"What should a 4-year-old know academically" is typed by parents in the year before kindergarten, Reception or Foundation, usually after a preschool report or a comparison with a cousin. The honest answer is that the list is shorter than the internet makes it, that half of it is not academic at all, and that the range at 4 is wide enough that a child who has 14 of the 24 items below and a child who has 22 are both on schedule. Here is the checklist, printable, then what does not matter yet, and what to do with the gaps.
The checklist: 24 items, typical by the end of the fourth year
Print it: What a 4-year-old should know, checklist (PDF). Tick over a week of ordinary play, not in one sitting.
Reading and language (8) 1. Recognises their own first name in print. 2. Knows 10 or more letters by name, usually the ones in their name first. 3. Knows the sounds of a few letters (the first sound of their name, m, s, t). 4. Hears rhyme: can say whether "cat" and "hat" rhyme, or finish a rhyming line in a familiar book. 5. Knows that print runs left to right and top to bottom, and that the words carry the story. 6. Speaks in sentences of five or more words and is understood by adults outside the family. 7. Retells a familiar story or the events of the day in order (first, then, last). 8. Follows a two-step instruction ("put the cup on the table and bring me the book").
Maths (8) 9. Counts out loud to 10 reliably, to 20 with prompts. 10. Counts a set of up to 5 objects, touching each one once, and says how many. 11. Recognises the numerals 1 to 5. 12. Says which of two small groups has more, fewer, or the same. 13. Names a circle, square, triangle and rectangle. 14. Sorts objects by one attribute: colour, size, or shape. 15. Continues a simple repeating pattern (red, blue, red, blue, …). 16. Uses comparison words correctly: bigger, smaller, taller, longer, heavier.
Writing and fine motor (4) 17. Holds a pencil or crayon in a three-finger (tripod) grip, or is moving toward it. 18. Draws a person with a head, body, arms and legs, and a circle and a cross on request. 19. Writes some letters of their name, not necessarily in order or the right way round. 20. Cuts along a straight line with child scissors.
Learning behaviour (4) 21. Sits with one activity for 10 to 15 minutes. 22. Takes turns in a game and waits, most of the time. 23. Asks for help with words rather than tears, most of the time. 24. Separates from a parent for a session without prolonged distress.
Kindergarten and Reception teachers, asked what predicts a good first year, name items 21 to 24 before any of the first twenty.
Typical at 4 versus typical at 5
| Skill | Typical at 4 | Typical at 5 (end of kindergarten / Reception) |
|---|---|---|
| Letters | Some letters, mostly from their name | All 26 letters and most sounds |
| Reading | Rhyme, first sounds, print awareness | Blends simple words: c-a-t; reads a first reader |
| Writing | Some letters of the name; drawings | Writes their name; simple words spelled by sound |
| Counting | To 10, to 20 with help; counts 5 objects | To 100 by ones and tens; counts 20 objects |
| Numerals | 1 to 5 | 0 to 20, written |
| Adding | With objects, spoken | Adds and subtracts within 10, with numbers |
| Shapes | Four basic shapes | Shapes and their sides and corners; 3D shapes |
A 4-year-old with the 5-year-old column is ahead; a 4-year-old with the 4-year-old column is exactly where the systems expect. What the systems do not expect at 4: reading words, writing sentences, sums with numbers, times tables, worksheets.
What does not matter yet
- Reading. See above; it is a 5-to-6 skill and pushing it at 4 produces a child who dislikes books.
- Handwriting neatness. The grip matters; the letters do not.
- Counting past 20. Big numbers impress adults and teach nothing; counting 5 objects accurately teaches everything.
- "Academic" preschools and apps. Fifteen minutes of counting stairs, rhyming books and cutting paper beats an hour on a tablet, and the kindergarten teacher will tell you which child did which.
What to do about the gaps
Most gaps at 4 are exposure, not ability, and close in a few weeks of the right play.
| Gap | What to do, ten minutes a day |
|---|---|
| Letters and sounds | Their name on the fridge in magnetic letters; find each letter on cereal boxes and signs; one letter sound a week |
| Rhyme | Rhyming books (Dr Seuss, Julia Donaldson) and stop before the rhyme so the child says it |
| Counting objects | Count everything: stairs, grapes, cars. Touch each one. Ask "how many?" at the end |
| Numerals | Number magnets 1 to 5 on the fridge; match them to groups of objects |
| More and less | Two piles of anything; "which has more?"; then make them the same |
| Shapes and patterns | Shape hunt in the kitchen; patterns with cutlery, socks, blocks |
| Pencil grip | Short crayons and chalk force the tripod grip; tweezers and pegs build the hand |
| Sitting and turn-taking | Board games with turns; one activity to the end, then the next |
If the child is 4 and a half, has fewer than 10 of the 24, and the preschool has raised it, ask the school system for the free screening it offers (Child Find in the US, the health visitor or school nursing service in the UK, the Maternal and Child Health service in Australia). Early language and hearing checks solve more "academic" gaps at 4 than any tutor.
What we do, and do not do, at this age
We do not tutor 4-year-olds. The screen does not hold a child this age, and nothing on the checklist needs a tutor; it needs a parent, ten minutes a day, and the list above. We start at kindergarten and first grade with 30-minute classes, a parent in the room, and the kindergarten maths topics: counting, numerals, shapes, adding with objects. If your child is 5 or 6 and the 5-year-old column above is not happening, that is when a short, playful 1-on-1 class helps, and the first one is free.
Questions parents ask
1What should a 4-year-old know academically?
2Should a 4-year-old be able to read?
3What maths should a 4-year-old know?
4How do I check what my 4-year-old knows without a test?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.