The year before school is the year many parents start comparing. It is rarely useful. What actually matters at this age has little to do with knowing letters and a great deal to do with whether a child can concentrate, hold back, and ask for help.
The skills most children pick up somewhere inside this age range, grouped the way development actually happens rather than as one long checklist.
Language
Writes own name
Writes their own name or parts of it.
Explains word meanings
Describes what a word means, e.g. a tree is a plant.
Invents rhymes
Makes up own rhymes or wordplay.
Invents own stories
Makes up and tells an original story with a beginning and end.
Social
Follows group game rules
Keeps to game rules in a group, e.g. a board game.
Expresses nuanced emotions
Expresses nuanced feelings, e.g. I am a little sad.
Makes others laugh on purpose
Tells jokes or makes funny gestures to amuse others.
Explains game rules
Explains the rules of a game to others.
Makes compromises
Finds compromises in conflict, e.g. taking turns.
Cognitive
Solves complex tasks
Solves multi-step tasks, e.g. a puzzle with more than 20 pieces.
Understands perspective-taking
Understands that others can see something differently.
Solves simple maths
Solves simple addition problems like 2+2=4.
Self-care
Expresses guilt
Admits when they have done something wrong, e.g. I am sorry.
Works toward long-term goals
Works on a task over a longer time, e.g. painting a picture.
Expresses emotions through art
Paints or crafts to represent feelings.
Recognises own strengths
Names things they are good at, e.g. I am good at painting.
Firsts
Proposes new game ideas
Suggests new games or game variations.
Loses first tooth
First day of school
Rides a bike
First metres on two wheels, no help.
Every range below is a window, not a deadline. Children arrive at these in their own order, and a skill that comes late says far less than one that disappears.
Attention span grows markedly. A child this age stays with a self-chosen task for twenty minutes or more and can hold and carry out a multi-part instruction — which is what school readiness actually refers to.
Language shifts from listing to storytelling: a narrative with order, cause and a point. Many children recognise initial sounds, rhyme confidently and write their name. They do not need to read.
Fine motor control steadies the pencil grip, sharpens cutting, and many children tie a first bow. Gross motor brings cycling, balancing and ball games with a target.
Socially, stable friendships form, complete with preferences, arguments and reconciliation. Children this age understand fairness and apply it to themselves very precisely.
Practise independence rather than curriculum: packing a bag, doing up a coat, opening a lunchbox, telling someone they did not understand. Those things decide the first weeks of school far more than knowing letters.
If you have doubts about starting school, raise them early with the nursery and your doctor. A deliberate decision beats a year of unease.
Raise it if your child cannot retain a multi-part instruction, cannot settle into anything, speaks markedly unclearly, consistently struggles with other children, or lags well behind peers physically.
Pre-school health checks fall in this year. They are a good opportunity to ask questions that are not on the form.
This page is general information, not medical advice. Your paediatrician or health visitor knows your child; a chart never will. If something worries you, ask them — that is what the appointment is for.
How we built this
The milestone windows follow the developmental ranges used in routine child health checks, cross-checked against the WHO motor development study and the CDC's milestone guidance. They describe when most children reach a skill, not when yours has to.
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