills them daily and there is lots of writing practice. It is one of the reasons we left.

My son was the last to turn 4 in his current 3’s class. About half of them write their name or draw things you can recognize. They do a lot of outdoor and creative play. He will leaned to write in time for school and I am not worried. We originally worried about the lack of academic focus, but talking to a few teachers, we decided to trust the preschool. The teachers told us that the school we picked is known for preparing well rounded, kind kids.

I prefer my son to get used to being the youngest because he will be the youngest all through school and college. He’s too bright to red shirt.

[Anonymous]

My DD turned 4 recently. She can't write her name and doesn't recognize a lot of the alphabet outside the letters in her name. We're loosely working on it at home, but she really doesn't seem to enjoy the pressure of me asking her to perform certain things. So I'm working on finding "fun" ways to work some skills into our time together and also trying not to stress about it.

Pressure does not help. That's one thing she's let me know loud and clear.

Before kindergarten I'd like her to know her letters and recognize 1-10 and be learning the the sounds letters make. This is the basis for reading. Beyond that I'm not too worried.

[Anonymous]

He needs to know how to write his name, as well as all of the letters and their sounds by K.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about a 4 yo in a 3s class for academic reasons. I might worry if it's affecting their behavior - if they are regressing or not progressing on social skills because they are only interacting with younger kids. But even then, for some kids, it can be good to be top dog for a while. (For other kids, they might be better off as the youngest in the class.)
Or, being 4 in a 3 yo class can be tough if nap needs don't match.
But curriculum? As long as they are talking and exploring and being read to and getting lots of physical activity, I don't think 4 yos need something distinctly different than 3 yos.

[Anonymous]

The correct curriculum for that age is Play, learning to stand in line, listen to the the teacher, and not play like a A-hole with other kids.

They have lots of fancy ways to measure that and alot of preschools will make it sound super cool but the basics are above, pre-school transcripts are not part of their official record

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The correct curriculum for that age is Play, learning to stand in line, listen to the the teacher, and not play like a A-hole with other kids.

They have lots of fancy ways to measure that and alot of preschools will make it sound super cool but the basics are above, pre-school transcripts are not part of their official record

The correct one for your child is the one that meets their needs. Play is not best for all kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He needs to know how to write his name, as well as all of the letters and their sounds by K.

Not really. Many kids will be able to do this, particularly in more affluent schools. But it isn't the end of the world if he doesn't and not knowing this isn't uncommon.