Professional Documents
Culture Documents
COMPLETE Presentation Flow Early Childhood Physical Dev and Health PDF
COMPLETE Presentation Flow Early Childhood Physical Dev and Health PDF
INTRODUCTION
1. Difference between development and growth
o Growth and development are sometimes used synonymously. Formerly,
development referred to qualitative changes while growth referred to quantitative
changes.
2. Early childhood?
o Early childhood (2 to 6 years old)
▪ Early childhood is the most rapid period of development in a human life.
▪ Early childhood spans from birth to age 8 years.
▪ This is a time of critical change and development as a child attains the physical
and mental skills she will use for the rest of her life.
▪ Early childhood is a time of remarkable physical, cognitive, social, and
emotional development.
▪ Early childhood is a time of tremendous growth across all areas of
development.
o Although individual children develop at their own pace, all children progress through
an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
BODY GROWTH
Introduction
- As the preschool child grows older, the percentage of increase in height and weight decreases
with each additional year (Copper & others, 2008).
- When children learn to walk, they become more interested in the environment.
- Between the ages of two and four, they have insatiable curiosity they are highly motivated to
explore their home or, if given the opportunity, their neighborhood.
o These explorations give children experiences, such as falling or being hit by objects or
people, which provide them opportunities for emotional as well as physical
development Growth patterns vary individually (Burns & others, 2009).
Changes in Body Proportions
- Overall size increase, parts of the body grow at different rates, two growth patterns describe
these changes:
1. Cephalocaudal trend
- an organized pattern of physical growth and motor control that proceeds from head to tail
- during prenatal period: head, chest and trunk grows fast then the arms and legs.
2. Proximodistal trend
- An organized pattern of physical growth and motor control that proceeds from the center of
the body outward.
- “near to far”- from center of the body outward.
- During infancy and childhood: arms and legs continue to grow somewhat ahead of the hands
and feet.
Slim down of bodies and body fat
- Girls are only slightly smaller and lighter than boys during these years.
- Both boys and girls slim down as the trunks of their bodies lengthens.
o Although their heads are still somewhat large for their bodies
o By the end of the preschool years most children have lost their top-heavy look. Body
fat declines slowly but steadily during the preschool yeas.
o Girls have more fatty tissues than boys; boys have more muscle tissue.
- Baby fat starts to decline, and children gradually become thinner, although girls retain
somewhat more body fat the boys, who are slightly more muscular.
- As the torso lengthens and widens, internal organs tuck neatly inside, and the spine
straightens.
(insert compassion of bodies from 2 to 5 year old babies)
Average growth
- Early childhood, the rapid increase in body size of first two years tapers off into a slower
growth pattern
- On average, children add 2 to 3 inches in height and about 5 pounds in weight each year
- Individual differences in body size are even more apparent during early childhood than in
infancy and toddlerhood.
- The existence of these variations in the body size remind sus that growth norms for one
population are not good standards for children elsewhere in the world.
SKELETAL GROWTH
- Children of the same age differ in rate of physical growth; some make faster progress towards
a mature body size than others.
o But current body size is not enough to tell us how quickly a child’s physical growth is
moving along.
Skeletal age
- The best way of estimating a child’s physical maturity is to use skeletal age, a measure of
development of the bones of the body.
o The use of X-rays to estimate children’s skeletal age, or progress toward physical
maturity – information is helpful in diagnosis growth disorders.
45 new epiphyses
- Skeletal age of infancy continues throughout early childhood.
- Between ages 2 and 6, approximately 45 new epiphyses – or growth centers, in which cartilage
hardens into bones – emerge in various parts of the skeleton.
Baby teeth
- By the age of 2, the average child has 20 teeth (Carruth et al., 2004).
- Dental development provides a rough clue to rate of skeletal development: A child who gets
teeth early is likely to be advance in physical maturity.
(insert baby teeth picture)
- End of preschool years, children start to lose their primary or “baby teeth”. The age at which
they do is heavily influenced by genetic factor.
o Nutritional factors also influence dental development.
