Moving from Village to Our Time

Moving from Our Time to Imagine That!

Moving from Imagine That! to Young Child

Moving from Village to Our Time

Physical

• Improved walking skills, feet are together, knees flexible (vs. the “just walker” who has a wide-based, legs apart gate with locked knees)
• Beginning to imitate or explore a variety of traveling movements-run, jump, tiptoe, etc.

Cognitive

• Reliably points to correctly identified body parts
• Beginning to understand color and number concepts
• Will generally cooperate and follow verbal directions of two steps
• Has moved from sensory learning (touching, mouthing . . .) to more imaginative play
• Shows interest in concept pairs- high/low, fast/slow, loud/quiet, stop/start

Emotional

• Uses gestures and language to deal with frustration (as opposed to just crying or whining)
• Sustains interest and attention in activity for several minutes (Note: not wanting to give something up, such as bells or sticks, can be a sign of maturation)
• Beginning to understand and participate in “sitting” activities: finger plays, lap bounces, singing

Language

• Can express wants and needs symbolically (gestures, words)
• May have vocabulary of 20 words; receptive language is still stronger than expressive

Social

• Interested in what other children are doing, and may attempt to imitate

Musical

• Moves to music, perhaps to their own steady beat

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Moving from Our Time to Imagine That!

Physical

• Has a taller, thinner, adult-like appearance
• Balances on one foot; jumps in place without falling

Cognitive

• Demonstrates basic pre-school knowledge: counting, shapes, colors
• Developing divergent thinking skills (“What animals do you like?”)
• Beginning transition from concrete to abstract thinking (humor aids this process)
• Sits and listens to stories for up to 10 minutes

Emotional

• Recognizes needs of another person; can be empathetic
• Usually separates from parent without crying
• Development of humor

Language

• Beginning to master rules of language; asks questions
• Can make up or retell stories
• Can comment on what they have heard (after listening to a story or musical selection)

Social

• Enjoys interacting as part of a group
• Can accept “she is playing with the drum and you have the bells today”
• Participates in singing; follows a model for movement of instrument play

Musical

• Recites rhymes
• Sings simple, whole songs

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Moving from Imagine That! to Young Child

Note: The two-year Young Child program was intended in design for kindergartners and first graders. Individual exceptions might be made for a child participating in a pre-K program who will turn five years old soon after school starts. A four’s preschooler would best be served, in most cases, by participating in Imagine That!

Physical

• Can jump forward many times in a row, hops, gallops, is learning to skip
• Developed fine motor control, demonstrates control of pencil or marker

Cognitive

• Eager to learn
• Able to understand concepts of practice, proper handling of an instrument, and playing a tune as opposed to exploring ways of creating sound on an instrument
• Counts to 20; recognizes numerals 1-10
• Has abstract thinking skills- can answer questions such as “how do you think a composer can make music sound like birds?”
• Has basic pre-reading skills; understands that writing moves from left to right, and repeats from the top of the page down

Emotional

• Impulse control is emerging and developing
• Sense of right and wrong is growing
• Beginning to see things from another’s perspective

Language

• Speech is nearly 100 percent intelligible (exceptions may include children with hearing and language delays)
• Uses grammar correctly (i.e. past and future tense)

Social

• Enjoys friendships and group activities
• Shares, takes turns, plays cooperatively
• Follows directions, can participate in activity with groups doing different things simultaneously

Musical

• Sings a whole song
• Beginning to match pitches consistently
• Developing ability to match to group steady beat

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