Early Childhood Development PDF

Midterm Lesson 5- Module1 EARLY CHILDHOOD Two- Six Year of Age PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Body Changes Around Age 3 Loss of baby fat; children begin to develop a le...

Midterm Lesson 5- Module1 EARLY CHILDHOOD Two- Six Year of Age PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Body Changes Around Age 3 Loss of baby fat; children begin to develop a leaner, more athletic build. Trunks and limbs grow longer. Abdominal muscles form, giving a tighter appearance to the stomach. Gender Differences Boys generally have more muscle mass compared to girls at this stage. Proportional Changes Heads are still relatively large, but less so compared to toddlerhood. Growth Milestones by Age 6 Average height: about 46 inches Average weight: about 46 pounds Individual variations depend on socioeconomic status, nourishment, health, and heredity. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT Developmental Progress Dramatic growth in brain and nervous system complexity.  Enhanced development leads to more advanced behavioral and cognitive abilities. Brain Structure Brain is divided into two hemispheres: right and left. Lateralization Localization of functions in each hemisphere: - Left Hemisphere: Language, writing, logic, and mathematical skills. - Right Hemisphere: Creativity, fantasy, artistic, and musical skills. Despite specialization, hemispheres typically coordinate and work together. The two cerebral hemispheres develop at different rates, with the left hemisphere developing more fully in early childhood (ages 2 to 6), and the right hemisphere developing more fully in middle childhood (ages 7 to 11). The left hemisphere predominates earlier and longer, which may explain why children acquire language so early and quickly. Another aspect of brain development is handedness, or preference for using one hand over the other. Handedness appears to be strongly established by middle childhood. About 90 percent of the general population is right-handed, while the rest of the population is left-handed and/or ambidextrous. A person is ambidextrous if he or she shows no preference for one hand over the other. Typically, right-cerebral dominance and left-handedness with right-cerebral dominance. MOTOR SKILLS Motor skills are physical abilities or capacities.  Gross motor skills, which include running, jumping, hopping, turning, skipping, throwing, balancing, and dancing, involve the use of large bodily movements. Fine motor skills, which include drawing, writing, and tying shoelaces, involve the use of small bodily movements. Both gross and fine motor skills develop and are refined during early childhood; however, fine motor skills develop more slowly in preschoolers. Albert Bandura’s theory of observational learning is applicable to preschoolers’ learning gross and fine motor skills. Bandura states that once are biologically capable of learning certain behaviors, children must do the following order to develop new skills: 1. Observe the behavior of others. 2. From a mental image of the behavior. 3. Imitate the behavior. 4. Practice the behavior. 5. Be motivated to repeat the behavior. HEALTH General Health - Preschoolers are generally quite healthy but may experience medical issues. Typical Minor Illnesses - Common examples: Child, coughs, stomachaches. - Usually lasts no more than 14 days. Common Ailments - Respiratory issues are the most frequent, due to underdeveloped lungs. Management and Benefits - Most minor illnesses do not require medical attention. Learning Opportunities - Coping Skills: Helps children learn to manage physical discomfort and distress. - Empathy: Assists children in understand and relating to others’ discomfort and distress  Major Illness in Early Childhood Characteristics - Serve and last longer than 14 days Examples - Influenza - Pneumonia - Cancer - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Psychological Impact - Developmental delays - Anxiety - Pain Increases Risk Factors - Poverty - Family Stress - Daycare Attendance - Large Family Size: More family members can increase the likehood of illness spreading. The majority of deaths during early childhood are due to accidental injuries rather than illnesses. The most common source of deadly accidents for preschoolers is the automobile. Other causes of childhood death include drowning, suffocating, being burned, being poisoned, and falling from heights. Young children’s sense of adventure often outweighs their understanding of the dangers inherent in various activities and situations. Therefore, adequate adult supervision is always necessary whether at home, in daycare, or on the playground. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Active Role in Cognitive Development  - Engage in understanding, explaining, organizing, manipulating, constructing, and predicting. Cognitive Limitations Attention and Memory: Difficulty in controlling attention and memory function. Reality vs. Appearance: Confuse superficial appearance with reality. Focus: Tend to focus on only one aspect of an experience at a time. Cross Cultural Patterns - Immature cognitive errors are common across different cultures. Piaget referred to the cognitive development occurring between ages 2 and 7 as the preoperational stage. In this stage, children increase their issue of language and other symbols, their imitation of adult behavior, and their play. Young children develop a fascination with words-both good and bad language. Children also play games of make-believe: using an empty