08-Early Childhood: Age 2 to 6
Biosocial Development
Body Changes
Growth
 Body slims down – taller & thinner
 Center of gravity lowers
 Enables swinging, gymnastics, etc.
Nutrition
 Overweight children
 = overweight adults
 Diabetes
 Heart disease
Cavities & gum disease
 Early tooth decay = most common disease in young children
in developed countries
 Harms permanent teeth
 Jaw malformation, speech
 Overall health
Brain development
Myelination
 Myelin coating of axons
 Speeds brain processing
 Focused on the motor and sensory areas
Corpus callosum
 Connects right and
left hemispheres
 Increases
communication
between both sides
of the brain
 Increases
coordination
 Lateralization
 Each side
specializing
Left hemisphere controls right side
 Left is language & speech
 Left is logical
 Detailed analysis
 Detail focused
Right hemisphere controls left side
 Creative
 Emotional
 Big picture focused
All thinking required both sides of the
brain
Prefrontal cortex
 “Executive” brain
 Planning, analyzing, prioritizing
 Immaturity = Impulsiveness & tendency to persevere (keep
repeating)
 E.g. “Are we there yet?”
 Longest period of development
 Matures during adolescence
Emotions
 Based on the limbic system
 Amygdala
 Hippocampus
 Hypothalamus
 Aid in emotional expression and control
Amygdala
 Registers positive & negative emotions
 Related to night terrors
 Children model after parents
Hippocampus
 Memory
 Can work with amygdala to recall emotions
Hypothalamus
 Produces hormones to activate parts of the body in response
to signals from the amygdala and hippocampus.
 E.g. stress and the fight or flight syndrome
Motor skills
 Gross
 Large muscles
 E.g. riding a bike, swinging,
kicking a ball
 Fine
 Small muscles
 Writing, drawing, pouring juice
 Girls tend to develop 6 mos.
Earlier than boys
Injuries and abuse
Three levels of prevention for avoidable
injuries
 Primary prevention
 Preventing a high risk situation from ever existing
 E.g. Sidewalks and overpasses
 Secondary prevention
 Reducing the risk in an existing high risk situation
 Salt on roads
 Crossing guards
 Tertiary prevention
 Reducing damage after injury
 Emergency room procedures
Child maltreatment
 Child abuse
 Deliberate physical, emotional, or sexual harm
 Child neglect
 Failure to meet physical or emotional needs
 Law required reporting suspected maltreatment
Symptoms of maltreatment
 Injuries
 Fantasy play – violence & sexual
 Hostility
 Impulsive reactions
 E.g. Cringing
 Fear of caregiver
 Hypervigilance