What does you 4 year old do?

[EmmaNZ]

My 4 year old seems a bit bored. I spend half an hour or so with him each day reading books, learning the alphabet, doing some sums. He can't read or write yet, but will colour for a short while (it hurts his hand I think). He also plays on starfall for a bit, plays with his toys, and maybe with pattern blocks or something. What else can I find for him? It needs to be fairly independent because he is the middle of five (and therein lies the root of the problem).

[boscopup]

My 3.5 year old plays on his own, or he plays with his 6 year old brother when said brother is done with school (Kindergarten, so it's short). He sits in on some of the K'er's lessons as well.

 

For the hand, I'd suggest playdoh and other such things that will work on fine motor skills. My oldest had a hurting hand, and it was not fun. My other two don't have that problem. Also, when you have him coloring, make sure he is seated at an appropriate height (not sitting in a dining room chair at the table, but in a raised up chair or at a lowered desk/table that is kid height). If he's having to reach UP to use a writing utensil, that's going to hurt. Getting an adjustable height chair for our kitchen table made a world of difference with my oldest's hurting hand. And then we got school desks with chairs. So he does all writing at those, and his hand doesn't hurt anymore.

[2squared]

My 4yo wants to do school work, but mostly she just plays. I read aloud to her at night, she practices writing while I'm working with the others (her idea), and I sometimes work a few pages of brain games with her. Other than that, she just plays.

 

I might start Reading Made Easy and RightStart A with her this spring, but that's totally dependent on how much time my 2yo gives me with the older three.

[Clarkd]

We do some fine motor tabletop work. Get some tongs and have him group items, play dough with items hidden inside, early legos with instructions (free at lego site), Kumon first mazes/easy mazes, first book of cutting, books with audiobook, identify and sort coins, fold washcloths.

[Julie Smith]

When both of mine were 4 we would go out to the park or swimming, ... Both my boys always played happily and well with each other.

[Heidi]

My middle child dd4 does the same thing, but she seems content. Besides the little bit of school we do, she colors a lot, plays dress up, digs in the dirt outside, and mainly just entertains herself.

[besroma]

Legos, Wedgits, bristle blocks, and many, many picture books.

[EmmaNZ]

Thanks. It looks like what we're doing is fairly average. He'll just have to deal with it!

[Mom-ninja.]

What does my 4 yr old do? He poops on the floor. Oh, wait.....you meant like what are some things you can have him do.

 

Play and join in for his "school"when he feels the desire.

[JenC3]

Lol, mine goes to preschool every morning:)

[sewingmama]

I sent my 4yo's to preschool. I find they just need something more at that age. Not necessarily academics though -mine went to a play based preschool where the only academics they did was story time.

 

They changed the age cut-offs this year which means my DS2 can't start till next year so I'm writing up my own program for him this year. He just wants and needs more then just hanging around the house while I school the others.

[twoxcell]

During school time my 4 year old plays with toys, watches preschool shows, plays computer games, colors, paints, glitters, cuts, glues, makes a mess, plays dress up, runs around with her little brother, etc. Not all at the same time of course. For her school we do Little Hands to Heaven, a page or two in one of her Rod and Staff books and I let her pick out a picture book for me to read to her.

[alisoncooks]

My 4yo does church preschool 2x/week, but mainly to go play and give me some time alone with her sister.

When at home, she does Starfall/Reading Eggs or plays when I'm working with older DD.

When she & I are working together, we're using CLE's Kindergarten II program for written work/coloring/"school" time.

[MistyMountain]

I do reading bear with my 4 year old. Once he knew his letter sounds I started doing reading bear with him. He can now sound out simple words. I will continue doing AAR and some Reading Bear but only 1 of the 2 a day. I do sometimes do a starfall reading with reading bear. I am doing some funnix math with him for the time being but I want to start working with c-rods and doing a kindergarten curriculum with him soon instead. I also want to add in handwriting soon if he seems ready for it. He loves watching Brain Pop and the Magic School Bus dvds. He can watch 1 or 2 Peter Weatherall science or math segments before he had enough. He loves doing snap circuits but I have to do them with him now.

 

He spends most of his day running in circles, crashing into things playing with his castle toy, tools or various blocks or playing along with dd's imaginative adventures.

[EmmaNZ]

He just wants and needs more then just hanging around the house while I school the others.

 

Yes this exactly. He loves the 'schoolwork' I do with him, and already joins in quite a bit with the olders' science/history. He just seems to want more, but I have less than zero time as it is. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to find time to teach him phonics properly. But he will be 5 in a couple of months, so I will have to carve that time out from somewhere!

