Growth and Development of Young Children

Identify and summarize four main differences between the directed reading activity (DRA) and directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA) approaches to using basal readers in teaching reading.

-One main difference is that the DR-TA approach gives teachers all the responsibility and greater flexibility for developing lessons. As such, it contains fewer directions than the DRA approach, which contains specific materials and questions to use, specific guidelines, and is more teacher-manual-oriented and materials-oriented. Therefore, DR-TA can be used for not only basal readers but also planning lessons in other curriculum areas involving reading; the DRA approach applies more directly to basal reader programs. - DRA manuals use mostly literal, factual questions, requiring only convergent thinking for student responses. However, in DR-TA, questions also demand divergent (creative) thinking of students, stimulating higher-level reading comprehension and interpretation - New vocabulary is pretaught in the DRA approach before children read. The DR-TA approach excludes preteaching, realistically requiring student decoding of new vocabulary words during reading. - DRA manuals specify when to teach which skills for reading comprehension. DR-TA approaches do not, requiring more questioning expertise and acceptance of some alternative student responses by teachers.

Note some adult considerations and practices for hand-washing as an important part of hygiene in early childhood

A major change during early childhood is that hygiene transforms from something adults do for children to something children learn to do themselves. Toddlers are typically learning toilet-training, getting many germs on their hands. Preschoolers today are also often exposed to germs in daycare or school settings. Adults must explain to young children using concrete, easily understood terms how germs spread, now hand-washing removes germs. and when and how to wash their hands. Adults also need to remind children frequently to wash their hands until it becomes a habit. Hand-washing should be required before eating, after toileting, after being outdoors, after sneezing/coughing, and after playing with pets. Because young children have short attention spans and can be impatient, they are unlikely to wash long or thoroughly enough. Adults can encourage this by teaching children to sing "Happy Birthday" or other 15- to 20-second songs /verses while washing, both assuring optimal hand-washing duration and making the process more fun.

Identify some things early childhood teachers can do during and after shared book reading with children to promote their development of abstract thought, including some examples.

Abstract thought is stimulated by asking young children to think about things not observed and/or current. During/after sharing books, teachers can ask children what else might happen in the story; what they imagine the story's characters could be feeling or thinking_-which also engages their imaginations; and ask them the meaning of the story's events using questions necessitating children's use of language to analyze this meaning. Teachers can ask younger children vocabulary words ("What did we call this animal?") and encourage them to use language by asking them to describe story details, like "How do the firemen reach people up high in the building?" Once younger children are familiar with a story, teachers can activate and monitor their retention and recall by saying, "Do you remember what happened to Arthur the day before that?" Teachers can ask older children to predict what they think will happen next in a story, to imagine extensions bevond the story ("What would you do if...?"), and make conclusions regarding why characters feel /behave as they do.

Describe some techniques early childhood teachers can use to enhance the effects of shared reading on oral language development.

According to researchers' findings, the effectiveness of shared reading experiences is related to the ways that adults read with young children. Rather than merely labeling objects or events with vocabulary words, teachers should ask young children to recall the shared reading, which monitors their listening comprehension and retention abilities. They should ask children to predict what will happen next based on what already happened in a book; speculate about what could possibly happen; describe characters, actions, events, and information from the shared reading; and ask their own questions about it. Shared reading with small groups of 1-3 children permits teachers to involve each child in the book by questioning and conversing with them about the pictures and plots. To teach vocabulary, teachers can tell children word meanings; point to illustrations featuring new words; relate new words to words the children already know; give multiple, varied examples of new words; and encourage children to use new words they learn in their conversations.

Note some elements that adults should include in their conversations with young children for building strong oral language skills and some things adults should consider regarding their linguistic interactions with young children to ensure they incorporate these elements.

Adults should converse with young children so the children get practice with hearing and using rich and abstract vocabulary and increasingly complex sentences, using language to express ideas and ask questions for understanding, and using language to answer questions about past, future, and absent things rather than only about "here-and-now" things. To ensure they incorporate these elements in their conversations, adults can consider whose voices are heard most often and who does the most talking in the home, care setting, or classroom; the child, not the adult, should be talking at least half of the time. Adults should be using rich language with complex structures when conversing with young children. Adults should be talking with, not at children; the conversation should be shared equally rather than adults doing all the talking while children listen to them. Adults should ask young children questions, rather than just telling them things. Additionally, adult questions should require that children use language to formulate and communicate abstract ideas.

Summarize some general contrasts between individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures, and general research findings comparing major world cultures in this regard.

Anthropologist have classified various world cultures along the continuum of how individualistic or interdependent their structures and values are. Investigating these differences is found to afford much insight and application for early childhood education. The predominant culture in America is considered very individualistic. Children are engaged to assert themselves and make their own choices to realize their highest potential's, with the ultimate goal of individual self fulfillment. Collectivistic/sociocentric cultures, however, place to highest importance on group well-being; if collective harmony is disrupted by individual assertiveness, such self-assertion is devalued. Some educators characterized as contrast as the difference between standing out (individualist) and fitting in (collectivist). Researchers know that when asked to finish "I am..." statements, members of interdependent cultures tend to supply a family role, religion, or organization (e.g., "a father/a Buddhist"), whereas members of individualistic culture site, personal qualities (e.g. "intelligent/hardworking"). Research finds American culture most individualistic, Latin American and Asian cultures, most interdependent, in European cultures in the middle.

Identify six stages of growth and development in art and their associated age ranges.

Austrian and German art scholars established six stages in art. 1. Scribble stage: from 2-4 years, children first make uncontrolled scribbles, then controlled scribbling, then progress to naming their scribbles to indicate what they represent. 2. Preschematic stage: From ages 4-6, children begin to develop a visual schema. Schema, meaning mental representation, comes from Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory. Without complete comprehension of dimensions and sizes, children may draw people and houses the same height; they use color more emotionally than logically. They may omit or exaggerate facial features, or they might draw sizes by importance (e.g., drawing themselves as largest among people or drawing the most important feature, such as the head, as the largest or only body part 3. Schematic stage: from 7-9 years, drawings more reflect actual physical proportions and colors. 4. Dawning realism: from ages 9-11, drawings become increasingly representational. 5. Pseudorealistic stage: from ages 11-13, children reflect their ability to reason. 6. Period of decision stage: children ages 14+ reflect the adolescent identity crisis

Discuss some general guidelines regarding nutritional factors in diet that affect early childhood development.

Babies are typically nourished via the mother's milk or infant formula, and then with baby food; however, young children mostly eat the same foods as adults by the age of 2 years. Though they eat smaller quantities, young children have similar nutritional needs to those of adults. Calcium can be more important in early childhood to support the rapid bone growth occurring during this period; young children should receive 2-3 servings of dairy products and/or other calcium-rich foods. For all ages, whole-grain foods are nutritionally superior for their fiber and nutrients than refined flours, which have had these removed, Refined flours provide "empty calories," causing wider blood-sugar fluctuations and insulin resistance--type 2 diabetes risks--than whole grains, which stabilize blood sugar and offer more naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. Darkly and brightly colored produce are most nutritious. Adults should cut foods into small, bite-sized pieces to prevent choking in young children, who have not yet perfected their biting, chewing, and swallowing skills.

Discuss some considerations related to the instruction of young children in phonics, including instructional rate and sequence.

Because children display individual differences in their speeds of learning sound-to-letter relationships, instruction should consider this; there is no set rate. Generally, a reasonable pace ranges from two to four sound-letter relationships per week. Relationships vary in utility: many words contain the letters m, a, t, s, p, and h, which are high-utility, but x in box, gh in through, ey in they, and a in want are lower-utility. High-utility sound-letter relationships should be taught first. Teachers should first introduce consonant relationships using f, m, n, r, and s, which are continuous sounds children can produce in isolation with less distortion than word-initial or word-medial stops like p, b, t, d, k, and g. Teachers should also introduce similar-sounding letters like b and v or i and e, and similar-looking letters like b and d or p and g, separately to prevent confusion. Single consonants versus clusters/blends should be introduced in separate lessons. Blends should incorporate sound-letter relationships children already know.

