INTRODUCTION | PLAY | SELF HELP SKILLS | SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL | COMMUNICATION | THINKING/COGNITIVE SKILLS | EARLY LITERACY | GROSS MOTOR/MOVEMENT | CREATIVITY | FINE MOTOR SENSORY

The following preschool performance guidelines were developed by a group of educators of young children from the Sun Prairie Area School District and the community. They have been designed to provide families, day care providers, and preschool educators of the typical skills and behaviors that develop between the ages of three and five years. Although a variety of skills and behaviors are described in this handbook, it is only a representation of typical developmental milestones.

Children are like snowflakes. They develop at their own rate with their own pattern of learning. Not all children will acquire all the skills identified before they enter kindergarten. This is intended to be a guide to understanding the typical development of children as they grow between the ages of three and five years of age.

Parents, educators, and day care providers have the awesome responsibility of providing a safe and nurturing environment enriched with experiences and opportunities to grow and learn. Young children learn through play. They learn through the exploration of their environment and their world. We hope that these preschool performance standards will be a guide as we all work to provide the richest learning environments for our children. Our greatest hope is that all children will learn successfully.

We would like to thank the following community agencies for their participation in developing this preschool project.

Gingerbread Day Care and Preschool

La Petite Academy

Sun Prairie Area School District

Sun Prairie Nursery School

Teddy's Place

YMCA Day Care and Preschool

We would also like to thank the Department of Workforce Development for providing us with the grant monies to allow for the collaboration of the community agencies.

DEFINITION:

Children will develop appropriate skills and behaviors that will allow them to successfully play and interact with toys, children and adults.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS:

Begin to play cooperatively with a partner

Put toys away with guidance from the teacher

Participate in group games with adult guidance in a small environment

Choose play partners by environment

Begin to use or follows imaginative play

Play is self-centered

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS:

Play cooperatively in groups of 2-3 children

Put toys away by self with some organization

Participate in group games with adult guidance in small and/or large environment

Choose play partners by understanding personality traits

Begin to show leadership roles in imaginative play

Begin to communicate need to share

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS:

Play cooperatively with 3-5 children and create stronger friendships

Put toys away in right order in designated container/area

Participate and initiates group game without adult supervision in small and/or large environment.

Choose play partners because of positive personality traits (respect, sharing, taking turns, listening, and understanding feelings.)

Show leadership in imaginative play and has the ability to follow or allow others to be in the leadership role

Begin to share cooperatively

Can carryover play from day to day

DEFINITION:

Children will begin to take responsibility for their basic self-care, health, and safety needs as they develop their awareness of their world and of those around them.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS:

Engage in a range of basic self-help skills with teacher guidance, including skills in dressing, eating, toileting and hygiene

Understand and follow a one step direction

Able to communicate first name, age and gender

Begin to demonstrate caution crossing streets and have an awareness of dangerous situations such as strangers, fire and dangerous objects

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS:

Engage in a range of basic self-help skills with minimal teacher guidance, including skills in dressing, eating, toileting and hygiene

Understand and follow a 2-3 step direction

Begin to communicate full name, age and parents names

Demonstrate caution crossing streets and an awareness of dangerous situations such as strangers, fire and dangerous objects

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS:

Engage in a range of basic self-help skills without teacher guidance, including skills in dressing, eating, toileting and hygiene

Understand and follow a 3-4 step related direction

Begin to communicate address, phone number, birthday and emergency information

Demonstrate caution crossing streets and an awareness of dangerous situations, such as strangers, fire and dangerous objects with minimal reminders.

DEFINITION:

Children will interact appropriately with others, work towards a common goal and demonstrate problem solving skills. They will also recognize both their own feelings and the feelings of others, and express them appropriately. When provided with the opportunity to interact and play with peers and adults, young children will demonstrate the following skills.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Initiate and sustain interactions

Begin to take turns

Participate in group names

Play cooperatively

Hold conversations (both listen and respond)

Respect self and others by keeping hands to self

Respect property by replacing toys when not in use

Speak in an appropriate voice

Use basic manners (please, thank you, excuse me)

Follow routines independently

Able to sit and attend to the task or play for a short time

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Share materials

Begin to use words to solve problems

Begin to build friendships with peers and adults

Express feelings and frustrations in words

Show pride in their accomplishments

Make their own choices, plans and decisions

TYPICAL FOR 5 YR OLDS

Work by self-direction

DEFINITION:

Children will use gestures, sounds, words, sentences and/or assistive technology to communicate needs and wants, to share ideas, to express feelings, and to ask and answer questions.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Name objects in pictures

Understood by familiar and unfamiliar listeners about 80% of the time

Will make some substitutions and distortions of sounds when speaking

Use short sentences with the average length of 3 words

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Can describe objects in pictures

Understood by familiar and unfamiliar listeners about 90% of the time

Sentence length average is 4 words

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Like to talk and may talk too much

Talk with others about meaningful experiences

Ask question to gain information

Answer questions to demonstrate an understanding of a story/activity

Describe details in a picture and can make up a story

Understood by familiar and unfamiliar listeners most of the time although may still make some sound errors

Use complete sentences

Combine 5-8 words in a sentence with the average length of 5 words

DEFINITION:

Children will begin to acquire an understanding of the world as they interact with material, people, events and ideas. This is a process of learning.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Follow 1-2 step related directions

Develop concepts of same and different

Begin to develop concepts of 1, 2, 3

Begin to understand cause/effect

Show curiosity and desire to explore environment

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Recognize name in print

Recognize SOME colors, shapes, numerals and letters

Sort/identify items that go together

Develop auditory and visual patterning skills such as 'red, blue, red, blue, etc.'

