Section 6: Early Childhood
Why learn about development during early childhood?
The time between a child’s second and sixth birthday is a time of rich development in many ways. Children are growing rapidly physically, cognitively, and socially. Children are developing language skills that will help them navigate their world as they prepare to enter school. In fact, a child will go from being able to produce approximately 50 words at age 2 to over 2000 words at age 6! The number of words these children understand is even greater!
Children in this stage change from intuitive problem-solvers into more sophisticated logical problem-solvers. Their cognitive skills are increasing at a rapid rate along with myelination in the brain, even though their brain is beginning to lose neurons and connections through the process of synaptic pruning.
Children are also learning to navigate the social world around them. They are learning about themselves and begin to develop their own self-concept, while at the same time, they are becoming aware that other people have feelings, too. Children learn to regulate their own emotions. The development that happens in these four years impacts the rest of the child’s life in many ways for years to come.
Physical
- Summarize overall physical growth during early childhood
- Examine nutritional concerns during early childhood
- Describe changes in the brain during early childhood
- Give examples of gross and fine motor skill development in early childhood
- Describe sexual development in early childhood
- Differentiate between primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention
Cognitive
- Describe Piaget’s preoperational stage of development
- Illustrate limitations in early childhood thinking, including animism, egocentrism, and conservation errors
- Explain theory-theory and theory of mind
- Explain language development and the importance of language in early childhood
- Describe Vygotsky’s model, including the zone of proximal development
- Compare preschool education programs and their developmental impacts
Psychosocial
- Explain Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development for toddlers and children in early childhood.
- Describe the development of a self-concept
- Explain the importance of play
- Summarize theories of gender role development.
- Examine concerns about childhood stress and development.
- Contrast models of parenting styles.
- Examine concerns about childhood stress and trauma, including the concept of ACEs.
- Describe the impact of racism on early childhood development