Identify some components and characteristics of good bedtime routines that adults can plan for young children to help them get to sleep timely and sleep well.

Bedtime routines service transitions from young children's, exciting, adventurous daytime, activities to the drink worry needed for healthful rest. I don't should begin routines by establishing and enforcing over the daytime activities like rough-and-tumble, physical, play or TV-watching stop at a specific time. What preschoolers maybe less interested in video games then older children, establishing limits early with her parents and force stopping these activities at bedtime when they're older, too. Bathtime is one good way to begin nighttime routines. Toys and games make that's fun, and bath washes with lavender and other ceiling ingredients are now available to relax young children. Also since young children eat, smaller meals, healthy, bedtime snacks are important. Too much or too little for disrupt, sleep, and too much liquid can cause bed wetting. Adult should plan nighttime snacks appropriately for the individual child. That time reading promotes interest in books and learning and adult-child/family bonding, and combs children. Singing, lullabies, hugging, and cuddling also support bonding, relax children, and make them feel safe and secure.

Cite some examples of things adults can do before reading a story aloud to young children that can enhance their development of print awareness, including examples of desirable child responses.

Before reading a story aloud, adults should tell young children its title and the author's name. Then they can ask the children what an author does (children should respond "write stories" or something similar). Giving the illustrator's name, the adult also can then ask the children what illustrators do (children should respond "draw pictures" or something similar). Holding up the book, an adult can identify the front, spine, and back and ask the children if we start reading at the front or back (children should respond "at the front"). Adults can show young children the illustration on the front cover of the book and ask them, "From this picture, what do you think is going to happen in this story?" and remind them to answer this question in complete sentences. These exchanges before reading a story aloud activate children's fundamental knowledge regarding print and books, as well as the last example's exercising their imagination and language use.

Identify some milestones of normal language development in children by the time they are 2 years old.

By the time most children reach the age of 2 years, they have acquired a vocabulary of about 150 to 300 words. They can name various familiar objects found in their environments. They are able to use at least two prepositions in their speech (e.g., in, on, and/or under). Two-year-olds typically combine the words they know into short sentences. These sentences tend to be mostly noun-verb or verb-noun combinations (e.g., "Daddy work," "Watch this*). They may also include verb-preposition combinations (e.g. "Go out," "Come in"). By the age of 2 years, children use pronouns, such as I, me, and you. They typically can use at least two such pronouns correctly. A normally developing 2-year-old will respond to some commands, directions, or questions, such as "Show me your eyes" or "Where are your ears?"

Identify some developmental milestones associated with the normal language acquisition and communication of children at the age of 3 years.

By the time they are 3 years old, most normally developing children have acquired vocabularies of between 900 and 1,000 words. Typically they correctly use the pronouns I, me, and you. They use more verbs more frequently. They apply past tenses to some verbs and plurals to some nouns. 3-year-olds usually can use at least three prepositions; the most common are in, on, and under. The normally developing 3-year-old knows the major body parts and can name them. 3-year-olds typically use 3-word sentences with ease. Normally, parents should find approximately 75 to 100 percent of what a 3-year-old says to be intelligible, while strangers should find between 50 and 75 percent of a 3-year-old's speech intelligible. Children this age comprehend most simple questions about their activities and environments and can answer questions about what they should do when they are thirsty, hungry, sleepy, hot, or cold. They can tell about their experiences in ways that adults can generally follow. By the age of 3 years, children should also be able to tell others their name, age, and sex.

Describe some differences related to racial and ethnic origin in several types of early childhood health risks and results.

Children are at higher risk for inadequate development, when they are born prematurely, or with low birthweights. Recent research found racial and ethnic disparities in these birth conditions. For example, average rates of low birth weight's between 2018 and 2020. We're almost double for African-Americans as for a whites (14% verse 6.9%). Latinos had similar but slightly higher risk than whites for low birthweight (7.5%, verse 6.9%). Native American/Alaska natives had slightly higher risk than whites (8.1% verse 6.9%), as did Asian/pacific islanders (8.6% verse 6.9%). The CDC reported that in 2017 and 2018, the prevalence of obesity among different racial groups varied greatly non-Hispanic Asians reported the lowest average 17.4% of obesity, whereas non-Hispanic white demonstrated a 42.2% obesity rate, followed by 44.8% for Hispanic and 49.6% for non-Hispanic black adults. These two statistics demonstrate a sample of correlated health risks present among varied socioeconomic groups.

Discuss natural vs. intentional conversation of adults with young children; general ways adults can provide linguistic interactions to develop young children's oral language skills and the implications of these for later learning; and some important ways whereby young children build language skills in listening and speaking.

Children enjoy conversing with significant adults, including parents, caregivers, and teachers, and they require practice with doing so. Caregivers tend to talk with young children naturally, sometimes even automatically, throughout the day, which helps children develop significant language skills. However, caregivers can enhance young children's oral language development further through intentional conversations. One element of doing this is establishing an environment that gives the children many things to talk about and many reasons to talk. Another element of intentionally promoting oral language skills development is by engaging in shared conversations. When parents and caregivers share storybook reading with young children, this affords a particularly good springboard for shared conversations. Reading and conversing together are linguistic interactions supplying foundations for children's developing comprehension of numerous word meanings. Researchers find such abundant early word comprehension is a critical basis for later reading comprehension. Asking questions, explaining, requesting what they need, communicating feelings, and learning to listen to others talk are some important ways whereby children build listening, understanding, and speaking skills.

Identifv some of the infections that can cause intellectual disabilities in babies and young children.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) is passed to fetuses from mothers, who may be asymptomatic. About 90% of newborns are also asymptomatic; 5-10% of these have later problems. Of the 10% born with symptoms, 90% will have later neurological abnormalities, including intellectual disabilities. Congenital rubella, or German measles, is also passed to fetuses from unvaccinated and exposed mothers, causing neurological damage, including blindness or other eye disorders, deafness, heart defects, and intellectual disabilities. Congenital toxoplasmosis is passed to fetuses by infected mothers, who can be asymptomatic, with a parasite from raw or undercooked meat that causes intellectual disabilities, vision or hearing loss, and other conditions. Encephalitis is brain inflammation caused by infection, most often viral. Meningitis is inflammation of the meninges, or membranes, covering the brain and is caused by viral or bacterial infection; the bacterial form is more serious. Both encephalitis and meningitis can cause intellectual disabilities. Maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) can be passed to fetuses, destroying immunity to infections, which can cause intellectual disabilities. Maternal listeriosis, a bacterial infection from contaminated food, animals, soil, or water, can cause meningitis and intellectual disabilities in surviving fetuses and infants.

Identify four achievements or processes that young children's oral language skills development enables. Summarize the relationship between early oral language development and later literacy achievement, according to research findings. Summarize the general character of oral language skills in typical infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers.

Crucial oral language development skills enable children to do the following: - Communicate by listening and responding to others' speech - Comprehend meanings of numerous words and concepts encountered in their listening and reading - Acquire information on subjects they are interested in learning about - Use specific language to express their own thoughts and ideas Research finds young children's ability to listen to, understand, and use spoken and written language is associated with their later reading, spelling, and writing literacy achievement. Infants typically begin developing oral language skills, which continue developing through life. Babies develop awareness of and attend to adult speech and soon begin communicating their needs via gestures and speech sounds. Toddlers express emotions and ideas and solicit information via language. They start uttering simple sentences, asking questions, and giving opinions regarding their likes and dislikes. Young preschoolers expand their vocabularies from hearing others' speech and from books. They describe past and possible future events and unseen objects, tell fictional or "make-believe" stories, and use complete sentences and more complex language.

Discuss some feeding strategies that adults can use to support young children's development of nutritious eating habits and attitudes.