Demonstrate an understanding of sequencing (first, middle, last) and directional concepts (above, below, behind, etc.)

Begin to make predictions

Begin to transfer past experiences into new information

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Print own name

Retell and/or remember details of events and stories

Increase math concepts of rote counting, numeral identification, one-to-one correspondence and quantity

Develop more complex patterning skills

DEFINITION:

Children will show an interest in reading activities, demonstrate knowledge about books and develop emergent reading skills. Through play, when provided with learning opportunities, and when exposed to books and stories, children will demonstrate the following skills.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Listen to a story

Recognize logos and symbols and begins to understand that words represent things and ideas

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Recognize name in print

Recognize logos, symbols and words

Begin to demonstrate left to right and top to bottom progression in looking at books and writing

TYPCIAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Recognize and name some alphabet letters and identify letters in own name

Begin to develop phonemic awareness (what sound a letter makes) and some recognition of beginning sound and words

Demonstrate interest in communicating ideas through drawing, writing and making up a story in play

Demonstrate left to right progression in looking at books and writing

Show interest in and enjoys rhyming activities

DEFINTION:

Children will develop an awareness and coordination of their bodies in space.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Demonstrate ability to run, bend, twist, rock, crawl, roll and spin

Begin to pedal

Begin to jump in place on two feet

Climb on low equipment

Throw various size balls, balloons, scarves, bean bags

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Jump over objects

Hop (1 foot, 2 feet hopscotch)

Begin to catch medium to large size balls

Alternate feet up and down the stairs

Balance (balance beam, 1 foot)

Moving around without bumping into people or objects

Demonstrate the ability to move safely through their environment and recognize the consequence of movements through that environment (ex. running inside)

Animal walk such as crab walk and bear walk

Kick stationary objects

Begin to pump legs while swinging

Roll a small ball

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Able to use gross motor equipment appropriately, according to its intended use

Play on a scooter

Gallop

Kick a ball that is moving

Catch bean bags and small to medium balls

Hang from a bar

DEFINTION:

Children will explore and integrate their body and the world through manipulation of various materials. Children will express themselves through rhythm, movement and space.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Participate in rhymes and fingerplays

Begin to role play animals, people and objects

Explore and imitate sounds

Exploring singing voice, musical instruments, and movement to music

Express thoughts and feelings through scribbles and marks on paper

Manipulate objects (blocks, clay and other materials)

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Repeat rhymes and fingerplays

Pretend and role play familiar characters

Use sounds in imaginative play

Draw and verbally label simple shapes and pictures

Begin to create representation of objects through clay, blocks and other objects

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Repeat and create simple rhymes

Role play with more details and complex thoughts/story line

Create new songs, use movement, demonstrate more complex rhythm, and develop concepts such as: tempo, volume and pitch

Draw simple pictures with more recognizable quality and complexity

Create and describe representations of more complex objects through clay, blocks, and other materials

Use objects and materials in non-traditional ways

DEFINTION:

Children will use fine motor skills to learn about their physical abilities, to explore materials and their environment through their senses, play and learning, and to develop fine motor coordination for self-care and expression through both art and writing.

Sensory refers to: sensory experiences including touch, taste, smell, movement, body awareness, sound and the sense of gravity.

TYPICAL 3 YR OLD SKILLS

Paper tearing

Begin to hold a variety of writing instruments and tools such as pencils, crayons, paintbrushes, markers, chalk, stampers and eyedroppers

Begin to manipulate materials such as play dough, water, sand and shaving cream

Manipulate objects such as stringing beads, 6-8 piece puzzles and building blocks

Engage in projects/activities on a vertical surface such as an easel, refrigerator, chalkboard, Lego board

TYPICAL 4 YR OLD SKILLS

Manipulate objects such as lacing cards, 10-12 piece puzzles, and building blocks to make specific objects

Draw and paint pictures that can be recognized

Begin to use writing instruments and tools to communicate

Manipulate clay and play dough into objects

10-12 piece puzzles

Build blocks to make specific objects

Begin scissors activities with correct grasp

TYPICAL 5 YR OLD SKILLS

Demonstrate appropriate pencil grip

Trace shapes, letters, numerals

Use writing instruments to imitate circles and vertical, horizontal and to write some letters and words

Cut out simple shapes and objects with scissors

Use building blocks to make complex structures

Demonstrate independence of dressing skills such as zipping, buttoning and tying shoes