▪ Prolong malnutrition delays the appearance of permanent teeth, whereas
overweight and obesity accelerate it (Hilgers et al., 2006). –
o Primary teeth care is essential because disease baby teeth can affect the health of
permanent teeth
▪ Brushing consistently, avoiding sugary food, drinking fluoridated water, and
getting topical fluoride treatments and sealants (plastic coatings that protect
tooth surfaces) prevent cavities
o Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke, which suppresses children’s immune
system, including the ability to fight bacteria responsible for tooth decay.
▪ The risk associated with this suppression is greatest in infancy and early
childhood, when the immune system is not yet fully mature (Aligne et al.,
2003).
▪ Young children in homes with regular smokers are three times more likely
than their agemates to have decayed teeth. (Shenkin et al., 2004)
Asynchronies in Physical Growth
- Physical growth is asynchronous: Body systems differ in their patterns of growth.
- Body size (as measured by height and weight) and a variety of internal organs follow the
general growth curve
o Curve representing overall changes in body size – rapid growth during infancy, slower
gains in early and middle childhood, and rapid growth again during adolescence.
(insert graph) p. 296
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- During early childhood, the brain and head grow more rapidly than any other part of the body.
- The head and brain advance more rapidly than the growth for height and weight. Some of the
brain’s increase in size is due to:
o Myelination
o some is due to an increase in the number and size of dendrites
- From 3 to 6 years of age, the most rapid growth occurs in the frontal lobe areas involved in
planning and organizing new actions and in maintaining attention to tasks.
- From age 6 through puberty, the most dramatic growth takes place in the temporal and
parietal lobe, especially in the areas that play major roles in language and spatial relations.
Improvements
- Between ages 2 and 6, the brain increases from 70% of its adult weight to 90%.
Preschoolers also improve in a wide variety of skills:
o Physical coordination o Language
o Perception o Logical thinking
o Attention o Imagination
o Memory
Refining and Reshaping of the brain
- By age of 4, many parts of the cortex have overproduced synapses (observed mostly in the
frontal lobe)
o Synaptic growth and myelination of neural fibers shows the need of high energy
▪ Through fMRI evidence reveals that energy metabolism in the cerebral cortex
peaks around this age.
o Synaptic growth – more new synapses (increase system of communication of neurons
that support more complex abilities)
• Increase of synapses is due to stimulations, if neurons are stimulated
by input from surrounding environment continues to establish new
synapse.
▪ With the overabundance of synaptic connections supports plasticity of the
young brain
• Helping to ensure that the child will acquire certain abilities even if
some areas are damaged (brain)
o Synaptic pruning follows neurons that are seldom stimulated lose their connective
fibers, and the number of synapses reduced.
• If this happens, there will be decrease of support for the child’s future
development.
• About 40% of the synapse are pruned during childhood and
adolescence
o To avoid this, there must be appropriate stimulation of the
child’s brain is vital during peaks in formation of synapses.
▪ Myelination – insulating the neural fibers with fatty sheaths (myelin) that
improves efficiency of message transfer.
• Myelination in the areas of the brain related to focusing attention is
not complete until the end of the middle or late childhood.
• Increase in neural fibers and myelination are responsible for the
extraordinary gain in overall size of the brain
o Near 30% of its adult weight at birth increased to 70% at the
age of 2.
o Neural activity in various cortical regions reveal especially rapid growth from 3 to 6
years in frontal-lobe areas which are devoted to attention and planning and
organizing behavior.
(Insert brain parts)
2 Brain Hemispheres
- Early childhood is a time of marked gains on tasks that depend on the frontal cortex – ones
that require inhibiting impulses and substituting thoughtful responses.
a. Left hemisphere is said to be more active between 3 and 6 years then level off
b. Right hemisphere activity increases steadily throughout early and middle childhood with
a slight spurt between age 8 and 10.
Handedness
- By the end of the first year, children typically display a hand preference that, over the next
few years, gradually extend to a wider range of skills.