Early childhood is an age range often associated with "finicky" eaters. Adults can experiment by substituting different foods that are similar sources of protein or other nutrients to foods young children dislike. Preparing meals to look like happy faces or animals or to have appealing designs can entice young children to eat varied foods. Engaging children age-appropriately in selecting and preparing meals with supervision can also motivate them to consume foods when they have participated in their preparation. Adults should model healthy eating habits for young children, who imitate admired adults' behaviors. Early childhood is when children form basic food-related attitudes and habits and so is an important time for influencing these. Children are exposed to unhealthy foods in advertising, at school, in restaurants, and with friends, so adult modeling and guidance regarding healthy choices are important to counteract these influences. However, adults should also impart the message early that no foods are "bad" or forbidden, allowing some occasional indulgences in small amounts to prevent the development of eating disorders.

Define print awareness in early childhood by identifying what components it includes.

Even before they have learned how to read, young children develop print awareness, which constitutes children's first preparation for literacy. Children with print awareness realize that spoken language is represented by the markings on paper (or computer screens). They understand that the information in printed books adults read comes from the words, not the pictures. Children who have print awareness furthermore realize that print serves different functions within different contexts. They know that restaurant menus give information about the foods available; books tell stories or provide information; some signs show the names of stores, hotels, or restaurants; and other signs give traffic directions or danger warnings. Moreover, print awareness includes knowledge of how print is organized (words are combinations of letters and have spaces in between them. Children with print awareness also know that English print is read from left to right and top to bottom, book pages are numbered, words convey ideas and meaning, and reading's purpose is to understand those ideas and acquire that meaning.

Discuss some aspects of promoting and teaching dental hygiene with young children.

Even while young children still have their deciduous teeth ("baby" teeth, dental hygiene practices can affect their permanent adult teeth before they erupt. For example, excessive sugar can weaken adult teeth before they even appear above the gumline. Adults should not only teach young children how important it is to brush their teeth twice and floss once daily at a minimum, they should also model these behaviors. Children are far more likely to imitate parents' dental hygiene practices than do what parents only tell them but do not do themselves. Integrating tooth brushing into morning and bedtime routines promotes the habit. Adults can help motivate resistant children with entertaining toothbrushes that play music, spin, light up, and/or have cartoon illustrations. Young children have not developed the fine motor skills sufficient for flossing independently and will need adult supervision until they are older. Individual flossers are easier for them to use with help than traditional string dental floss

Discuss some significant signs of progress in the typical motor development of young children.

Genetics, physiological maturation, nutrition, and experience through practice combine to further preschoolers' motor skills development. Newborns' reflexive behaviors progress to preschoolers' voluntary activities. Also, children's perception of the size, shape, and position of the body and body parts becomes more accurate by preschool ages. In addition, increases in bilateral coordination of the body's two sides enhance preschoolers' motor skills. Motor skills development entails both learning new movements and gradually integrating previously learned movements into smooth, continuous patterns, as in learning to throw a ball with skill. Both large muscles (for gross-motor skills like climbing, running, and jumping) and small muscles (for fine-motor skills like drawing and tying knots) develop. Eye-hand coordination involves fine-motor control. Preschoolers use visual feedback, seeing whether they are making things go where and do what they want them to, in learning to manipulate small objects with their hands and fingers.

Summarize some disadvantages, advantages, risk factors, and protective factors for young children that researchers have found in economically deprived and culturally diverse environments.

Historically, research on the effects of poverty has been focused on the disadvantages coming from a lack of necessary resources and the presence of risk factors. Due to the lack of resources, children in economically deprived communities commonly have fewer stimulating toys, less diverse verbal interaction, and commonly inadequate nutrition. Other risk factors often include unhealthy family environments, medical illness without treatment, and insufficient social-services, such as education, policing, and medical care. However, more recent research also identifies poverty's advantages, including opportunities for young children to play with peers and older children with little adult intervention, promoting empathy, cooperation, self-control, self-reliance, and sense of belonging; experience with multiple teaching styles, especially modeling, observation, and imitation; and language acquisition within a culturally-specific context through rich cultural traditions of stories, songs, games, and toys. These findings illuminate the resiliency or stress resistance of some children. Recent research also identifies protective factors against risk factors. These protections contribute to child resiliency, including the child's personality traits; having stable, supportive, cohesive family units; and having external support systems promoting positive values and coping skills.

Identify some milestones of typical child language development by the ages of 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months.

Individual differences dictate a broad range of language development that is still normal. However, parents observing noticeably delayed language development in their children should consult professionals. Typically, babies respond to hearing their names by 6 months of age, turn their heads and eyes toward the sources of human voices they hear, and respond accordingly to friendly and angry tones of voice. By the age of 12 months, toddlers can usually understand and follow simple directions, especially when these are accompanied by physical and/or vocal cues. They can intentionally use one or more words with the correct meaning. By the age of 18 months, a normally developing child usually has acquired a vocabulary of roughly 5 to 20 words. Eighteen-month-old children use nouns in their speech most of the time. They are very likely to repeat certain words and/or phrases over and over. At this age, children typically are able to follow simple verbal commands without needing as many visual or auditory cues as at 12 months.

After a teacher has elicited young children's basic print and book awareness, describe some specific things she should do immediately before reading them a story aloud that will enhance their vocabulary learning, memory, spoken language use, and relation of written stories to real/personal life.

Just before reading a story aloud to young students, the teacher should identify vocabulary words in the story that he or she will need to go over with the children. The teacher can write these words on the board or on strips of paper. Discussing these words before the reading will give the children definitions for new /unfamiliar words and help them understand word meanings within the story's context. Teachers can also give young children some open-ended questions to consider when listening to the story. They will then repeat these questions during and after the reading. Questions should NOT be ones children can answer with yes/no. When discussing vocabulary words, the teacher can also ask the children to relate words to personal life experiences. For example, with the word fish, some children may want to talk about going fishing with parents. Teachers can encourage children to tell brief personal stories, which will help them relate the story they are about to hear to their own real-life experience, making the story more meaningful.

Give a summary of some salient general aspects of human language abilities from before birth to five years of age.

Language and communication abilities are integral parts of human life that are central to learning, successful school performance, successful social interactions, and successful living. Human language ability begins before birth: the developing fetus can hear not only internal maternal sounds, but also the mother's voice, others' voices, and other sounds outside the womb. Humans have a natural sensitivity to human sounds and languages from before they are born until they are about 4½ years old. These years are critical for developing language and communication. Babies and young children are predisposed to greater sensitivity to human sounds than other sounds, orienting them toward the language spoken around them. Children absorb their environmental language completely, including vocal tones, syntax, usage, and emphasis. This linguistic absorption occurs very rapidly. Children's first 2½ years particularly involve amazing abilities to learn language, including grammatical expression.

Generally describe three periods of communication development normally occurring within a child's first five years of life.

Language and communication development depend strongly on the language a child develops within the first five years of life. During this time, three developmental periods are observed. At birth, the first period begins. This period is characterized by infant crying and gazing, Babies communicate their sensations and emotions through these behaviors, so they are expressive; however, they are not yet intentional. They indirectly indicate their needs through expressing how they feel, and when these needs are met, these communicative behaviors are reinforced. These expressions and reinforcement are the foundations for the later development of intentional communication. This becomes possible in the second developmental period, between 6 and 18 months. At this time, infants become able to coordinate their attention visually with other people relative to things and events, enabling purposeful communication with adults. During the third developmental period, from 18 months on, children come to use language as their main way of communicating and learning. Preschoolers can carry on conversations, exercise self-control through language use, and conduct verbal negotiations.

Give an example of how an early childhood teacher can assess a young child's print awareness.

One way in which a teacher can get an idea of whether or to what extent a young child has developed print awareness is to provide the child with a storybook. Then the teacher can ask the child the following: "Show me the front of the book. Show me the back of the book. Show me the spine of the book. Where is the book's title? Where in the book are you supposed to start reading it? Show me a letter in the book. Now show me a word. Show me the first word of a sentence. Can you show me the last word of a sentence? Now will you show me the first word on a page? Please show me the last word on a page. Can you show me a punctuation mark? Can you show me a capital letter? Can you find a small letter/lowercase letter?" The teacher should also praise each correct response, supply the correct answers for incorrect responses, and review corrected answers

Explain some ways that music is involved in the development of infants and young children, and how music enhances child development.

