EARLY CHILDHOOD
(2 – 6 YEARS)
THE PLAY YEARS
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Physical Changes:
Each year will grow
Boys tend to be larger but girls keep more of the “baby fat” and boys tend to be more
muscular
By the end of the stage, will start losing their baby teeth and get permanent teeth
Children’s physical size and growth and overall health can be influenced by many factors
such as
Injuries
One main factor that influences health is injuries, esp. unintentional injuries
Approx.
of childhood deaths are the result of injuries in North America
The most common injuries in early childhood are
with
being the most common of them all
are the leading cause of death in children over 1
of Americans don’t use car seats for small children
Factors related to injuries:
Boys are
more likely to be injured than girls; this is because boys are more
likely to take risks and they tend to be more active than girls
: parents who have higher daily stress
levels tend to lack the energy to adequately monitor children
: teenage mothers usually are not prepared for parenthood
Motor Development
Gross motor development:
Center of gravity begins to shift downward because more streamlined and not top-heavy
Results in improved balance, walking is smoother, begin to run, skip, jump, hop, also riding
a bike
Fine motor development:
Can do more smaller tasks like put puzzles together, build w/ small blocks, cut and paste,
and string beads
Probably the most difficult task involving fine motor movements is
, which is usually mastered by
Differences in motor skills:
Boys tend to be ahead of girls in motor skills that require more
, so they jump a little farther, run a little faster, and throw a ball farther than girls
Girls are usually better at fine motor skills and certain gross motor skills using more balance
and foot movements such as hopping and skipping
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget Preoperational Stage
More symbolic thinking so use a lot of mental representation including language
development
Also use make-believe play and sociodramatic play: when begin make-believe play with
other children
Benefits of make-believe play:
There are limitations of preoperational thought.
One limitation is the concept of egocentrism: understanding things only from their own
perspective
Aren’t able to understand other’s views on things and believe that everyone perceives,
thinks and feels the same way they do
EX:
Another aspect of preoperational thought is animistic thinking: belief that inanimate
objects have thoughts and feeling like a human being
EX:
During this stage children don’t understand the concept of conservation: object is still the
same even if its form is rearranged
EX:
Irreversibility: inability to reverse mental operations
EX:
Language Development
Vocabulary:
by age 6, should have a vocabulary of about
(learning about
new
words a day)
mainly learn b/c parents point to each object and say the words and child learns by
association; eventually learn verbs that go along with the words
understand that objects can perform certain actions
after learn nouns and verbs, will learn adjectives for each them
learn general distinctions or comparisons first
EX:
tend to use metaphors like moon is made of cheese or is a cookie, clouds are pillows
can learn that certain things can have parts to them
EX:
Should learn that things that are similar are actually different
EX:
If know the difference, learn more words at a quicker pace
Grammar
Model adult speech to learn how to use correct grammar
exceptions
Use overregularization: overextend the rules of grammar to words that are
EX:
At early age will invert subject and verb when asking certain questions
EX:
Early Childhood Education
Child care: mainly for supervising children; in a home or in a center
High-quality care: safe, adequate space, low adult-child ratio, trained staff (or educated
parents); enhances development
Poor-quality care: children tend to score lower on cognitive and social skills; and tend to
have emotional and behavioral problems
May or may not have a learning program implemented into curriculum
Preschool: planned curriculum to enhance development of 2-5 year olds
Learning mainly the basics such as colors, numbers, letters, shapes
Pre-K can be added into this category
Kindergarten: Giving more preparation for entering 1st grade, so have all of the learning from
preschool but at a somewhat higher level
Learning how to write and read smaller books
Many of the programs with specific curriculum are a result of children not succeeding as
well when they get to first grade
Their argument is that the transition to first grade is easier; is it easier for the child or
teacher?
EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Self-concept: the attributes, abilities, attitudes, and values that a person uses to define
themselves, who he or she is
Preschoolers have a very concrete self-concept; they usually talk about their observable
traits when referring to themselves
EX:
Self-esteem: the judgments we make about our own worth and our feelings about those
judgments
Children’s understanding of self-esteem is very limited
They don’t understand the difference b/t how competent they really are compared to how
competent they would like to be; they usually rate their competence and abilities as being
extremely high and don’t think about difficulties associated with certain tasks
They honestly feel they can do anything
Child’s self-esteem is affected if
However, adults have to adjust their expectations for the child’s
Emotions
Around ages
EX:
, children can understand the cause of someone’s emotions
They look at external causes before looking at internal b/c not able to do so
Also can interpret, predict, and change other people’s feelings
EX:
Learn to regulate their emotions by
The child handles stress better if the parents are
and try
to suggest ways for the child to control emotions
However, if the parents rarely express any positive emotions, think the child’s emotions are
unimportant, or have problems controlling their own anger, then child will have problems controlling
their emotions
Empathetic feelings become more common in this age group
Are able to verbalize their feelings of empathy
Friendships
As adults we see friendship as a mutual relationship that involves
usually last a long time, even with conflicts
Children see friendship as
;
Don’t see it as something long-lasting; if they get into an argument with the friend, then that
friend isn’t a friend anymore
Give their friends more
other more
—have huge greetings and praise each
Having those friendships offers more
EX:
Gender Stereotyping
Gender stereotyping: associating certain objects, activities, roles, or traits with one sex
Children associate certain toys, clothing, games, occupations, and mostly colors with one sex
EX:
Are less rigid about clothing, certain toys, and hairstyles; but are rigid about certain
Parents influence the stereotypes in how they tell their children to play with gender-appropriate
toys, competing in certain sports, expecting little girls to be ladylike and boys to be a little man
Boys tend to receive toys that stress
, like
guns, cars, tools, footballs
Girls receive toys that stress
,like
dolls, tea sets, jewelry
Parents stress
in boys and
in girls
Parents also show more support when children fall into the appropriate gender activities and such
Boys tend to be more stereotyped than girls, meaning more is expected of them to follow gender
roles; fathers do this more than mothers, so fathers stereotype more than mothers
Are more concerned about the son being a “sissy” than the daughter being a tomboy
If parents don’t concentrate so much on gender-stereotyping, boys tend to be more
and girls more
Child Rearing and Parenting Styles
3 parenting styles
1) authoritative: the best type of parenting style; have limits and rules and set high yet
realistic standards for children; high in acceptance and involvement
Establish an enjoyable, emotionally fulfilling relationship with child
Their control is firm and reasonable
Talk to child about what is expected of them
Children are allowed to make some decisions on their own and are encouraged to
Talk about their feelings and problems
Outcomes:
2) authoritarian: parents have very strict rules and expect children to be obedient at all
times without allowing for mistakes
Low in acceptance and involvement but high in control
Very strict punishment
“my way or no way” or my way or the highway
Make all the decisions for the child and don’t expect questions from child
Outcomes:
boys tend to be very angry and defiant; girls engage in acting-out behavior
3) permissive: is warm and accepting but uninvolved; can be indulging, letting child do
whatever he or she wants or inattentive still allowing child to do whatever he or she wants;
have few or no rules; low or no control and rare or no punishment
Children can eat whatever they want; go to bed when they want; watch as much
television as they want
Parents don’t stress good behavior or manners
Outcome:
Punishment/Discipline
Some parents may yell, slap, spank, time-out, taking away privileges
More controversy over
Problems with physical punishment:
Behavior most likely will occur again
Only points out what is unacceptable
Can lead to aggressive behavior in children
Is likely to lead to abusing the child b/c parent may think it’s the easiest, fastest way to get
the child to behave
If use those types that aren’t physical or yelling, behavior is changed, parent has time to
cool off so not abuse
Punishment needs to be
(talk to
the child about the behavior and why they are being punished so they know what to expect if they
think about doing the behavior again)