Unit 4: Early Childhood

Formal Operational Stage 11-adulthood

Able to move beyond concrete experiences & think in more abstract, logical terms. Problem solving is more systematic & involves hypotheses. Adolescents develop images of ideal circumstances.

Summary

During these years children develop a theory of mind Early childhood programs emphasizing play-based learning, competence, and curiosity seem most promising Children acquire the rules of language Consistent and reasonable discipline is key as children try to gain mastery over themselves and their surroundings Family, peers, media, and schools influence children in the development of gender identities Play is important and affects all aspects of development

Motor Skills: 6 years

Gross: carries bundles, begins to ride bicycle, jumps rope, catch tennis ball Fine: ties shoes, uses scissors, uses knife and fork, washes self with help

Motor Skills: 5 years

Gross: hops about 50 feet, balances on one foot, can catch large ball, good skipping Fine: colours w/n lines, forms letters, dresses and undresses, eats more neatly

Motor Skills: 3 years

Gross: hops, jumps Fine: copies circle, opposes thumb to finger, scribbling improves

Motor Skills: 4 years

Gross: runs well, jumps skillfully, pedals tricycle Fine: holds pencil, copies square, walks balance beam

Motor Skills: 2 years

Gross: runs, climbs stairs, jumps Fine: throws ball, kicks ball, turns page, begins to scribble

Sensorimotor: Birth-2 years

Infants make sense of the world around them using mainly sensory & motor schemas. Newborns are limited to reflexive patterns. By age two they begin to use symbols.

Constructivist Approaches to Learning:

Influenced by developmental theory (Piaget and Vygotsky) rather than behavioral theory (Skinner) Children are encouraged to be active participants in the learning process Montessori's sensitive periods Malaguzzi and the Schools of Reggio and Emilia

Gender Development

One of the first categories children form 2 or 3 children are able to label their own sex and the sex of others Distinctions: -Gender -Sex -Gender identity Gender stereotypes Gender roles

Language Irregularities

Overextensions: Applying a word in a broad manner to objects that do not fit -Ex: Calls all 4-legged animals "doggie" Over regularization: Using regular grammatical rules for irregular words -Ex: Says "Look at that elephant's big foots" instead of saying "feet"

Parental Behaviours and Children's Characteristics:

Parental Behaviour: AUTHORITATIVE Children's Characteristics: SELF ASSERTIVE INDEPENDENT FRIENDLY COOPERATIVE HIGH NEED ACHIEVEMENT HIGH COMPETENCE

Parental Behaviours and Children's Characteristics:

Parental Behaviour: PERMISSIVE Children's Characteristics: IMPULSIVE LOW SELF RELIANCE LOW SELF CONTROL LOW MATURITY AGGRESSIVE LOW ACHIEVEMENT LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY

Parental Behaviours and Children's Characteristics:

Parental Behaviour: UNINVOLVED Children's Characteristics: ANTISOCIAL LOW SELF REGULATION LOW SELF CONTROL LOW MATURITY HIGH NEED LOW ACHIEVEMENT LOW COMPETENCE

Parental Behaviours and Children's Characteristics:

Parental Behaviour: AUTHORITARIAN Children's Characteristics: WITHDRAWN LACK OF ENTHUSIASM SHY (girls) HOSTILE (boys) LOW NEED ACHIEVEMENT LOW COMPETENCE

Cognitive Development: Information-Processing Theory

Strategies for Memory Selective Attention Rehearsal Organization Retrieval

Cognitive Development: Vygostsky's Theory

Stressed the role of social interactions and learning contexts (unlike Piaget) Constructivism Social constructivism Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) Scaffolding

Categories of Play

Unoccupied play Solitary play Onlooker play Parallel play Associative play Cooperative play

Teaching Strategies for Early Childhood

build trust allow for manipulation of objects use positive reinforcement encourage questions provide simple drawings and stories focus on play therapy stimulate the senses

Concrete-operational Stage 7-11 years

child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets

Early Childhood-Teaching Strategies for Long-term Learning

help of parents to act as role models reinforce positive health behaviour

Representational Thinking

more realistic evaluations begin to appear

Self-description

physical traits or tangible things

Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor:Birth-2 years

sensorimotor- infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. Infant progresses from reflexive action to symbolic thought. Birth - 2 years

Self-judgments

uses language to tell us what they think of themselves

Pre-operational Stage 2-7 years

Child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action.

Pre-operational Stage 2-7

Children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings. Operations "Internalized mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they previously did physically"

Concrete-operational Stage 7-11 years

Children can perform mental operations Logical reasoning replaces intuitive thought, as long as reasoning can be applied to concrete examples.

Theory of Mind

Children's understanding of their own thoughts and mental processes Begin to recognize that the thinking of others may be different from their own. Ages 2-3 years: Begin to understand wanting something & realize the outcome results in feelings Ages 4-5 years: Ability to recognize false beliefs

Developmental Aspects of Play

Cognitive development Social development Emotional development

Acquisition of Language Rules:

Phonology A language's sound system Syntax The grammatical arrangement of words in sentences Semantics The study of the relationship between words and their meaning

Early Childhood

Physical & motor development Cognitive development Early childhood education Language development The Self Social and gender development Play Educational approaches

Acquisition of Language Rules:

Pragmatics The use of language in different social contexts and environments Receptive language The ability of the child to understand written and spoken language Expressive language The language children use to express their ideas and needs

Pre-operational Stage 2-7

Representation Animism Deferred imitation Symbolic play Egocentrism Centration Pre-operational- cannot yet take 2 things into consideration at same time

Role of Siblings

Sibling underworld -Familial subsystem, or coalition, of brothers and/or sisters Siblings play a crucial role in the socialization of children Complex issues: -sibling rivalry -birth order -only children -children of divorce

Physical and Motor Development

Slower pace of growth than in infancy Kids slim down as trunks lengthen and body fat declines Rapid growth in brain's frontal lobe critical for planning and organizing thoughts and actions prefrontal cortex allow young children to organize their attention and actions

Play Materials

Social and fantasy Exploration and mastery Music, art, and movement Gross motor

Formal Operational Stage 11 through adulthood

adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic and logical ways