Long before they can speak, and before they even comprehend much speech, infants respond to the sounds of voices and to music. These responses are not only to auditory stimulation but moreover to the emotional content in what they hear. Parents sing lullabies to babies; not only are these sounds pleasant and soothing but they also help children develop trust in their environment as secure. Parents communicate their love to children through singing and introduce them to experiences of pleasure and excitement through music. As children grow, music progresses to be not only a medium of communication but also one of self-expression as they learn to sing and play musical sounds. Music facilitates memory, as we see through commercial jingles and mnemonic devices. Experiments find music improves spatial reasoning. Children's learning of perceptual and logical concepts like beginning and ending, sequences, cause-and-effect, balance, harmony and dissonance, and mathematical number and timing concepts is reinforced by music. Music also promotes language development. Children learn about colors, counting, conceptual relationships, nature, and social skills through music.

Give some general examples of how maturational factors affect the development and learning of babies and young children.

Many physiological factors affect the development of babies and young children. These dictate which kinds of learning activities are appropriate or ineffective for certain ages. For example, providing a newborn with visual stimuli from several feet away is wasted, as newborns cannot yet focus on distant objects. Adults cannot expect infants younger than about 5 months to sit up unsupported, as they have not yet developed the strength for it. Adults cannot expect toddlers who have not yet attained stable walking gaits to hop or balance upon one foot successfully. It is not coincidental that first grade begins at around 6 years: younger children cannot physically sit still for long periods and have not developed long enough attention spans to prevent distraction. This is also why kindergarten classes feature varieties of shorter-term activities and more physical movement. Younger children also have not yet developed the self-regulation to keep from shouting out on impulse, getting up and running around, etc.-behaviors disruptive to formal schooling but developmentally normal.

Summarize some examples of characteristics in young children's art that reflect their perceptual, cognitive, and motor development.

Observations of young children find that while a 27-year-old can grasp a crayon and scribble with it, by the age of 4 years, he or she can draw a picture we recognize as human. The typical 4-year-old drawing of a human being is called the "tadpole person" because it has no body, a large head, and stick limbs. Between the ages of 3 and 4 years, children typically make a transition from scribbling to producing tadpole person drawings. This development is enabled by greater development in motor control and eye-hand coordination, among other variables. Between the ages of 4 and 5 years, children make another transition by progressing from drawing tadpole persons to drawing complete figures with heads and bodies. Howard Gardner, psychologist and author of the theory of multiple intelligences, stated that children achieve a "summit of artistry" by the end of their preschool years. He describes their drawings as "characteristically colorful, balanced, rhythmic, and expressive, conveying something of the range and...vitality associated with artistic mastery." (1980)

Identify some gender differences in early childhood motor development and generally characterize how overall preschool physical and motor development compares between genders.

On average, preschool boys have larger muscles than preschool girls, so they can run faster, climb higher, and jump farther. Boys at these ages tend to be more muscular physically. Preschool girls, while less muscular, are on the average more mature physically for their ages than boys. While boys usually exceed girls in their large-muscle, gross-motor abilities like running, jumping, and climbing, girls tend to surpass boys in small-muscle, fine-motor abilities like buttoning buttons, using scissors, and similar activities involving the manipulation of small tools, utensils, and objects. While preschool boys exhibit more strength in large-muscle, gross-motor actions, preschool girls are more advanced than preschool boys in large-muscle, gross-motor skills that do not demand strength so much as coordination, like hopping, balancing on one foot, and skipping. While these specific gender differences in preschoolers' physical and motor development have been observed consistently in research, it is also found that preschool girls' and boys' physical and motor development patterns are generally more similar than different overall.

Identify some milestones indicating typical language development in 5-year-old children.

Once most children have reached the age of 5 years, their speech has expanded from the emphasis of younger children on nouns, verbs, and a few prepositions, and is now characterized by many more descriptive words, including adjectives and adverbs. Five-year-olds understand common antonyms, such as big/little, heavy/light, long/short, and hot/cold. They can now repeat longer sentences they hear, up to about 9 words. When given three consecutive, uninterrupted commands, the typical 5-year-old can follow these without forgetting one or two. At age 5, most children have learned simple concepts of time like today, yesterday, and tomorrow; day, morning, afternoon, and night; and before, after, and later. Five-year-olds typically speak in relatively long sentences and normally should be incorporating some compound sentences (with more than one independent clause) and complex sentences (with one or more independent and dependent clauses). Five-year-old children's speech is also grammatically correct most of the time.

Comment on some recommended practices for adults to use in helping young children make transitions from sleeping in cribs to regular beds.

One of young children's significant transitions from infancy is moving from a crib to a "big bed." Some become very motivated to escape cribs. For example, some bright, adventurous toddlers and even babies have untied padded crib bumpers, stacked them, and climbed out of the crib For such children. injury is a greater danger from a crib than a bed. Others, whose cognitive and verbal skills are more developed than motor skills, may stand up or jump up and down, repeatedly, calling "hey, I'm up!" until a parent comes. These children should be moved to a regular beds, with guard, rails, and/or body pillows to prevent rolling and falling out accidents if a child has moved to a bed to free the crib for a new baby, this should be done weeks ahead of the infants arrival if possible, to separate these two significant life events, most young children are excited about "grown-up" beds. Some, if hesitant, can sleep in the crib and nap in the bed for a gradual transition until ready for the bed full-time.

Explain some kinds of oral language skills that are promoted in young children by adults narration of child activities and actions, and some general ways that early childhood caregivers and teachers can do this.

One oral language development technique adults can use is to narrate, or describe what a child is doing as he or she does it. For example, a caregiver can say, "I see you're spreading paste on the back of your paper flower-not too much so it's lumpy, but not too little so it doesn't stick. Now you're pressing the flower onto your poster board. It sticks-good work!" Hence, narration can be incorporated as prelude and segue to verbal positive reinforcement. This promotes oral language development by introducing and illustrating syntaxes. Communicating locations and directionality employs verbs and prepositions. Describing intensity and manner employs adverbs. Labeling objects/actions that are currently present/taking place with new vocabulary words serves immediately to place those words into natural contexts, facilitating more authentic comprehension of word meanings and better memory retention. Caregivers/teachers can narrate children's activities during formal instructional activities and informal situations like outdoor playtime, snack time, and cleanup time, and subsequently converse with them about what they did.

Identify some general types of topics that young children enjoy talking about, with brief examples. Give a couple of examples of how a teacher can recast and extend children's statements to increase new vocabulary and make complete sentences.

Personal content is important with young children, who enjoy talking about themselves, such as what their favorite color is or where they got their new shirt; about their activities, like what they are constructing with Legos or shaping with Play-Doh; or about familiar events and things that access their knowledge, like their family activities and experiences with neighbors and friends. Here is an example of how a teacher can make use of children's conversation to reinforce it, expand it, and teach new vocabulary and grammar. The teacher asks a child what he or she is building, and the child answers, "A place for sick animals." The teacher asks, "You mean an animal hospital [or vet clinic]?" and the child confirms. When a child says someone was taken to a hospital "in the siren," the teacher corrects the usage by saying, "They took him to the hospital in the ambulance with the siren was sounding?" This recasts siren with the correct word choice, ambulance. It incorporates siren correctly and extends the statement to a complete sentences.

Define personal narratives and their import relative to early childhood language development. Identify some elements necessary to personal narrative development and some of its benefits.

Personal narratives are the way that young children relate their experiences to others by telling the stories of what happened. The narrative structure incorporates reporting components such as who was involved, where the events took place, and what happened. Understanding and using this structure is crucial to young children for their communication; however, many young children cannot follow or apply this sequence without scaffolding (temporary support as needed) from adults. Adults can ask young children guiding questions to facilitate and advance narratives. They can also provide learning tools that engage children's visual, tactile (touch), and kinesthetic (body position and movement) senses. This reinforces narrative use, increases the depth of scaffolding, and motivates children's participation. Children learn to play the main character, describe the setting, sequence plot actions, and use words and body language to express emotions. Topic-related action sequences or "social stories" are important for preschoolers to comprehend and express to promote daily transitions and self-regulation. Such conversational skills attainment achieves milestones in both linguistic and emotional-social development.