- Handedness reflects the greater capacity of one side of the brain – the individual’s dominant
cerebral hemisphere – to care out skilled motor actions
o Other important abilities are generally located on the dominate side
▪ For right-handed people: language is housed in the left hemisphere with hand
control
▪ For left-handed: language is in the right hemisphere or, more often, shared
between the hemispheres (Szaflarski et al., 2002).
▪ For the case of ambidextrous children, they are alike with left-handed
children although they prefer their left hand, they sometimes use their right
hand skillfully as well.
• Left-handed parents show only a weak tendency to have left-handed
children.
- Handedness also involved practice.
- Handedness is strongest for complex skills requiring extensive training, such as eating with
utensils, writing, and engaging in athletic activities
o Left-handedness occurs more frequently among severely retarded and mentally ill
people than in the general population, a typical brain is probably not responsible for
these individual’s problem
o Most left-handers, however, have no developmental problems
▪ Left and mixed- handed young people are more likely than the right-handed
agemates to develop outstanding verbal and mathematical talents and more
even distribution of cognitive functions across both hemispheres.
(Insert left and right hands of preschoolers)
Other advances in the Brain development
- Fibers linking the cerebellum to the cerebral cortex grow and myelinate from birth through
the preschool years.
o This change contributes to dramatic gains in motor coordination
▪ By the end of the preschool years, children can play hopscotch, throw a ball
with a well-organized set of movements, and print letters of the alphabet.
▪ Connections between cerebellum and the cerebral cortex also support
thinking (Diamon, 2000): children with damage to the cerebellum usually
display both motor and cognitive deficits, including problems with memory,
planning and language (Noterdaeme et al., 2002; Riva & Giorgi, 2000)
▪ Cerebellum, a structure that aids in balance and control of body movement
- Reticular formation, a structure in the brain stem that maintains alertness and consciousness,
generates synapses, and myelinates throughout early childhood and into adolescence.
o Neurons in the reticular formation send out fibers to other areas of the brain.
- Hippocampus (inner-brain structure) plays a vital role in memory and in image of space that
help find way – undergoes rapid formation of synapses and myelination in the second half of
the first year, when recall memory and independent movement emerge.
- The corpus collosum is a large bundle of fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres
o The production of synapses and myelination of the corpus collosum increase at 1
year, peak between 3 and 6 years, then continue at a slower pace through middle
childhood and adolescence
o It supports smooth coordination of movements on both side of the body and
integration of many aspects of thinking, including perception, attention, memory,
language, and problem solving
▪ The more complex the task, the more critical is communication between the
hemispheres.
- Over the preschool and elementary school years, the hippocampus, along with surrounding
areas of the cerebral cortex, continues its swift development, establishing connections with
one another and with the frontal lobes (Nelson, Thomas & de Haan, 2006).
- These changes make possible the dramatic gains in memory and spatial understanding of
early and middle childhood.
(Enter Table: Changes in gross and fine motor skills during early childhood)
- At 3 years of age, children have had the ability to pick up the tiniest object between their
thumb and forefinger for some time, but they are still somewhat clumsy at it.
o can build surprisingly high block towers, each block placed with intense concentration
but often not in a completely straight line.
- By 4 years of age, children’s fine motor coordination is much more precise.
o Have trouble building high towers with blocks because, in their desire to place each
of the block perfectly, they upset those already stacked.
- By age 5, children’s fine motor coordination has improved further.
o Hand, arm, and fingers all move together under better command of the eye.
o Mere towers no longer interest the 5-year-old, who now wants to build a house or a
church, complete with steeple. (Adults may still need to be told what each finished
project is meant to be.)
Self- help skills
- Young children gradually become self-sufficient at dressing and feeding
- 2-year-olds put on and take off simple items of clothing
- Age 3: children can do so well enough to take care of toileting needs by themselves
- Between ages 4 and 5: children can dress and undress without supervision
o At mealtimes, they can use spoon well and can serve themselves
o Age 4, they are adept with a fork
o Age 5 to 6 they can use a knife to cut soft foods
- Roomy clothing with large buttons and zippers and child-sized utensils help children master
these skills.