[justamouse]

Get some kapla blocks and let him build.

 

Take lots of walks and talk about what you see.

 

Get him a big box to play in.

 

Make a nature table.

 

Break out the art supplies and teach him how to paint.

[UrbanSue]

My 3.5 year old plays on his own, or he plays with his 6 year old brother when said brother is done with school (Kindergarten, so it's short). He sits in on some of the K'er's lessons as well.

 

For the hand, I'd suggest playdoh and other such things that will work on fine motor skills. My oldest had a hurting hand, and it was not fun. My other two don't have that problem. Also, when you have him coloring, make sure he is seated at an appropriate height (not sitting in a dining room chair at the table, but in a raised up chair or at a lowered desk/table that is kid height). If he's having to reach UP to use a writing utensil, that's going to hurt. Getting an adjustable height chair for our kitchen table made a world of difference with my oldest's hurting hand. And then we got school desks with chairs. So he does all writing at those, and his hand doesn't hurt anymore.

 

 

My just about 4yo spends a LOT of time with play doh. And we also have three toddler-height or adjustable height chairs at our dining room table (where we school). Even my 6yo has a special chair, still. And, come to think of it, my oldest is in a wheelchair and can reach the table fine for meals but for school we got him a special-height desk. We've found that being at a good height makes a huge difference in how happy kids are to be doing work.

 

But, 4yos are tough. Mine is the third of four and is the most language-advanced so far . . . but I just don't have all the time he could probably use--and this is coming from someone who is VERY laid back about early academics. I put a lot of Melissa and Doug toys on his wish list this Christmas and I'm hoping that having self-contained toys in their own trays on our closet shelves will help him choose an activity and sit with us at the table and just stay occupied a bit longer.

 

Also, does yours draw much? Mine will only color a few minutes but has recently turned a corner with free drawing and it caught me off guard. You might try just a blank paper or sketchbook (my 4yo loves having his own sketchbook) and see what he comes up with.

[Mergath]

Mine has a few activities outside the house- gymnastics, library storytime, a playgroup at the school- and I take her outside to play quite a bit. Our academic stuff is listed in my sig, and the rest of the time, she pretty much entertains herself, playing with toys, reading, drawing, stuff like that.

 

One thing we have that my dd loves and keeps her really busy is her Tag pen. (This thing.) We have a ton of really neat things for it- books, readers, a map of the solar system, animal cards- and other than changing the batteries, she does it all by herself.

[lailasmum]

My 4 yr old bounces/runs around for 2/3 of the day. Then rest usually plays with toys or draws and paints. I don't do much actual work with him but he can read basically because he picked it up when his sister was learning.

[happypamama]

When all else fails, my 4yo gets some time to play the Lightning McQueen or Pooh apps or he watches a movie. But I really, really try hard not to have that happen; it's rare that it does.

 

Mostly, he is really good at entertaining himself, but that's a personality thing. He plays with his little brother sometimes, or he goes in the room next to us and gets out blocks, trains, Legos, etc. Or he sits in the rocking chair in our schoolroom and reads books to himself. When I can (and I make a point for this to happen), I read some picture books to him. He has some workbooks from Rainbow Resource that he can do if he wants to "do school;" usually I give him some direction, and then he works independently. I also have a box of early learning activities that I pull things from and put in his schoolbox (he insisted upon having a workbox of his own), rotating to keep it interesting -- pattern blocks, matching activities, fine motor activities, etc. Sometimes he likes just cutting paper into shapes. He has crayons but hasn't shown a huge interest in drawing yet. Sometimes he just wants to sit on my lap or bug his big brother (his favorite playmate/buddy), but in general, he'll be happy to play/work independently for an hour or two, during which I do the work that I need to do with the older two.

 

Audio books would be a good option for little guys too, I think.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My almost 5yo is also the middle child of 5. She had been wanting more mom time. I was already making some changes for my older two kids at the time, changed our schedule a little, and bought Sonlight P4/5. She loves it! All of my kids love read-alouds and the others do listen in. But what she really likes is that this is her special school work. We are also doing handwriting and I hope to start word building (early in my learn to read/spell sequence) soon.

 

As far as other things to do, she likes to listen in on her older siblings' history and science and play with anyone who isn't schooling at the time. Other than history and science, I only work with one child at a time. So there is always someone to play with. She enjoys coloring, painting, crafts, play-doh, playmobil (when the baby is sleeping!), looking at books, and kitchen set, to name a few things.