Discuss some ways that sensory, concrete, and centration characteristics of cognitive development in young children dictate what kinds of premathematical learning experiences would benefit them.

Preschool children do not think in the same ways as older children and adults do, as Piaget observed. Their thinking is strongly based upon and connected to their sensory perceptions. This means that in solving problems, they depend mainly on how things look, sound, feel, smell, and taste. Therefore, preschool children should always be given concrete objects that they can touch, explore, and experiment with in any learning experience. They are not yet capable of understanding abstract concepts or manipulating information mentally, so they must have real things to work with to understand premath concepts. For example, they will learn to count solid objects like blocks, beads, or pennies before they can count numbers in their heads. They cannot benefit from rote math memorization or "sit still and listen" lessons. Since young children "centrate" on one characteristic, object, person, or event at a time, adults can offer activities encouraging decentration/incorporating multiple aspects (e.g. not only grouping all triangles but grouping all red triangles separately from blue triangles).

Identify some cautions about young children's exposure to TV and other media and some optimal environmental conditions to provide for young children's leisure activities.

Preschool-aged children are not yet cognitively able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Therefore, overly violent or intense content in TV or other media can frighten them. Additionally, exposure to video violence has been proven to increase aggressive behaviors in voung children. Moreover, using TV as a babysitter for long times excludes more cognitively stimulating and interactive pursuits. Parents/caregivers can provide young children with paints, crayons, and modeling clay. They can play board games and simple card games, do puzzles, sing songs, and read stories with young children. Pretend/make-believe play develops during early childhood, so adults can encourage their playing "house," "dress-up," or "auto shop." Park/playground trips afford outdoor play and physical activity/exercise. Visiting local museums, zoos, or planetariums combine education and entertainment wich outings. In multiple-child families, it is important for each child to get some one on one time with parents regularly, even in unstructured activities like going to the hardware store with Daddy or keeping Mommy company while she washes dishes

Summarize some considerations for early childhood nutrition, including different food group sources, precautions, and prevention of health problems.

Raw or lightly steamed vegetables are best because excess heat destroys nutrients and frying adds fat calories. Fresh, in-season and flash-frozen fruits are more nutritious and less processed than canned. Adults should monitor young children's diets to limit highly processed produce, which can have excessive sugar, salt, or preservatives. Good protein sources include legumes, nuts, lean poultry, and fish. Serving nut butters instead of whole nuts is safer, but spread thinly on whole-grain breads, crackers, or vegetable pieces, because young children can choke on large gloves of nut butter as well. Omega-3 fatty acids from salmon, mackerel, hearing, flaxseeds, and walnuts, control inflammation, prevent heart arrhythmias, and lower blood pressure. Mono unsaturated fats from avocados, olives, peanuts, and their oils, as well as canola oil, prevent heart, disease, lower, bad cholesterol, and raise good cholesterol. Polyunsaturated fat from nuts and seeds in from corn, soy, sesame, sunflower, and safflower oils, lower cholesterol. These fats/oils should be served in moderation, and saturated fat should be avoided.

Indicate how age, ethnicity, and income disparately affect health and school outcomes in the U.S. according to recent statistics. Cite some at-risk child groups overrepresented in our population.

Research traces many variations in well-being and health to early childhood. These differences come from inequities in service access and treatment, congenital health problems, and early exposure to greater familial and community risk factors. Child groups at risk that are overrepresented in the American population include young children, low-income children, and minority children. These risk factors also carry a high correlation with one another as minority groups tend to be overrepresented below the federal poverty level (FPL) and low-income families statistically carry the highest birth rate. Childhood poverty has long-lasting effects on students' developmental, socioeconomic, and academic success. Furthermore, the earlier a student is in poverty, the more likely they are to encounter the adverse effects of poverty, as they may miss certain milestones or lack the support needed to keep up with their peers.

As an example of physiological influences on child development, describe some findings about the relationship of sleep quality to blood sugar control in children with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes.

Researchers find blood sugar stability problematic for many children with type 1 (juvenile diabetes, despite all efforts by parents and children to follow diabetic health care rules, because of sleep differences. Diabetic children spend more time in lighter than deeper stages of sleep compared to nondiabetic children. This results in higher levels of blood sugar and poorer school performance. Lighter sleep and resulting daytime sleepiness tend to increase blood sugar levels. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes a person's breathing to be interrupted often during sleeping. These breathing interruptions result in poorer sleep quality, fatigue, and daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea has previously been associated with type 2 diabetes- historically adult-onset, though now children are developing it, too. It is now known that apnea is also associated with type 1 diabetes in children: roughly one-third of diabetic children studied have sleep apnea, regardless of their weight (being overweight can contribute to apnea). Sleep apnea is additionally associated with much higher blood sugars in diabetic children.

Comment brieflv on recent research findings regarding the relationship of environment, social and emotional support, self-image, and success for young children.

Researchers have recently found that a child's sense of self is significant in predicting success in life. Even when a child's family environment involves multiple stressors, having a good relationship with one parent mitigates a child's psychosocial risks. As a child grows older, a close, supportive, lasting relationship with an adult outside the family can confer similar protection. Such relationships promote self-esteem in a child. Children with positive self-esteem are more able to develop feelings of control, mastery, and self-efficacy to achieve tasks, and they are more able to manage stressful life experiences. Such children demonstrate more initiative in forming relationships and accomplishing tasks. They reciprocally derive more positive experiences from their environments. Children with positive self-concepts pursue, develop, and sustain experiences and relationships that support success. Their positive self-images are further enhanced by these successes, generating additional supportive relationships and experiences. While we often hear about negative cycles of poverty, abuse, or failure, positive cycles of success can be equally as self-perpetuating.

Define the term self-concept relative to early childhood. Identify and define three types of "Self' of which young children develop concepts.

Self-concept development begins during early childhood. Children come to identify characteristics, abilities, values, and attitudes that they feel define them. From 18-36 months, children develop the categorical self. This is a concrete view of oneself, usually related to observably opposite characteristics such as child versus adult, girl versus boy, short versus tall, and good versus bad. A 4-year-old might say, "I'm shorter than Daddy. I have blue eyes. I can help Mommy clean house!" Young children can also describe emotional and attitudinal aspects of self-concept ("I like playing with Joshua. I'm happy today."). Preschoolers do not usually integrate these aspects into a unified self-portrait, however. Also, many preschoolers do not yet realize one person can incorporate opposite qualities; a person is either good or bad to them, rather than having both good and bad qualities. The remembered self develops with long-term memory, including autobiographical memories and things adults have told them, to comprise one's life story. The inner self is the child's private feelings, desires, and thoughts.

Describe the general sleep needs and behaviors of young children. Identify some adult strategies to support young children in getting adequate quantity and quality of sleep.

Sleep allows the bod to become repaired and recharged for the day and is vital for young children's growth and development. Children aged 2-5 years generally need 10-12 hours of sleep daily. Children 5-7 years old typically need 9-11 hours of sleep. Their sleep schedules should be fairly regular. While occasionally staying up later or missing naps for special events is not serious, overall inconsistent/disorganized schedules cause lost sleep and lethargic and/or cranky children. Some young children sleep fewer hours at night but need long daytime naps, while others need longer, uninterrupted nighttime sleep but seldom nap. Young children are busy exploring and discovering new things; they have a lot of energy and are often excited even when tired. Because they have not developed much self-regulation, they need adult guidance to calm down enough to go to sleep and will often resist bedtimes. Adults should plan bedtime routines. These can vary, but their most important aspect is consistency. Children then expect routines' familiar steps, and anticipating these steps comfort them.

Give some examples of environmental print. Give examples of some ways adults can use environmental print to help young children develop prereading and reading skills.

