Children from Early Childhood through Middle Childhood - Research Paper Example

? Children from Early Childhood through Middle Childhood Children from Early Childhood through Middle Childhood Children undergo a variety of changes from early to middle childhood in the developmental context. The considerations include their physical growth, rain and nervous system development and social and emotional development, which unfold differently among males and females. This study summarizes the physical changes, brain development and social and emotional changes during early childhood through to middle childhood. Physical Growth Quantitative changes occur between early childhood (up to six years) and middle childhood (6-11 years) as the child makes gains in body weight, height and differentiation. According to Berk (2008), this physical development is cephalocaudal (head to toe) and proximodistal (from center to extremities). From 23-30 pounds in weight, 32-35 inches in height at the age of two, the child grows to 42-43 pounds in weight, 43-44 inches in height by the age of six (onset of middle childhood). 2 to 3 inches in height and about 5 pounds in weight added each year from early childhood through middle childhood characterize the physical growth. There is an improvement in posture and balance as the child motor coordination improves (Cooper et al. 2008). Children lose the baby fat and become thinner. The main differences between girls and boys in terms of physical growth includes girls retaining more fat than boys and boys showing slightly more muscularity than girls by the onset of middle age. The factors behind the physical development during this period include the interplay of heredity and environmental factors. The environmental factors include prenatal development, nutrition, health of the child, sex of the child and broader issues such as the socio-economic considerations of the family setting (Smith and Hart, 2002). Brain and Nervous System Development There occurs a lot of synaptic growth and pruning in the brains brain and nervous development during the early to middle childhood, discerned externally as changes in cognitive development. In a healthy child, the brain increases from 70% of its adult weight to 90%, alongside marked reshaping and refining. Synaptic development reaches a peak at the age of four, where nearly double levels of synapses in comparison to adults exist. Synaptic growth and myelination requires significantly high amounts of energy. Importantly, the high synaptic growth helps achieve plasticity in the brain, enabling the child to still acquire abilities in case brain damage occurs. Plasticity levels in the brain fall as the child enters middle childhood, with the energy requirements falling to near adult levels during this period. The cerebellum- responsible for balance and control of body movement- also undergoes considerable growth during this period. Other parts of the brain that undergo marked growth during this period in comparison to any other period in human development include the reticular formation (responsible for alertness and consciousness), the hippocampus- important in memory and spatial sensing and the corpus callosum- responsible for smooth movement coordination and problem solving (Berk, 2008). As stated earlier, the physical changes in the brain and nervous system shoawcase externally as changes in the cognitive abilities in the child. In general, the child develops more self sufficiency, begins to take care of his or herself, acquires language, becomes part of the group (family and individuals around the family) and becomes more coordinated. The child also develops school readiness skills including taking instructions and identifying objects. The child’s gradual psycho-motor development proceeds from early childhood through to middle childhood, enabling the child to achieve movement coordination and balance. The child has more problem solving, instruction comprehension and identification capabilities by middle childhood largely due to the practice of skills gained from biological developments in early childhood. Examples of skills gained from early childhood through to middle childhood include the construction of complex sentences, drawing simple pictorial forms (as opposed to early childhood scribbling), execution of complex and mentally/attention involving tasks such as tying shoe laces. A number of differences between boys and girls are observable; whereas the physical development gives advantage to boys in terms of force and power, girls have the slight advantage in tasks that require fine motor skills and certain involving gross motor skills. For instance, by middle childhood, girls are better at skipping and hoping, which require a combination of good balance and foot movement (Cooper et al. 2008). The factors that influence the changes in the brain and nervous development from early to middle childhood vary and include those that influence physical development. For instance, the high levels of energy requirements for brain development during this period translate to proper nutrition being a key factor in brain development (Smith and Hart, 2002). The psychosocial skills and abilities discussed earlier have negative impacts in case of poor nutrition. Emotional well being also impacts both mental and physical changes. Extreme emotional deprivation may result in limited production of growth hormone that results in psychosocial dwarfism. Stressful conditions may also impact negatively in normal development during early childhood to middle childhood. As discussed earlier, the higher capabilities in middle childhood mainly arise from practice of mental gains during early childhood. Hence, the level of stimulation is important in determining mental development. This translates to the level to which the child’s environment allows for exploration and interaction. The broader socio-economic considerations influence most of these factors and thus mental development during early to middle childhood (Gordon and Browne, 2011). Major Milestones in Social and Emotional Development Social and affective development is of note during early to middle childhood development. By early childhood (age two), the social development milestones in a normal child involve coping the parent’s or sibling’s actions and behaviors. The child is also possessive, dependent and enjoys playing alongside children. By age 3-4, the child has learnt to share and has cooperative play with other children. Age 4-5 sees the child have high preference of playing with other children (alongside considerable independence from the parent), becomes competitive and prefers sex appropriate activities (indicating self-awareness). By middle childhood, the child has well developed affects such as fear and preferences (Smith and Hart, 2002). The highlights include gaining self concept (such as sex preference and understanding socio-economic status) and gain of emotional regulation. Children achieve strong peer relationships by middle childhood both at home and at skills as they balance possessiveness, competitiveness and sharing, indicating marked social skills. The child’s sense of the family is also well established. Since most of the early childhood social and emotional development happened in the family, the child expresses this in his social and emotional self concept. For instance, family preferences help define the child’s self concept (Gordon and Browne, 2011). The main differences in terms of sex include the type of play (whereas some games are common, others are exclusively for males and females). However, Berk (2008) argues that social pressures on boys to activity and physical skills and girls fine motor activities help exaggerate slight genetic differences. This indicates that, by middle childhood, the children develop enough to understand social expectations. Conclusion This study details the changes that characterize a child’s physical, mental/cognitive, social and emotional development from early childhood through to middle childhood. The literature reviewed reveals that considerable physical development happens during this period, summarized by the addition of 2-3 inches in height and about 5 pounds in weight annually. High synaptic development characterizes changes in the brain and nervous system. This helps the child’s cognitive development as they achieve various psycho-motor skills and abilities. The social environment the child grows in then determines their social and emotional development during this period. Marked and slight gender-based differences are noted during the development. The most important determinant factors include heredity, nutrition, health, surrounding emotional climate, level of stimulation and sex. Moreover, the socio-economic background plays important determining roles since it influences most of the other factors including health, nutrition, stimulation and surrounding emotional climate. References Berk, L. E. (2008). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood. USA: Pearson. Cooper, C. R. et al. (2008). Developmental pathways through middle childhood: Rethinking contexts and diversities as resources. USA: Routledge. Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2011). Beginnings and beyond: Foundations in early childhood education. USA: Cencage Learning. Smith, P. K., & Hart, C. H. (2002). Blackwell handbook of child social development. USA: Blackwell Publishers. Read More