- They are proud of their independence, and their new skills also make life easier for adults
o But parents must be patient about these abilities
▪ When tired and in hurry, young children often revert to eating with their
fingers
▪ 3-year-olds who dresses himself in the morning sometimes ends up with his
shirt on inside out, his pants on backward, and his left snow boot on his right
foot
o Most complex self-help skill of early childhood is show tying, mastered enough
around age 6
▪ Shoe tying illustrates the close connection between cognitive and motor
development
- Success requires a longer attention span, memory for an intricate series of hand movements,
and the dexterity to perform them
Drawing
- Children scribble in imitation of others
- A variety of factors combine with fine motor control in the development of children’s artful
representation (Golomb, 2004)
- Realization that pictures can serve as symbols, improved planning and spatial understanding,
and the emphasis that the child’s culture places on artistic expression.
Typical drawing progresses through the following sequence:
1. Scribble
- Intended representation is contained in gestures rather than in the resulting marks on the
page
2. First representational forms
- Age 3: children’s scribbles start to become pictures
o Have drawn a recognizable shape, and then decide to label it
Ex: 2-year-old made some random marks son page and then realizing the
resemblance between his scribbles and noodles, named the creation “chicken pie and
noodles” (Winner, 1986)
- When adults draw with children and point out the resemblance between drawings and
objects, preschooler’s pictures become more comprehensible and detailed (Braswell &
Callanan, 2003)
- A major milestone in drawing occurs when children use lines to represent the boundaries of
objects
o 3-and-4-years-old to draw their first picture of a person
- Fine motor and cognitive limitations lead the preschoolers to create this universal image,
which reduces the figures to the simplest form that still looks human
- 4-year-olds add features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, fair, fingers, and feet.
3. More realistic drawings
- They learn to desire greater realism
- Head and body are differentiated, and arms and legs appear
- Greater realism in drawing occurs gradually, as perception, language (ability to describe visual
details), memory, and dine motor capacities improve (Toomela, 2002)
- Preschooler’s free depiction of reality makes their artwork look fanciful and inventive
o When accomplished artists try to represent people and objects freely, they often
must work hard to achieve what they did effortlessly as 5-and-6-year-olds.
(Insert drawing progress examples of preschoolers)
Early printing
- They try to write, they scribble, just as they do when they draw
- As they experiment with lines and shapes, notice print in storybooks, and observe people
writing, they attempt to print letter, and later, words
- Around the age of 4, children’s writing shows some distinctive features of print, such as
separate forms arranged a line on the page.
o But children often include picture like devices in their writing – for examples, using
circular shape to write sun.
- Appling their understanding of the symbolic function of drawings, 4-year-olds who are asked
to write typically make a “drawing of print”
- Gradually, between ages of 4 and 6- do children realize that writing stands for language.
o Preschooler’s first attempts to print often involve their name, generally using a single
letter.
o They try to copy pictures
- Between ages 3 and 5, children acquire skill in gripping a pencil
- 3-year-olds display grip patterns and pencil angles varying their grip depending on the
direction and location of the marks they want to make
o By trying out different forms of pencil-holding, they discover the grip and angle they
maximize stability and writing efficiency
- By age of 5, most children use an adult grip pattern and a fairly constant pencil angle across
a range of drawing and writing conditions (Greer & Lockman,1998)
o Gains in fine motor control, advances in perception contribute to the ability to print.
- Around age 4, they make progress in identifying individual letters
o Mirror-image letter paris (b and d, p and q) are especially hard to discriminate
- The ability to tune in the mirror images and to scan a printed line from left to right improves
as children gain experience with written materials
- More parents and teachers assist preschoolers in their efforts to print, the more advanced
children are in writing and in other aspects of literacy development.
(Insert hand grip progress of children)
Adult involvement in young children’s motor activities should focus on “fun” rather than on winning
or perfecting the “correct” technique.