Street signs, traffic signs, store and restaurant names, candy wrappers, food labels, and product logos--all the print we see in everyday life--are environmental print. Just as parents often play alphabetic games with children in the car ("Find something starting with A.. with B..." etc.), adults can use environmental print to enhance print awareness and develop reading skills. They can ask children to find letters from their names on colorful cereal boxes. They can select one sign type, such as stop, one-way, or pedestrian crossing, and ask children to count how many they see during a car trip. They can have children practice reading each sign and talk about the phonemes (speech sounds) each letter represents. Adults can take photos of different signs and compile them into a little book for children to "read." By cutting familiar words from food labels, they can teach capitalized and lowercase letters, associate letters with phonemes, have children read the words, and sort words by their initial letters and by categories (signs, foods, etc.).

Identify some basic guidelines for earl childhood teachers to promote print awareness in young students.

Teachers should show young children the organization of books and the purpose of reading. When they read to them, they should use books with large print, which are more accessible for young children to view and begin to learn reading. Storybook text should use words familiar/predictable to young children. While reading together, teachers should point out high-frequency words like the, a, is, was, and you, as well as specific letters, words, and punctuation marks in a story. Teachers can use index cards to label objects, areas, and centers in the classroom, pairing pictorial labels with word labels, and direct children's attention to them. They can invite preschoolers to play with printed words by making greeting cards, signs, or "writing" shopping lists and personal letters. They should point out print in calendars, posters, and signs. Also, teachers can have children narrate a story using a wordless picture book, write down their narrative on a poster, and reinforce the activity with a reward related to the story (e.g., eating pancakes after narrating the book Pancakes).

Define the Language Experience Approach (LEA). Identify a unique benefit of this method. Summarize four steps for implementing the LEA with young children.

The LEA teaches beginning reading by connecting students' personal life experiences with written/printed words. A unique benefit is students using their own language and words, enabling them to interact with texts on multiple levels simultaneously. They thus realize they acquire knowledge and understanding through not just instruction but also their own experiences. The four steps for implementing the LEA with EC groups are as follows: 1. Children and the teacher choose a topic, like an exciting trip, 2. game, or recent TV show, to discuss with teacher guidance Each child takes a turn saying a sentence using his or her own words that advances the discussion/story. The teacher writes the children's words verbatim without corrections, visibly and clearly 3. Every few sentences or several words, the teacher stops and reads the record aloud for children to confirm accuracy 4. The teacher points to each word, they read aloud together, or children repeat after the teacher. The teacher gives children copies of the record for independent review and possible compilation into books of LEA stories

Define the alphabetic principle. Explain its significance relative to print awareness and reading skills. Summarize the order in which children gain alphabetic knowledge, giving some examples of activities wherein children learn, respectively, the names and shapes of letters.

The alphabetic principle is the concept that letters and letter combinations represent speech sounds. Children's eventual reading fluency requires knowing these predictable relationships of letters to sounds, which they can then apply to both familiar and unfamiliar words. Young children's knowing the shapes and names of letters predicts their later reading success: knowing letter names is highly correlated with the ability to view words as letter sequences and to remember written/printed words' forms. Children must first be able to recognize and name letters to understand and apply the alphabetic principle. Young children learn letter names first, via singing the alphabet song and reciting rhymes and alphabetical jump- rope chants ("A my name is Alice, I come from Alabama, and I sell Apples; B my name is Betty.." etc.). They learn letter shapes after names, through playing with lettered blocks, plastic/wood/cardboard letters, and alphabet books. Once they can recognize and name letters, children learn letter sounds after names and shapes and spellings after sounds.

Describe the prevalence and some methods of the basal reader approach to reading instruction, including 21st-century changes from earlier basal readers.

The basal reader is America's commonest approach, used in an estimated 75-85 percent of K-8th-grade classrooms. The number of publishers offering basal reading series has decreased to about one-fourth of that in the 20th century, decreasing teacher responsibility for investigating/piloting readers for district approval. Using basal readers is a skills-based/bottom-up approach. Teaching smaller-to-larger reading subskills in systematic, rigid sequence assists students* transition from part to whole. Texts graded by reading level contain narration and exposition organized thematically by unit, including children's literature and diverse other genres. Phonics and other specific instructional strands with practice assignments develop skills, which are assessed with end-of-unit tests. For young children, text decoding is enabled through exact control of vocabulary items and word analysis skills, "big [enlarged] books," and word and picture cards. Twentieth-century and older series sacrificed comprehension and enjoyment for vocabulary control and skill acquisition, but 21st-century series vary methods more (like multiple story versions or book excerpts enabling selection sharing), affording children more motivation to read.

Discuss generally how cultures and cultural values influence early childhood development.

The culture in a society influences and determines one's individual values, as do both historical and current social and political occurrences. One's values then influence the ways in which children are valued and raised. American educators can understand the "American" perspective on early childhood better through understanding cultural diversity. Americans tend to fixate on their own culture's beliefs of truth as the only existing reality, but depending on personal histories and values and current conditions, there can actually be multiple right ways of doing things. For example, Western cultures value children's early attainment of independence and individuality, but Eastern cultures value interdependence and group harmony more than individualism. In affluent societies, letting children explore the environment early and freely is valued, but in poor and/or developing societies, parents protect children, keeping them close and even carrying them while working, and thus do not value early freedom and exploration.

Discuss some considerations for young children's sleeping related to adults in children's bedrooms and family beds.

The majority of early childhood experts think young children should not have adults in their rooms every night while they fall asleep. They believe this can interfere with young children's capacity for "self-soothing" and falling asleep on their own, making them dependent on an adult presence to fall asleep. Parents/caregivers are advised to help children relax until sleepy, and then leave, saying "Good night" and "I love you." Young children frequently feel more comfortable going to bed with a favorite blanket or stuffed animal and/or a night light. Regardless, fears and nightmares are still fairly common in early childhood. "Family beds" (i.e., children sleeping in the same bed or adjacent beds with parents) are subject to controversy. However, this is traditional in many developing countries and was historically so in America. Whatever the individual family choice, it should be consistent, as young children will be frustrated by inconsistent practices and less likely to develop good sleeping habits.

Discuss the nature-nurture interaction in early childhood physical development. Use failure to thrive syndrome as an example.

The physical development of babies and young children is a product of the interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Also, a child's physical progress is equally influenced by environmental and psychological variables. For the body, brain, and nervous system to grow and develop normally, children must live in healthy environments. When the interaction of hereditary and environmental influences is not healthful, this is frequently reflected in abnormal patterns of growth. Failure to thrive syndrome is a dramatic example. When children are abused and neglected for long periods of time, they actually stop growing. The social environments of such children creates psychological stress. Distress makes the child's pituitary gland stop releasing growth, hormones, and growth ceases. When such environmental stress is relieved, and these children are given proper care, stimulation, and affection, they begin growing again. They often grow rapidly enough to catch up on the growth they missed earlier. Normal body and brain growth -as well as psychological development- depend on the collaboration of nature and nurture.

Explain in summary how the whole language teaching approach addresses young children's early mechanical errors in learning reading and writing, and when more analytical methods are indicated. Name five components researchers have identified as essential in any effective program for reading instruction.

The whole language approach concentrate on, children's seeking, finding and constructing meaning in language. As such, young children's early technical correctness is not the priority. Whole language teachers do not ignore children's errors. However, they do not make correction more immoranenan overall engagement understanding and appreciation of reading ting and literature. Instead, teachers make formative assessments, taking into account the air. Each child makes then they design learning experiences for children that give them opportunities and assistance in acquiring mechanically correct, linguistic forms and structures. While this holistic approach finds analytical techniques that break language down into components like phonemes and alphabet letters less useful, children with language processing/reading problems need to learn, phonemic, awareness, phonics, and other decoding skills to develop reading fluency. The national rating panel conducted a study (1997-2000) to resolve controversy over phonics verse whole language, has the best teaching method, finding that any effective reading instruction program must teach phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, fluency, vocabulary development, in reading comprehension.

Summarize some key elements of the philosophy and general methods of the whole language approach to teaching child literacy.

