Early Child Development - Kindergartner Gross Motor Development:
Developmental Milestones - Development varies. Your child's development may differ from these estimates and still be within normal ranges.
Your child's large muscle movement is stronger and more coordinated. She will develop the ability to hop with both feet and then on one foot while keeping her balance. She can run and jump forward and may begin to skip. She can throw balls with direction and get close to a target. She plays games kicking soft playground balls and tossing balls or bean bags. She balances while walking a straight line. Play singing games that involve movement and development of rhythm.
Early Child Development - Kindergartner's Fine Motor Development:
Your kindergartner's fine motor skills are developing. She will copy more complicated designs, such as people with facial features. She will begin copying alphabet letters and coloring more neatly. You will notice less scribbling and increased ability to color mostly within lines, although not perfectly. Over time, this will improve. She will continue to perform many of her own self-care tasks such as dressing, brushing her teeth, and washing her hands. Encourage activities such as drawing, playing with toys, and games involving picking up and placing small, developmentally appropriate objects.
Early Child Development - Your Kindergartner's Language and Thinking Skills:
Your child's thinking and visual reasoning are more developed. She matches objects by shape, size, and color. She memorizes familiar words such as names of colors, types of animals, and people. She uses sentences of about five words. She will count to ten and recognize that numbers represent amounts of objects, also called number-symbol correspondence. At this age, it is not uncommon for children to have difficulty pronouncing some sounds such as r, s t, l, v, and f. These are called "fricatives" by speech therapists, and their production requires muscle development that can occur over the next few years.
Early Child Development - Kindergartner's Social and Emotional Development:
Early Child Development - Your child is beginning to be more comfortable separating from her parents, but routines are still important to her. You can reduce any anxiety she may feel by keeping her daily routine as consistent as possible. Consider making a picture schedule to let her know what her day will be like. She is developing ability to interact with her peers, to play games, to take turns, and participate in imaginative play.