box as a car, playing family with siblings, and nurturing imaginary friendships. Piaget’s Stage of Cognitive Development Stage Age Range What happen at this stage? Sensorimotor 0-2 years old Coordination of sense with motor responses, sensory curiosity about the world. Language used for demands and cataloging. Object permanence is  developed. Preoperational 2-7 years old Symbolic thinking, use of proper syntax and grammar to express concepts. Imagination and intuition are strong, but complex abstract thoughts are still difficult. Conservation is developed. Concrete Operational 7-11 years old Concepts attached to concrete situations. Time, space, and quantity are understood and can be applied, but not as independent concepts. Form Operational 11 years old and Theoretical, older hypothetical, and counterfactual thinking. Abstract logic and reasoning. Strategy and planning become possible. Concepts learned in one context can be applied to another. Cognitive Development Piaget’s View on Preschoolers’ Cognitive Limitations Egocentrism Inability to distinguish between their own point of view and that of others. Classification Difficulty in grouping object according to shared features. Serial Ordering Struggle with organizing items according to logical progression. Conservation Inability to understand that physical properties remain constant despite changes in appearance form. Memory Young children do not remember as well as older children and adults. Furthermore, the children are better at recognition than at recall memory tasks. Possible Explanations Brain Development: Lack certain brain development aspects necessary for mature memory skills. Experience: Fewer experience to draw upon when processing information. Selective Attention: Greater susceptibility to distractions due to lack of selective attention. Mnemonic Stage: Less effective and fewer mnemonic strategies compared to adults. Language Sentence Complexity Measures by the average number of words in a child’s sentences. More words in sentence indicate more sophisticated language development.  Sequential Stages of Language Development Utterances: Early stage of language. Phrases with Inflections: Introduction Of grammatical modifications. Simple Sentences: Basic sentence structure. Complex Sentences: Advanced sentence structures. Basic Syntax Not fully realized until around age 10. Parents , siblings, peers, teachers, and the media provide opportunities for preschoolers to increase their vocabulary. Around the world and in the United State, some young children are bilingual, or able to speak more than one language. Some ethnic children learn to speak a dialect or variations of a language, before they learn to speak standard English. Psychosocial Development DUring early childhood (ages 2-6) children gain some sense of being separate and independent from their parents. According to Erickson, the task of preschoolers is to develop autonomy, or self- direction, (age 13), as well as initiative, or enterprise (age 3-6) Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Approximate Age Psychosocial Crisis/ Virtue Developed Task Infant- 18 months Trust vs Mistrust Hope 18 months- 3 years Autonomy vs. Will Shame/Doubt 3-5 years Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose 5-13 years Industry vs. Inferiority Competency 13-21 years Identity vs. Confusion Fidelity 21-39 years Intimacy vs. Isolation Love 40-65 years Generativity vs. Care Stagnation 65 and older Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom Personality Development in Early Childhood Sigmund Freud’s Psychisexual Stages Stage Age Range What happen at this stage? Oral stage 0-1 year old Children derive pleasure from oral activities, including sucking and tasting. They like to put things in their mouth. Anal stage 2-3 years old Children begin potty training. Phallic stage 3-6 years old Boys are more attached to their mother, while girls more attached to their father. Latency stage 6 years old to puberty Children spend more time and interact mostly with same sex peers. Genital stage Beyond puberty Individuals are attracted to opposite sex peers. The 3 Major Types of Behavioral Learning Classical Conditioning - A neutral stimulus is associated with a natural response. Operant Conditioning - A response in increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment. Observational Learning - Learning occurs through observation and imitation of others. Family Relationships in Early Childhood Type of Parenting Authoritative Clear expectations Definite rules Supportive Authoritarian High expectations Disciplined Unsupportive Permissive Low expectations Excessive responsiveness Uninvolved No boundaries Little support Siblings are children’s first and foremost peer group. Preschoolers may learn as much or more from their siblings as from their parents. Regardless of age differences, sibling relationships mirror other social relationships, providing basic preparation for dealing either people outside of the home. Only children, or children without siblings l, are not development disadvantage. Research confirms that only children perform just as well as, if not better than children with siblings on measure of personality, intelligence, and achievement. Family circumstances and social class Family circumstances affect the development of young children, who tend to fare better in financially secure and intact households. Unfortunately, not all families have the resources to allow a parent to remain at home during the day or to purchase the best possible daycare services. In