The whole language approach is based on constructivist philosophy and psychology: children construct their own knowledge through their interactions with their environments. In contrast to analytical approaches like phonics and alphabetic learning, constructivism views learning as an individual's unique cognitive experience of acquiring new knowledge, shaped by the individual's existing knowledge and personal perspective. Whole language, instruction emphasizes, helping children, create meaning from their reading, and Xpress meaning in their riding. The whole language, philosophy emphasizes, cultural diversity, and a grading literacy, instruction across subject, domains, reading a high-quality literature, and giving children many opportunities for independent reading, small group, guided, reading, and being read it to aloud by teachers. Whole language believes children, learn to read by writing, and vice versa, realistically, purposeful, reading, and writing, are encouraged, as is using texts that motivate children to develop a love for literature, early grammatical/spelling/technical correctness is not stressed, which can be problematic for children with reading/language processing disorders, who need explicit instruction, and decoding skills and strategies.

Give some general guidelines for instructing young children in the alphabetic principle.

To help young children understand that written or printed letters represent corresponding speech sounds, teachers should teach relationships between letters and sounds separately and in isolation and should teach these directly and explicitly. They should give young children daily opportunities during lessons to practice with letter-sound relationships. These opportunities for practice should include cumulative reviews of sound-letter relationships they have already learned and new letter-sound relationships as well. Adults should begin earl in providing frequent opportunities to young children for applying their increasing knowledge and understanding of sound-letter relationships to early experiences with reading. They can do this by providing English words that are spelled phonetically (i.e., spelled the same way that they sound) and have meanings that are already familiar to the young learners

Identify some techniques whereby teachers can support young children in attaining in-depth comprehension of word meanings, including an example.

To support deeper word-meaning comprehension, teachers can give multiple definitions and examples for the same word and connect new vocabulary with children's existing knowledge. For example, a teacher conducting a preschool classroom science experiment incorporates new scientific concepts with new vocabulary words and conversational practice: Pouring water on a paper towel, the teacher asks children what is happening to the water. A child answers, "It's going into the paper." The teacher asks how. Another child says, "The paper's soaking it up." The teacher confirms this, teaches the word absorb, compares the paper to a sponge, and asks how much more water will be absorbed. A child responds probably no more since water is already dripping out. The teacher pours water on a plastic lid, asking if it absorbs. Children respond, "No, it slides off." Confirming, the teacher teaches the word repel. This teacher has introduced new science concepts and new vocabulary words, engaged the children in conversation, related new concepts and words to existing knowledge, and added information to deepen comprehension.

Identify four steps in the directed reading activity (DRA) practice of teaching lessons using the basal reader approach. Characterize the nature of the directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA) using basal readers and its two main phases.

Using basal readers, the DRA comprises the following: The teacher prepares children for reading by stimulating their motivation and introducing new concepts and/or vocabulary 2. Students read silently, guided by teacher questions and statements 3. The teacher develops student comprehension, and students discuss characters, plots, or concepts to further comprehension 4. After silent reading, students read aloud and read answers to teacher questions, known as "purposeful rereading" 5. Students' follow-up workbook activities/practice review comprehension and vocabulary. Some selections may include enrichment activities relating them to writing, art, drama, or music. The DR-TA approach is designed to develop critical readers through instruction in group comprehension. It requires children's active engagement in reading by processing information, asking questions, and receiving feedback as they read. The first phase of DR-TA is the teacher's direction of student thought processes throughout reading. The second phase involves developing student skills according to their needs as identified in phase 1 and additional extension or follow-up activities.

Identify some of Viktor Lowenfeld's background and contributions relative to the six stages of art development and to art education.

Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960) taught art to elementary school students and sculpture to blind students. Lowenfeld's acquaintance with Sigmund Freud, who was interested in his work with people with visual impairments, motivated Lowenfeld to pursue scientific research. He published several books on using creative arts activities therapeuticallv. Lowenfeld was familiar with six stages previously identified in the growth of art. He combined these with principles of human development drawn from the school of psychoanalytic psychology founded by Freud. In his adaptation, he named the six stages reflecting the development of children's art as scribble, preschematic, schematic, dawning realism, pseudorealistic, and period of decision. Lowenfeld identified adolescent learning styles as haptic, focused on physical sensations and subjective emotional experiences, and as visual, focused on appearances, each demanding corresponding instructional approaches. Lowenfeld's book Creative and Mental Growth (1947) was the most influential text in art education during the later 20th century. Lowenfeld's psychological emphasis in this text gave scientific foundations to creative and artistic expression and identified developmentally age-appropriate art media and activities.

Summarize some techniques a teacher can use during and after reading a story aloud to young children to enhance their developing print awareness and language skills.

When a teacher is reading a story aloud to young children, after reading each page aloud, he or she should have the children briefly discuss the picture illustrations on each page and how they relate to what was just read aloud. After reading aloud each plot point, action, event, or page, the teacher should ask the children open-ended (non yes/ no) questions about what they just heard. This monitors and supports listening comprehension and memory retention/ recall and stimulates expressive language use. When children associate something in the story with their own life experiences, teachers should have them explain the connection. As they read, teachers should stop periodically and ask the children to predict or guess what will happen next before continuing. This promotes abstract thinking and understanding of logical sequences and also exercises the imagination. After reading the story, teachers should ask children whether they liked it and why /why not, prompting them to answer using complete sentences. This helps children to organize their thoughts and opinions and to develop clear, grammatical, complete verbal expression.

Discuss some of the beneficial effects extended conversations and turn-taking have on young children's oral language development, including an example of how adults can apply these.

When adults engage young children in extended conversations, including taking many "back-and-forth" turns, these create the richest dialogues for building oral language skills. Adults make connections with and build upon children's declarations and questions. Adults model richer descriptive language by modifying/adding to children's original words with new vocabulary, adjectives, adverbs, and varying sentences with questions and statements. For example, a child shows an adult his or her new drawing, saying, "This is me and Gran in the garden, and the adult can build on this/invite the child to continue by saying, "What is your gran holding?" The child identifies what they planted: "Carrot seeds. Gran said to put them in the dirt so they don't touch." The adult can then encourage the child's use of language to express abstract thoughts: "What could happen if the seeds were touching?" The adult can then extend the conversation through discussion with the child about how plants grow or tending gardens. This introduces new concepts, builds children's linguistic knowledge, and helps them learn to verbalize their ideas.

Identify some of the milestones of typical language development in children at the age of 4 years.

When normally developing children are 4 years old, most know the names of animals familiar to them. They can use at least four prepositions in their speech (e.g., in, on, under, to, from, etc.). They can name familiar objects in pictures, and they know and can identify one color or more. Usually, they are able to repeat four-syllable words they hear. They verbalize as they engage in their activities, which Vygotsky dubbed "private speech." Private speech helps young children think through what they are doing, solve problems, make decisions, and reinforce the correct sequences in multistep activities. When presented with contrasting items, 4-year-olds can understand comparative concepts like bigger and smaller. At this age, they are able to comply with simple commands without the target stimuli being in their sight (e.g., "Put those clothes in the hamper" [upstairs]). Four-year-old children will also frequently repeat speech sounds, syllables, words, and phrases, similar to 18-month-olds' repetitions but at higher linguistic and developmental levels.

Explain some of the benefits of adults having 1:1 conversations with children, including repetition, extension, revision, reflection, contextualization, and abstraction.

When parents, caregivers, or teachers converse one-to-one with individual children, children reap benefits not as available in group conversations. Caregivers should therefore try to have such individual conversations with each child daily. In daycare and preschool settings, some good times for caregivers to do this include when children arrive and leave, during shared reading activities with one or two children, and during center time. Engaging in one-to-one talk allows the adult to repeat what the child says for reinforcement and allows the adult to extend what the child said by adding more information to it, like new vocabulary words, synonyms, meanings, or omitted details. It allows the adult to revise what the child said by restating or recasting it. It allows the child to hear his or her own ideas and thoughts reflected back to them when the adult restates them. Moreover, one-to-one conversation allows adults to contextualize the discussion accordingly with an individual child's understanding. It also allows adults to elicit children's comprehension of abstract concepts.

