Today, the world has become very competitive and everyone wants their kids to excel in just about all competitions. However, in this race many a times as a parent we forget to keep a tab on the developmental milestones of our child.
There are yearly milestones that a child attains as it grows and these milestones are very important to ensure the growth of your child. As many psychosomatic disorders are seen in children too, these milestones help in spotting them early on and taking steps to preventing worsening. Here we are going to talk about few skills that a child should know by the time he/she turns 5.
Communication skills:
By the age of 5, children should have good command on their language. They should be able to speak clearly and their pronunciation should be perfect. They should be able to speak complex and compound sentences and tell a simple story using full sentences. They should be able to strike a conversation and learn to wait for their turn to speak in group talks.
Social and emotional skills
By the time a child turns 5, they learn to make friends and make efforts to please them. They can tell difference between real and make-believe things. They start showing concern and sympathy for others. They like participating in activities like singing, dancing or acting. They start becoming independent for e.g. they can go alone to your next door neighbour’s place, won’t need you to come along anymore. As they become more social, they like to participate in activities that involve other kids.
Cognitive skills
At 5, kids are creative and enthusiastic problem solvers. They start asking analytical questions and also give imaginative ideas for how to do a task, or make something. They become aware of things being used daily like food, money etc. They can easily count 10 or more things and can even do simple addition and subtraction. They have understanding of shapes and can even copy them. Five-year-olds understand and use words related to position, such as "under" or "behind." They can even use instruments like thermometers, weighing scale etc.
Physical skills
Physically, five-year-olds are full of energy and look out for active games and environments. They are able to balance and coordinate movements, therefore can ride a bike with training wheels, swim, jump rope etc. They have better control and are able to change the direction, speed and quality of their movements. The flexibility of their fingers is also, improved to great extend and hence they have improved control over writing and painting tools and even manage zippers and buttons.
Creative skills
Five-year-olds are able to compose and arrange music within specified guidelines. They can enact simple plays and perform puppet shows. They can create realistic art with recognizable subjects and more detailed settings.
If your child is completely lacking one or more of these skills, then it might be a good idea to visit a child developmental specialist or pediatrician to rule out developmental disorders or focus on training in a special way to develop certain basic survival skill sets.