Four-Year-Old Mile Stones

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

20 Feb 2009 01:03 PM

As a parent, you probably want to make your that your child is right on track with developmental milestones. From speech and language to physical milestones, knowing what she should be doing can help identify any potential issues that require intervention, or just give you a reason to brag. While every child develops differently and at his own pace, here are the things that you child generally should be doing by the time she reaches the age of four.

Socially, she should be able to interact and play with other children and even make friends on her own. If she still is playing side by side with peers instead of together, this may be a concern.

His speech should improve to the point where he can use sentences containing at least six words, such as: "The ball is in the basket." Along with this, he should be able to show present tense by adding the letter "s" to verbs. For example, he should be able to say, "He climbs the monkey bars" instead of "He climb the monkey bars." He should also be able to be understood by strangers and people that he has just met.

By the age of four, your child should be fully potty trained and using an adult toilet without prompting. She should be able to stay dry at night most of the time, and if you have a boy, he should be able to switch from sitting to standing to pee.

He should be able to dress himself and pick out clothes, even if they don't match. Tiny buttons might still be difficult, but larger buttons zippers and pulling clothes on and off is expected at this age. Brushing teeth, washing hands and other simple care should be able to be done with minimal supervision.

Would you like to see more milestone information? Please leave me a comment and let me know.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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