My Child is 5 Years Old: What should he/she be able to do?
Now you all of a sudden you have a kindergartner and school and ensuring your child's learning and continued development will be a whole new world for both you and your child to navigate? Here are the things you should expect your child to do by 5 years of age.
By 5 years of age, your child should be able to:
Gross Motor/Physical Movement
Stand on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
Hop and may be able to skip
Can do a simple forward roll/somersault
Can use the toilet completely on his/her own
Fine Motor/Hand-Eye Coordination
Can use a fork and spoon well
Can write some letters (especially in their name) and numbers
Can copy a triangle and other geometric shapes
Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts
Social/Emotional
Wants to please friends
More likely to agree with rules
Likes to sing and dance
Shows more independence
Language/Communication
Speaks very clearly
Tells a more elaborate story using full sentences
Uses tenses, such as “yesterday” or “grandma is coming tomorrow”
Can say name and address
Cognitive/ Learning & Problem-solving)
Is aware of gender
Can count 10 or more objects
Knows about things used every day, like money and food
Starts kindergarten
If your child is 5 years old and is doing all of these things, great!!
Tips to Help Your Child Reach Their 5 Year Milestones
Play time: Continue to let your child to play with toys indoors and explore outdoors as much as possible. Continue to explain things to your child, now with more detail. At this age, your child is a sponge and will soak up everything you teach them about things that interest them. Let your child play with and spend time around other children as there will be lots of learning, both socially, and otherwise, to be had.
New activities: Children are still mostly learning through play and through things that interest them at this age. Continue to expose your child to new things and/or the things they have grown to love. Get creative and let your child be involved in choosing activities.
Talk and explain: Your child will still have lots of question about the world around them and things they see and do. Try to respond to your child and answer their questions as much as possible as this is just their way of learning more and more. It is okay to set limits and ask for quiet every now and then but try not to stifle your child's interests and eagerness to learn and explore.
Read: Continue to read books with your child. Continue to work on identifying letters, letter sounds, and sight words. Your child may be able to begin working on sounding out small words now as well.
When to Be Worried
If your child is already 5 years of age and is not meeting these milestones, talk to your child’s pediatrician. You know your child better than anyone else. If you are concerned your child may have a delay in his/her development, it is better to intervene sooner rather than later. This gives your child the best chance of catching up to his/her peers by the time he or she reaches school age.
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