Developmental Changes in Preschool Children - Essay Example

Developmental Changes in Preschool Children Introduction Changes in early childhood have been categorized into cognitive, language, physical and social development. Studies have shown that these developments interact with each other. For example, cognitive development requires more sophisticated speech for the child to express the new acquired knowledge; physical development allows children to perform more complicated tasks, which further enable them to increase their social contacts with others; and language development enables children to memorize new words and capture new ideas (Wittmer et.al. p 200). Chapter 9 Emotional and Social Development; Ages 1-3 Emotional development is the process of learning to recognize and express one’s feelings as well as learning to establish one’s identity and individuality. Social development is the process of learning to interact with others and to express one self to them. Both emotional development and social skills are essential as they prepare the child for school and adult life. These ensure that a child is able to pay attention to an adult figure (authority), ensure easy transition from one activity to another as well as the ability to cooperate with other children. From the ages 1 to 3, children learn new things through observation and imitation. They acquire skills in sharing, showing affection etc from parents and/or primary caregiver. Through these experiences, they learn how to interact with others outside the home. Play has an important role in child development. Social emotional skills gained by playing with others and their parents give them the self-confidence needed to build loving and supporting relationships throughout their lives. At about 1 year of age, children generally start to exhibit rebellious behavior, negativism (doing the opposite of what they are told), they express feelings of happiness and sadness, calmness and stability and inner peace. They are self centered but begin to learn that some desires may never be met. They become increasingly frustrated because of their inability to perform certain tasks that they see older siblings and adults performing with ease like feeding themselves or writing hence the incidents of temper tantrums. As a child approaches age 2, there is generally an improvement in their speech and motor skills, which relieves some of their frustrations. They are able to respond to others talking and also follow simple instructions. They are increasingly able to express themselves through speech and seek approval from their peers and parents. There are fewer emotional outbursts. They become less self centered and friendly and learn how to share. Their moods change rapidly but with decreased temper tantrums. They are more cooperative and are more considerate. They can express emotions openly at the same time control their emotional expressions. Jealousy is recognizable and can manifest in two ways; child resents the affection between his parents and in sibling rivalry. They become self-aware and develop sympathy as early as age 2. Summary of Chapter 10 Cognitive Language and Literacy Development At 1 year, children are learning to walk, talk, initiate activities they enjoy and are becoming more interested in their environment. According to Wittmer et. al, children at this age are learning to grasp at things and develop interest in print. However, their grasp at this age involves holding objects with their palms facing down making it difficult to hold writing instruments used to make markings. Their writing at this stage just involves scribbles. Their ability to grasp and use objects like crayons, spoons etc improve at they get older. Ability to effectively hold writing instruments develops later between the ages 2 and 3 but does not resemble an adult’s up until after the age of 4. They are imitating parents and older siblings’ actions like reading and writing. As they explore the environment and play, they develop important fine motor skills that will aid in their learning to draw, write and read later on (pp.230-231). Summary of Chapter 11 Physical, Motor and Perceptual Development; Health and Nutrition The physical and psychological changes are remarkable all through early childhood. Parts of the brain and nervous system grow and mature rapidly. Motor skills (both fine and major) improve substantially and there is loss in “baby fat”. These developments result from interactions between individual traits, which are hereditary and environmental factors such as affection shown, and care given. A healthy environment is therefore necessary for normal growth. Their height and weight increase rapidly from birth through to 3 years then slows down significantly between the ages of 4 and 5. Because of this, most 4 and 5 year olds tend to eat less because with reduced growth rate, fewer calories are required to build their bodies. Advancement in motor control is dependent upon physical maturation of the brain and body as well as on the increase in skill resulting from practice. Motor skills are divided into two; those that involve large muscles and those that involve small muscles (fine motor skills). Growth in motor development is progressive and a child moves from reflex behavior (in newborns) to voluntary actions. This growth involves development of coordination and cooperation between the two halves of the body which increases performance. Large muscle motor skills like walking start out with the child being unsure of their steps at about 1 year but become bold and resemble that of adults by age 4. Small (fine) muscles skills also known as eye-hand-coordination refer to the use of hands and fingers to manipulate objects. These enable development of skills like writing, drawing and operation of small objects. They learn to manipulate objects through visual feedback which is an indicator of whether or not they objects are behaving as they wish them to behave. Complex perceptual abilities develop through out early childhood. There is increased precision of visual concepts like shape and size making it easier for them to correctly observe an object’s size and shape regardless of the angle at which they perceive them. They are increasingly able to interpret pictorial representation of objects in the environment and become sensitive to cues like shading and converging lines by age 3 but improves as they progress. At 4 years, increased motor control and eye-hand coordination enables a child to draw a recognizable human form (at least the tadpole man with large head and stick limbs) which is a transition from the scribbles at 3 years. Between 4 and 5 years, drawing skills undergo a second transition with the “tadpole man” transforming to a complete person with a body. They become rhythmic and expressive in their art and use more color. Nutrition and health is important in the development of a child as a whole. Undernourished children are likely to be retarded in their motor development, slow in learning and emotionally unstable. They are likely to display antisocial behavior like increased irritability. However, with intervention early in development, they are able to catch up with their age mates. Chapter 12: Summary Emotional and Social Development; Ages 4-5 At 4 years, most children begin to develop independence from their parents and acquire friends of their own. Their integration into the larger social community as distinct individual increases through the process of social development. They are becoming increasingly sure of themselves and less easily frustrated. This is because experience gives them self confidence and confidence in their relation with others. They enjoy companionship because they are now more capable of sharing. Friendships are formed more easily but change quite as easily depending on the child’s needs. Works Cited Wittmer, Donna S, Sandra H. Petersen, and Margaret B. Puckett. The Young Child: Development from Prebirth Through Age Eight. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print. Read More