average growth
2.5 inches and 5 to 7 pounds per year during early childhood
Trunks and legs lengthen; heads become more proportional
Overall decline in body fat during preschool years
Two most important contributors to height differences
ethnic origin and nutrition
Brain has reached ___ of adult volume by age ___
95%, 6
Myelination
nerve cells are covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells
Increases the speed and efficiency of information
Important in the development of many abilities
most rapid growth takes place in
frontal lobe areas
Planning, organizing new actions, maintaining attention
gross motor skill development age 3
Simple run-and-jump movements
gross motor skill development age 4
Child becomes more adventurous
gross motor skill development age 5
Child is self-assured and often takes hair-raising risks
fine motor skill development age 3
Can pick up tiniest objects but still a little clumsy
fine motor skill development age 4
Improved fine motor coordination
fine motor skill development age 5
Has better eye, hand, and body coordination
physical activity
Most children do not get the recommended amount of physical activity per day
Boys are more likely than girls to engage in moderate or vigorous activity
Younger children are more likely than older children to engage in physical activities
Differences betwe
mortality rate of children under age 5 is due to
Nutritional health and knowledge of mothers
Level of immunization
Dehydration
Availability of maternal and child health services
Income and food availability in the family
Availability of clean water and safe sanitation
Overall safety of child's environme
the poor are the majority in ___ in _____ nations
one in five
AIDS is likely when
Typically transmitted from parents
Especially likely in countries with high poverty and low education
Piaget's Preoperational Stage
(ages and 3 criterias)
(2 to 7 years):
Children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings
Children form stable concepts and begin to reason
Cognitions are dominated by egocentrism and magical beliefs
Preoperational
child does not yet perform operations, or reversible mental actions
(Children can only do mentally what they can do physically)
Symbolic Function Substage
2 to 4 years
Child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present
Child's drawings are fanciful, inventive, and symbolic
egocentrisim
the inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective
Animism
the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
Intuitive Thought Substage
4 to 7 years
Children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to questions
Centration
centering attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others
conservation
altering a substance's appearance does not change its basic properties
Children may be able to conserve in one area but not another
Conservation may appear earlier than Piaget originally thought
Vygotsky's Theory
Children think and understand primarily through social interaction
The mind is shaped by the cultural context
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
range of tasks that are too difficult for the child alone but that can be learned with guidance
Lower limit can be achieved by child working independently
Upper limit can be achieved by child with adult guidance
Captures skills that are in the process of
scaffolding
changing level of support during a teaching session
Vygotsky and language
Language is used for social communication, solving tasks, and monitoring one's own behavior
private speech
use of language for self-regulation
language and thought develop
independently of each other and then merge
internal speech develop
occurs between ages 3 and 7 and is followed by action without speaking aloud
children who use private speech more
are typically more socially competant
Vygotsky's Teaching Strategies
Effectively assess child's ZPD
Use the child's ZPD in teaching
Use more-skilled peers as tutors
Monitor and encourage child's use of private speech
Place instruction in a meaningful context
Transform the classroom with Vygotskian ideas
Social constructivist approach
emphasizes the social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction
Criticisms:
Vygotsky overemphasized the role of language
Possible problems with collaboration and guidance
information processing approach
A child's ability to pay attention improves significantly during the preschool years
(memory deficiency) Salient versus relevant dimensions
young children will pay attention to flashy, attractive stimuli even when it is not relevant
(memory deficiency) Planfulness
young children do not tend to engage in systematic plans for analysis
Short-term
individuals can retain information up to 30 seconds with no rehearsal
Short-term memory generally increases during early childhood but varies between individuals
speed and efficency of memory processes
improve with age and experience
theory of mind
awareness of one's own mental process and the mental processes of others
18 months- 3 yrs
children begin to understand three mental states � perceptions, desires, and emotions
age 3 to 5
children understand false beliefs, and that people can be mistaken
Children demonstrate an inability to "think about thinking
beyond preschool years, ages 5-7
have a deepening appreciation of the mind itself
middle to late childhood
children understand beliefs are interpretive and that the mind is an active constructor of knowledge
early adolesence
children begin to understand that people can have ambivalent feelings or experience conflicting feelings at the same time
Individual Differences in Theory of Mind:
Children perform better on theory of mind tasks when:
They have more siblings at home (especially when they are older)
They talk with their parents about feelings frequently
They engage in pretend play
Executive function (inhibition and planning)
may also be connected to theory-of-mind development
Gender Differences in Theory of Mind
Some research suggests that girls understand false beliefs earlier than boys
Parents tend to discuss emotions more with daughters than with sons
Girls tend to have better overall language ability
Theory of Mind and Autism
Autism leads to large deficits in theory of mind
Especially difficult to understand others' beliefs and emotions
Individual variation in autistic children
Theory-of-mind difficulties may be due to other aspects of cognition
during preschool years, children...
Become more sensitive to the sound of spoken words
Make all the sounds of their language
Demonstrate a knowledge of morphology rules
Learn and apply syntax rules
Rapidly learn new words
Talk about things that are not present
Use different styles of speech
Child-centered kindergarten:
emphasizes the education of the whole child and concern for his or her physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development
Montessori approach
teacher is a facilitator; child is given freedom and spontaneity
young children learn best through
active, hands-on teaching methods
Controversies in Early Childhood Education:
What should the curriculum be?
Should preschool education be universal in the United States?
early childhood education for disadvantaged children
Project head start: federally funded, Not all programs in the U.S. are of equal quality so it Seeks to intervene where there is a lack of enriched early childhood educational experiences