Discuss some ways that shared reading of books with young children builds oral language skills; the best general book characteristics for preschoolers; and some recommended book types and features.

When teachers share books with preschoolers, they can ask questions and discuss the content, giving great opportunities for building oral language through conversation. Books with simple text and numerous, engaging illustrations best invite preschoolers to talk about the characters and events in the pictures and the plotlines they hear. Children's listening and speaking skills develop, they learn new information and concepts, their vocabularies increase, and their ability to define words and explain their meanings is enhanced through shared reading. Many children's books include rich varieties of words that may not occur in daily conversation, used in complete-sentence contexts. Teachers should provide preschoolers with fictional and nonfictional books, poetry and storybooks, children's reference books like picture dictionaries/ encyclopedias, and "information books" covering single topics like weather, birds, reptiles, butterflies, or transportation whereby children can get answers to questions or learn topical information. Detailed illustrations, engaging content, and rich vocabulary are strong elements motivating children to develop oral language and understand how to form sentences, how to use punctuation, and how language works.

Explain how play-based activities for young children have underpinnings of narrative thought and planning, and how such play activities can facilitate conflict resolution.

When young children play, they often enact scenarios. Play scenarios tell stories that include who is involved, where they are, what happens, why it happens, and how the "actors" feel about it. Children engage in planning when they decide first what their playing will be about, which children are playing which roles, and who is doing what. This planning and the thought processes involved reflect narrative thinking and structure. Children who experience difficulties with planning play are more likely to avoid participating or to participate only marginally. Since playing actually requires these thought and planning processes, children who do not play spontaneously can be supported in playing by enabling them to talk about potential narratives/stories as foundations for play scenarios. When conflicts emerge during play, conversation is necessary to effect needed change. Narrative development constitutes gradual plot development; play conflicts are akin to fictional/personal narrative problems and result in changed feelings. Adults can help young children discuss problems, identify the changed feeling they cause, and discuss plans/actions for resolution.

Identify some considerations regarding bathing as a component of hygiene in early childhood.

While infants are bathed by adults, by the time they are toddlers or preschoolers, they generally have learned to sit in a bathtub and wash themselves. However, regardless of their ability to bathe, young children should never be left unsupervised by adults in the bath. Young children can drown very quickly, even in an inch of water; an adult should always be in the bathroom. Also, adults should not let young children run bathwater: they are likely to make it too cold or hot. Adults can prevent scalding accidents by turning down the water heater temperature. The adult should adjust water temperature and test it on his or her own inner arm (an area with more sensitive skin). Parents/ caregivers should choose baby shampoos, soaps, and washes that do not irritate young eyes or skin, and keep adult bath products out of children's reach and sight. Very active children may need to bathe daily; others suffering dry, itchy skin should bathe every other day and /or have parents/caregivers apply mild moisturizing lotion

Explain how repeating shared readings of the same books builds young children's language development, and how a thematic approach to shared reading also does this.

Young children develop preferences for favorite books. Once they know a story's plot, they enjoy discussing their knowledge. Teachers can use this for extended conversations. They can ask children who the characters are, where the story takes place, and why characters do things and events occur. They can ask specific questions requiring children to answer how much, how many, how far a distance, and how long a time. Teachers can also help children via prompting to relate stories to their own real life experiences. In a thematic approach, teachers can select several books on the same theme, like rain forests or undersea life. This affords richer extended conversations about the theme. It also allows teachers to "recycle" vocabulary by modeling and encouraging use of thematically related words, which enhances memory and in-depth comprehension of meanings. Teachers can plan activities based on book themes, like painting pictures/murals, sculpting, making collages, or constructing models, which gives children additional motivation to use the new language they learn from shared readings of books.

Describe some common characteristics of young children's nutritional needs and how adults should feed them accordingly.

Young children have smaller stomachs than adults and cannot eat as much at one time as teens or adults. However, it is common practice for today's restaurants to provide oversized portions. The historical tradition of encouraging young children to "clean their plates" is ill-advised, considering these excessive portions and the abundance of food in America today. Adults can help young children by teaching them instead to respond to their own bodies' signals and eat only until they are satisfied. Adults can also place smaller portions of food on young children's plates and request to-go containers at restaurants to take leftovers home. Because young children cannot eat a lot at once, they must maintain their blood sugar and energy throughout the day by snacking between meals. However, "snack foods" need not be high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. Cut pieces of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain crackers and low-fat cheeses, and portable yogurt tubes make good snacks for young children.

Use some examples illustrating how teachers can support young children in using storytelling to organize their thoughts, practice new vocabulary, and exercise their imagination.

Young children like to communicate about their personal life experiences. When they can do this through narrative structure, it helps them use new words they are learning, organize their thoughts to express them coherently, and engage their imaginative powers. Teachers/caregivers can supply new words they need, model correct syntax for sentences by elaborating on or extending child utterances and asking them questions, and build further upon children's ideas. For example, a teacher asks a child what they did at her sister's birthday party. When the child describes the cake and makes gestures for a word she doesn't know, the teacher supplies "candles," which the child confirms and repeats. When the child then offers, "Mom says be careful with candles," the teacher asks what could happen if you're not careful. The child replies that candles can start a fire. In this way, teachers give young children models of sentence structure, teach vocabulary, and guide children in expressing their thoughts in organized sequences that listeners can follow.

Identify some of the benefits of exercise for young children, examples of activities affording appropriate exercise, and safety precautions.

Young children need daily physical exercise to strengthen their bones, lungs, hearts, and other muscles. Throwing, catching, running, jumping, kicking and swinging actions develop young children's gross motor skills. Children sleep better with regular physical activity and are at less risk for obesity. Playing actively with other children also develops social skills, including empathy, sharing, cooperation, and communication. Family playtimes strengthen bonding and let parents model positive exercise habits. Outdoor play is fun for youngsters; running and laughing lift children's moods. Pride at physical attainments moreover boosts children's self images and self-esteem. At least 60 minutes of physical activity most days is recommended for children; this includes jungle, gyms, slides, swings, and other playground equipment; family walks, bike, riding, plain, backyard, catch, baseball, football, or basketball, adult, supervised races, or obstacle courses; and age-appropriate community sports activities/leagues. Adults should plan and supervise activities to prevent injuries. They should also provide repeated sunscreen applications for outdoor activities to prevent sunburn and long term skin damage.

Describe some ways that musical activities enhance the emotional, social, aesthetic, and school readiness skills of young children.

Young children who are just learning to use spoken language often cannot express their emotions very well verbally. Music is a great aid to emotional development in that younger children can express happiness, sadness, anger, and more through singing and/or playing music more easily than they can with words. Children of preschool ages not only listen to music and respond to what they hear, but they also learn to create music through singing and playing instruments together with other children. These activities help them learn crucial social skills for their lives, like cooperating with others, collaborating, and making group or team efforts to accomplish something. When children are given guided musical experiences, they learn to make their own judgments of what is good or bad music; this provides them with the foundations for developing an aesthetic sense. Music promotes preliteracy skills by enhancing phonemic awareness. As growing children develop musical appreciation and skills, these develop fundamental motor, cognitive, and social skills they need for language, school readiness, literacy, and life

Describe some salient aspects of typical early childhood physical development, including brain growth.

growth. From birth to 2 years, children generally grow to four times their newborn weight and 2/3 their newborn length and height. From 2-3 years, however, children usually gain only about 4 lb. and 3.5 inches. From 4-6 years, growth slows more: gains of 5-7 lb. and 2.5 inches are typical. Due to slowing growth rates, 3- and 4-year-olds appear to eat less food but do not; they actually just eat fewer calories per pound of body weight. Brain growth is still rapid in preschoolers: brains attain 55 percent of adult size by 2 years, and 90 percent by 6 years. The majority of brain growth is usually 4 to 4.5 years, with a growth spurt around 2 years and growth rates slowing significantly between five and six years. Larger brain size indicates not more neurons, but larger sizes, differences in their organization, more glial cells nourishing and supporting, neurons, and greater myelination (development of sheath, protecting nerve fibers and facilitating their efficient inner communication).