addition, not all families are able to access necessary health care. The long-term emotional consequences of coming from a family with a low socioeconomic status may be significant. Friends and Playmates in Early Childhood Early family attachment may determined the ease with which children form friendship and other relationship. Children who have loving, stable, and accepting relationship with their parents and siblings are generally more likely to form similar relationships with friends and playmates. Childhood friendships create opportunities for children to learn how to handle anger- provoking situations, to share, to learn values, and to practice more mature behaviors. Sexuality in Early Childhood Ages 3 to 6 mark the phallic stage of psychosexual development, when children experience heightened interest in their genitals. Freud speculated that near the end of the phallic stage, children are erotically attracted to the opposite- gender parent. In response to internal mental conflicts that arise because of this attraction, children identify with the same- gender parent at the resolution of the Oedipal Complex (boys) Electra Complex (girls). Fear and Aggression in Early Childhood Preschool children probably become fearful because of their remarkable fantasy life, and their inability to distinguish between reality and pretending. Childhood fears are usually temporary; there fears are normally disappears with time. Preschoolers (ages 2-6) are typically afraid of animals, bodily, injury, dark places, loud noises, strangers, and being separated from their parents. Childhood aggression has been a topic of intense study in recent decades. Aggression, which appears by ages 2 or 3, may involve an intentional action to harm others (such as biting another child) or directed hostility to attain particular goals (such as taking a toy from another children).  MIDDLE & LATE CHILDHOOD 7 to 11 years of age PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT in Middle and Late Childhood PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT Physical development in middle childhood is characterized by considerable variations in growth patterns. While children of this age group follow the same basic developmental patterns, they do not necessarily mature at the same rate. Most girls experience a preadolescent growth spurt around age 9 or 10. Most boys experience the same growth spurt around age 11 or 12 Girls and boys grow about 2 to 3 inches and gain about 3 kgs per year until puberty. Skeletal bones and muscles broaden and lengthen → growing pains & losing deciduous teeth Brain & Nervous System Development Early in middle childhood, a growth spurt occurs in the brain so that by age 8 or 9, the organ is nearly adult-size.  Brain development during middle childhood is characterized by growth of specific structures, especially the frontal lobes. – EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING As the size of the frontal lobes increases, children are able to engage in increasingly difficult cognitive tasks, such as performing a series of tasks in a reasonable order. Ex: assembling a mechanical toy The corpus callosum starts to mature (The corpus callosum, which connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, begins to develop during fetal development, around 8 weeks of gestation. It continues to grow and mature throughout childhood and adolescence. By the age of four, it is about 90% developed, and it reaches full maturity around the age of 20. This structure is crucial for communication between the two sides of the brain, playing a significant role in coordinating sensory information, movement, and cognitive functions). - bands of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres Children achieve concrete operations around age 7 when the brain and nervous systems have developed a certain amount of neural connections. When these neural connections have developed, a child’s ability to perceive and think about the world advances from an egocentric, magical viewpoint to a more concrete and systematic way of thinking. Motor Skills Gross and fine motor skills continue to develop during middle & late childhood Children love to run, jump, leap, throw, catch, climb, and balance. Children play baseball, ride bikes, roller skate, take karate lessons, take dance lessons, and participate in gymnastics. Children enjoy using their hands in detailed ways.  Most children practice this by writing and drawing while some more fortunate kids take music lessons that further refine their fine motor skills Health Children who do not receive adequate nutrition or medical attention may be risk for stunted or delayed growth development. For example, children who live in countries where malnutrition is not a problem tend to be taller than children who live in countries where malnutrition is a problem. - Malnutrition occurs when the body doesn’t get the right balance of nutrients it needs to function properly. This can result from either undernutrition (not getting enough nutrients) or overnutrition (getting too many nutrients). Causes of Malnutrition Reduced food intake: Due to lack of access to food, eating disorders, or medical conditions Digestive disorders: Conditions like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Mental health issues: Depression, schizophrenia, or dementia. Alcoholism: Can interfere with nutrient absorption. Social factors: Isolation or inability to prepare meal. Symptoms of Malnutrition Weight loss and muscle wasting Fatigue and ((dizziness Poor wound healing Dry, inelastic skin Hair loss Irritability and lack of concentration. The typical minor illnesses of early childhood—colds, coughs, and stomachaches—are likely to lessen in frequency in middle childhood. But obesity is a special health problem that occurs during these school years. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT in Middle and Late Childhood Concrete Operational Thought From ages 7 to 11, children are in what Piaget referred to as the concrete operational stage of cognitive development - The third stage in Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, typically occurring between the ages of 7 and 11. During this stage, children develop logical thinking skills and can perform operations on concrete objects and events. They begin to understand concepts such as conservation (the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance), reversibility (understanding that objects can be changed and then returned to their original state), and classification (the ability to group objects based on common characteristics) This involves mastering the use of logic in concrete/tangible ways. For example, the child can understand principles of cause and effect, size, and distance. The child can use logic to solve problems tied to their own direct experience, but has trouble solving hypothetical problems or considering more abstract problems. The child uses inductive reasoning, which is a logical process in which multiple premises believed to be true are combined to obtain a specific conclusion.  - Children use this type of reasoning to draw general conclusions from specific observations. For example, a child has one friend who is rude, another friend who is also rude, and the same is true for a third friend. The child may conclude that friends are rude. Concrete Operational Thought Classification - As children’s experiences and vocabularies grow, they build schemata and are able to organize objects in many different ways. (ex: hierarchy). Identity - objects have qualities that do not change even if the object is altered in some way. (ex: breaking chalk). Reversibility - The child learns that some things that have been changed can be returned to their original state. [(water → ice → water) vs (egg → scrambled egg)]. Conservation - changing one quality (in this example, height or water level) can be compensated for by changes in another quality (width)  Decentration - children no longer focus on only one dimension of any object (such as the height of the glass) and instead consider the changes in other dimensions too (such as the width of the glass). This allows for conservation to occur. Seriation - Arranging items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight, in a methodical way Information Processing Working Memory: The capacity of working memory expands during middle and late childhood. - Children with learning disabilities in math and reading often have difficulties with working memory. - They may struggle with following the directions of an assignment. - When a task calls for multiple steps, children with poor working memory may miss steps because they may lose track of where they are in the task. Tip for adults dealing with these children: Using more familiar vocabulary, using shorter sentences, repeating task instructions more frequently, and breaking more complex tasks into smaller more manageable steps. Memory: Older children also learn how to use mnemonic devices, or memory strategies. Creating humorous lyrics, devising acronyms, chunking facts (breaking long lists of items into groups of three’s and four’s), and rehearsing facts (repeating them many times) help children memorize increasingly complicated amounts and types of information. Metamemory - the ability to comprehend the nature of memory and predict how well one will remember something. Metamemory helps children sense how much study time is needed for next week’s math test.  Metacognition: refers to the knowledge we have about our own thinking and our ability to use this awareness to regulate our own cognitive processes. Children in middle and late childhood also have a better understanding of how well they are performing a task, and the level of difficulty of a task. As they become more realistic about their abilities, they can adapt studying strategies to meet those needs. Language Development Vocabulary: One of the reasons that children can classify objects in so many ways is that they have acquired a vocabulary to do so. By fifth grade, a child's vocabulary has grown to 40,000 words. It grows at a rate that exceeds that of those in early childhood. Grammar and flexibility: Older children are also able to learn new rules of grammar with more flexibility. While younger children are likely to be reluctant to give up saying "I goed there", older children will learn this rather quickly along with other rules of grammar Communication Disorders Fluency disorders affect the rate of speech. Speech may be labored and slow, or too fast for listeners to follow. - Stuttering is a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables, or words are repeated or last longer than normal. An articulation disorder refers to the inability to correctly produce speech sounds (phonemes) because of imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, tongue, or throat Disorders of the voice involve problems with pitch, loudness, and quality of the voice. It only becomes a disorder when problems with the voice makes the child unintelligible. In children, voice disorders are significantly more prevalent in males than in females.  PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT in Middle and Late Childhood Self-Concept Most boys and girls develop a positive sense of self-understanding, selfdefinition, and self-control in middle childhood. When lacking skills in one area, children in this age group typically find another area in which to excel. Excelling in an area contributes to a child’s overall sense of self-esteem and belonging in the social world. Social Cognition Children’s use of social inferences, or assumptions about the nature of social relationships, processes, and others’ feelings, also improves. Sexuality in Middle Childhood Freud theorized that sexual latency, or lack of sexual interest, characterized middle childhood, today’s developmentalists generally do not support Freud’s position. Sexual curiosity and experimentation clearly continue and even increase in frequency during the grade-school years. Same-sex contact and play are also not unusual during middle childhood. Preadolescence, often referred to as late childhood or the formative years, is the period of childhood between ages 10 and 11. At this time, children’s fascinations with sexuality are coupled with hormonal and physical changes occurring in their bodies. With these changes comes self-consciousness about the body, especially in regard to being seen nude by friends and parents. Stressors during Middle & Late Childhood  Boys and girls in the grade-school years are not immune to the stressors of their worlds. Homework, difficulties making friends, changing neighborhoods and schools, working parents—these stressors and more are normal and expected during the course of growing up. Unfortunately, some children are exposed to more severe stressors, including divorce, child physical abuse & child sexual abuse. Divorce – Children who are dissatisfied with one or both of their parents and/or their living situation before a divorce tend to have a hard time adjusting after a divorce. Child physical abuse – is the intentional infliction of pain, injury, and harm onto a child. Child abuse also includes emotional and psychological abuse, including humiliation, embarrassment, rejection, coldness, lack of attention, neglect, isolation, and terrorization. Child sexual abuse – Also known as child molestation, child sexual abuse occurs when a teenager or adult entices or forces a child to participate in sexual activity. Sexual abuse is perhaps the worst means of exploiting children imaginable. Ranging from simple touching to penetration, child sexual abuse is culturally forbidden in most parts of the world  MOdule 7- Adolescence Adolescence The transition period between childhood and adulthood – encompasses ages 12-19. Adolescents experience rapid physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth. Physical Development Adolescence Adolescence begins with PUBERTY (sexual maturation) ADOLESCENT GROWTH SPURT Early sign of maturation. A noticeable increase in height and weight. - Female growth spurt usually begins between ages 10 -14 and ends by age 16. - Male growth spurt usually begins between ages 10 -16 and ends by age 18. Puberty begins with a sharp increase in production of sex-related hormones (estrogen in girls and testosterone in boys) PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS structures directly responsible for reproduction Example: penis in boys and uterus in females SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS structures indirectly responsible for reproduction Example: growth of pubic hair in both sexes COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (Age 12 and Up) Major characteristics and developmental changes during this time: Begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems. Begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning. Begins to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT According to Robert Sternberg’s TRIARCHIC THEORY, intelligence is comprised of three aspects ANALYTIC OR COMPONENTIAL INTELLIGENCE is the ability to use internal information-processing strategies when identifying and thinking about solving a problem, including evaluating results. CREATIVE OR EXPERIENTIAL INTELLIGENCE is the ability to transfer learning effectively to new skills. PRACTICAL OR CONTEXTUAL INTELLIGENCE is the ability to apply intelligence practically, including in social, cultural, and historical contexts. - TACIT KNOWLEDGE – an important part of contextual intelligence, which is not directly taught.  Level 2: Conventional Morality Early Adolescence to Adulthood STAGE 3 (DEVELOPING GOOD INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS) Often referred to as the "good boy-good girl" orientation, this stage of the interpersonal relationship of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and consideration of how choices influence relationships. STAGE 4 (MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER) This stage is focused on ensuring that social order is maintained. At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty, and respecting authority. PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE  PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM ADOLESCENT SEX Unplanned pregnancy - pregnancy and childbirth during adolescence are risky to both child and mother Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) -each year, more than 3 million teenagers contract an STD HEALTH ISSUES IN ADOLESCENCE Eating disorders (obesity, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa) Depression Substance Abuse