Question

A nurse is assessing a 4-year-old child at a well-child visit. Which of the following developmental milestones should the nurse expect to observe?

A) Skipping and hopping on one foot
B) Riding a bike without training wheels
C) Tying shoelaces independently
D) Counting and writing numbers up to 100"

Answer 1

At a well-child visit, a nurse should expect a 4-year-old to exhibit physical development such as running, climbing stairs, and beginning to skip, as well as cognitive and psychosocial development like speaking in full sentences and asking questions. The mastery of more advanced skills such as tying shoelaces or riding a bike without training wheels is typically seen closer to age five.

Step-by-step explanation:

Developmental Milestones for a 4-Year-Old Child

When assessing a 4-year-old child at a well-child visit, a nurse can expect to observe several developmental milestones pertaining to physical and cognitive skills. At this age, children are refining their gross and fine motor skills, as well as developing their cognitive and social abilities. Some of the observed milestones would include:

• 
  
• Physical Development: The child should be able to run, climb stairs, and scribble with a crayon. They typically start to grip a crayon with a tripod grasp, and by the age of five, they'll likely be able to skip on alternate feet, catch a ball thrown from a meter away, and balance on either foot with good control for about ten seconds.
• 
  
• Cognitive and Psychosocial Development: The child's speech is mostly intelligible, and they begin to use correct past tenses of verbs. They can talk about objects, people, and events that are not present, which indicates imaginative thought. They also show early stages of cognitive development like counting and recognizing some numbers and can make decisions like choosing what to wear.
• 
  
• Skills like tying shoelaces and riding a bike with training wheels start to develop closer to the age of five, and proficiency will vary individually.

Based on these developmental milestones, the expected observations for a 4-year-old child would be closer to option A) Skipping and hopping on one foot, as this aligns with their physical capability at this age. Options B) Riding a bike without training wheels and C) Tying shoelaces independently are skills that are typically acquired a little later, closer to age five. Option D) Counting and writing numbers up to 100 is a cognitive skill that may be present in some children at this age, but it is more commonly mastered later in the early school years.