At 4 Years Old

4 Years Old

You toss a beach ball and kick large playground balls around the yard with Alexander Keith.to help him develop fundamental movement skills in a fun way.

*Alexander Keith fits into preschool activities well, having fun with teacher-led activities and participating eagerly in physical or dramatic play with the children. Lately he seems to have a "best friend" who he talks about constantly.

We encourage Alexander to invite additional friends over so that he can socialize more with them.

=Alexander Keith has begun to beg you for a puppy or a kitty. You aren't ready for one yet, but temporarily try to satisfy the urge by taking Alexander Keith to the petting zoo or to play with pets at the homes of your relatives and friends.

*Alexander Keith has been very sweet and cooperative for the past few months. He enjoys your company, but is also able to play alone or in a group of other children or adults without needing to check in too often with you.

As parents we are happy that we have reached this point, and continue our own type of parenting practices as long as they are effective in the most positive way.

=You and your partner occasionally find some time (maybe once a month) to get out and away from the kids.Even when you are out you often end up talking about the kids or worrying how they are doing with the babysitter

*Alexander Keith was excited about the birth of Arabella Nichola a year ago and participated in her care. But he occasionally shows signs of jealousy, such as taking his sister's toys. He is also showing regressive behavior (e.g. clinging, throwing temper tantrums and thumb sucking)

-I take care of two problems one step at a time making sure that Alexander is involved in the care of Arabella. This way he gets attention from me and develops interest.

We are fascinated by the way Alexander Keith plays with a new skill almost every chance he gets.For example, this has been happening with telling stories. Alexander Keith loves to make up stories about animals, people, or characters on his favorite TV show, and will spin these tales to anyone who will lend an ear.

*The leadership changed at Alexander Keith's preschool and his favorite teacher resigned. Alexander Keith has had a hard time adjusting to the new teacher, and seems to be regressing (acting babyish) and acting up a bit more

- I pay more attention to Alexander when he is acting maturely and ignore the babyish behavior with some restrictions.

Alexander Keith is still having problems behaving properly all the way through a meal at a fast food restaurant. He sometimes climbs under the table, or starts complaining loudly that he wants to leave."I took psychology!" you say and set to work. Your goal is to give Alexander Keith successful experiences in restaurants by going only to fast-food places, and by telling him in advance what you expect, and the kind of reward he will get if he behaves well. Cleverly, you always order to-go, and sit at the table. If he misbehaves, you give one warning. But if he continues to misbehave, you pack up and leave without giving him the dessert or toy reward.

*Alexander Keith isn't very logical at this point! He doesn't understand conservation. He is somewhat curious about living things, and about how things work (such as the car, electricity), but gets distracted pretty quickly when you start to talk about them. He is beginning to like games with counting.

- We go for an adventure in zoos, museums, and nature centers so that he can learn best based on experience.

*You and your partner are often confronted by situations in which Alexander Keith has a gender-related choice, such as whether to play with trucks, sporting equipment, dolls, cooking toys, action figures, etc. What will the two of you do?

- We will try to expose Alexander to all types of activities, regardless of gender-appropriateness as long as he is interested in them knowing what is difference between males and female.

*You notice Alexander Keith is getting rigid about gender roles. E.g., boys should not play with dolls or dress up, and girls can't be firefighters or police officers, despite the fact that he was in the car when you got a ticket from a female police officer!

- In this stage it is really important to that we will make sure that Alexander learn the difference between male and females in our culture.

*Alexander Keith seems somewhat more distractible than other kids his age and sometimes doesn't always seem to be paying attention to your directions. The preschool teacher has noticed this, too.

- Alexander is still learning to concentrate so I repeat instructions and be patient with him.

*Alexander Keith is not as interested rhyming games or in learning the ABC's as other children in his preschool. The preschool teacher thinks that some children just need a little more coaxing to get interested in learning their letters.

- I will follow the teacher's advice and encourage Alexander without any pressure because eventually he will be interested in learning.

Alexander Keith has a very good vocabulary and can hold quite a conversation. He is showing more and more interest in listening to books and sometimes recites from memory. Alexander Keith is constantly asking questions.

- We expose him to different place where he can learn and answer same of his questions along the way.

Alexander Keith will turn 5 this summer and will be a bit on the young side in the fall when he starts kindergarten. The school where Alexander Keith will attend kindergarten has started a kindergarten prep session over the summer that lasts for a couple of weeks and involves group as well as individual work on letters, numbers, etc. You enroll Alexander Keith at the age of 4 years, 10 months. He is assessed by one of the kindergarten teachers, who observes him during free play and tests Alexander Keith one-on-one. Then the teacher sits down with you and your partner and gives the following report: The teacher noted that Alexander Keith seemed to have made one or two friends and usually played cooperatively with them. She observed that Alexander Keith was sometimes reluctant to join in new activities with unfamiliar children.

He could not read any words or name any letters at the time of testing and was weak on a test of phonological awareness. He also had trouble repeating sentences verbatim. The teacher recommended some computer programs and games to teach letter names and phonological awareness, and also recommended reading aloud to Alexander Keith.

The teacher noted that Alexander Keith had no difficulty adapting to the "practice" kindergarten activities the children were asked to do. Alexander Keith was generally cooperative, avoided getting distracted, and stayed on task. Alexander Keith did not get upset when mild stress occurred (such as an instruction to hurry up). The teacher recommended that Alexander Keith be given more and more responsibility for self management and care at home and at the preschool in preparation for kindergarten.

He performed above average on tests of vocabulary (e.g., naming a picture and providing an antonym or synonym for a word), and the ability to retell a story. Alexander Keith's language skills seemed to be more than ready for the beginning of kindergarten.

Alexander Keith is a bit behind where the teachers would like him to be in terms of being able to count, understand quantitative relationships, and classify objects. The teacher recommends computer math games, board games or dice games involving the use of numbers.

Alexander Keith was fairly interested in the little art projects the teachers had the students do, and seemed to enjoy the pre-math activities involving working with blocks and geometric shapes.

The teacher reports that your scores on the parenting questionnaire put you in the average range in terms of affection and warmth displayed toward your child.

The parenting questionnaire scores put you in the average range in terms of discipline and control exercised with your child.

1) How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences?

My parenting style has remained authoritative. My parenting techniques changes, as Alexander's needs varied with every age. I tried to be understanding about her moods, sensitivity, his abilities, and do my best to let him have his own preferences without getting into trouble or danger. I believe it is so important for a child to have preferences and choices, and have some independence. I am coming from a culture, where people are very family-oriented. I want Alexander to interact with people outside of our family. Family is important, but I want him to be able to relate with others, and not be concentrated just on family. That’s why I always encourage him to be social and friendly.

2) Describe two specific examples of changes in your child’s behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e.g., improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind).

The first example would Alexander's behavior at public places. When Alexander was younger, he was not able to sit still or stay quiet while in a restaurant. Now, he has learned what behavior is expected of his. Now that his cognitive abilities are more advanced, he understands rules and the behavior he is expected to have. Alexander is more in control of himself as he now knows how to behave appropriately. There is an improvement in his mathematical reasoning. He understands that numbers 2 and 3 can form 23. She can also recognize letters.

3) How would you characterize your child’s personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument.

Although Alexander has demonstrated some aggressive/uncooperative behavior, his personality type is mostly resilient. He is able to focus on tasks without being distracted. He is friendly, and displays mostly positive emotions. He is adaptable to new situations, and he gets along well with his peers at preschool.