preschool years Flashcards
what ages are preschool years?
3-5 or 6
What does optimal growth rely on?
health and nutrition
why do average height and weight vary between developed countries and developing countries?
poorer nutrition in developing countries and higher rates of disease
When is genetics a stronger predictor of growth?
in developed countries
When is environmental factors a stronger prediction of growth and why?
in developing countries because environmental factors influence the expression of genes (lack of food and nutrition)
What percentage of children in developing countries don’t have adequate access to nutrition?
80%
How can a lack of nutrition effect social and cognitive development in preschool years?
lack of energy, lack of exploration, difficulty sustaining attention - poor academic performance
Why do children in developed countries still lack nutrition?
fussy eaters, non-healthy options
how much percentage of adult weight is the brain at 3 and 6 years old?
70% and 90%
where is most brain development concentrated during preschool years?
Frontal lobes
what drives continued brain growth during preschool years?
myelination
What does frontal lobe development support in preschool years?
emotion regulation and planning
what part of the brain does myelination focus on in preschool years?
corpus callosum, cerebellum, hippocampus, reticular formation
Corpus callosum
connects left and right hemispheres of the brain
cerebellum
controls balance and motor movements
reticular formation
controls attention
hippocampus
Transfer of information to short and long-term memory.
What are leading causes of death in developing countries in early childhood?
disease and malnutrition
How often a year is considered normal for a child to be sick?
10 times per year
Leading cause of death in developed countries for preschool-age children?
accidental injury
what put preschool children at risk of injury?
increase size and motor ability and need for autonomy
Most common type of abuse or neglect in pre school children?
emotional abuse and neglect
current statistics suggest that over ______ children receive child protective services each year
150 thousand
Risk factors for abuse?
child temperament, poverty or socioeconomic status, unemployment, single parent house hold ,blended families, step-parents or parents that experienced abuse as a child
How does gross motor development improve in pre-school age?
Continue to develop and refine skills that emerge during toddlerhood, can walk up stairs unsupported, alternate feet up each stair, become more efficient in throwing and catching, more. proficient in dressing themselves, better balance and greater fine motor control like drawing
how do boys and girls differ in motor development in preschool years?
boys have more strength where as girls outperform boys in balance and coordination
What are particularly important fine motor skills that develop over the pre-school years and why?
Drawing and painting. These are important because it allows children to develop fine motor control that later allows them to write letters and words.
according to Piaget what stage of development are pre-schoolers in ?
2nd stage - pre-operational
What years are considered pre-operational?
2-7
According to Piaget what can preschoolers do that toddlers cannot?
represent their word with symbols including language
why is pretend play important?
practicing and strengthening newly acquired schemas
According to Piaget, what are pre-schoolers unable to in the pre-operational stage do compared to later stages?
not yet capable of mental operations that obey logical rules
What is conservation?
The mental ability to understand certain physical characteristics of objects remains the same even when outward appearance changes. (pouring milk from small glass to tall glass still same amount of milk)
do children in the pre-operational stage know what conservation is?
no
According to Piaget, what cognitive deficiencies/limitations cause children’s inability to conserve?
Centration (fixed on one aspect of the situation) and irreversibility (inability to go through a series of steps in a problem and then mentally reverse direction.
classification
objects can be part of more than one group
ego centrism
young children to confuse their own point of view with that of another person (think if they hide their face only in hide and seek you can’t see them)
theory of mind
ability to take another persons perspective and understand their own thinking processes
what are limitations of Piagets theory?
Development is more continuous and not as abrupt between stages
what age do pre-schoolers show a basic understanding of theory of mind?
4 years old
how does language develop in pre-school years?
Children understand and apply grammatical rules by simply hearing language in daily interactions (single plural forms, tense, word order, use of articles and prepositions)
pragmatic awareness
What is acceptable or unacceptable language in their culture
what age do children become good at looking at emotional pictures and explaining what that persons emotion is?
5 years old
what kind of emotional regulation skills should pre-school age children have?
should be able to wait in line, be able to share, use manners, understand others emotions to an extent
Why is level of emotional regulation important?
too little emotional regulation (under control) results in angry outbursts and overcontrol results in internalising feelings and can lead to anxiety or depression
According to Erikson’s psychosocial theory, what is the crisis of pre-school age children that must be resolved for healthy personality development?
Initiative vs. guilt
What acts are important to resolve the crisis of initiative vs. guilt in pre-school-age children?
Children should have opportunities to assert themselves, initiate activities and ideas and feel secure in their ability to make decisions.
What happens if pre-school age children are criticised during Erikson’s psychosocial stage 3 (initiative vs. guilt)
the child will develop a sense of guilt.
why is social modelling important during pre-school years?
children learn what is and is not acceptable through watching others behaviour, especially by seeing consequences
What is the critical shaping factor in influencing children’s behaviour?
What happens after the behaviour.. is it rewarded or punished or left unchecked?
antisocial behaviour
Negative actions directed at others which might cause physical or emotional harm.
Instrumental agression
snatching or fighting over toys (object aggression)
Hostile agression
Intent to specifically to harm a person (socially or physically)
why is rough play helpful in childhood
Children can get to know their strengths and it can enforce rules and proper ways of behaving with other children
what is the most influential factor shaping children’s development
Parenting
What are the challenges for parents in individualistic cultures like Australia?
There are not hard and fast rules to abide by
what is parenting in Australia heavily influenced by?
Personal upbringing
parental responsiveness
being sensitive to children’s needs
parental demandingness
how much do parents require of children (expectations)
What parenting style is high in demandingness and high in responsiveness?
Authoritative parenting.
authoritative parenting
High in demandingness and high in responsiveness. Firm but consistent and have age-appropriate behaviour controls, responsive and respectful and allow children to participate in rule-making and involve them in discussion for compromise. Lovingly enforce rules.
authoritarian parenting
Low in responsiveness, high in demandingness. High demands in behaviour toward rules but low responsiveness and sensitivity.
permissive parenting
High responsiveness but low demandingness. Makes it hard for child because they don’t have clear boundaires
rejecting/neglectful (disengaged) parenting
Low in demandingness and low in responsiveness.
Outcomes of authoritative parenting
independent, creative, self-assured and socially skilled
outcomes of authoritarian parenting
dependent, passive and conforming
outcomes of permissive parenting
irresponsible, conforming, immature
outcomes of disengaged parenting
impulsive, behaviour problems, early sex and drugs
what parenting style results in the most desired outcomes ?
authoritative
What is pre-school important for?
social and emotional development before entering school at age 5
what function is self-regulation important for?
executive functioning
emotional regulation
multiple executive function skills working together to calm us down
what is the importance of play in the early years?
helps children learn skills and social rules for adulthood
what was the importance of play from Piaget’s perspective
children’s way of practicing and strengthening schemas
sociodramatic play
make-believe play with others
why is sociodramatic play important
ability to regulate emotions, resolve conflict, see from others perspective. overall good for learning social skills
What marks the beginning of representational thought? When children begin to ____
