Early childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals are: newborn (ages 0–4 weeks); infant (ages 4 weeks – 1 year); toddler (ages 1–3 years); preschooler (ages 4–6 years); school-aged child (ages 6–13 years); adolescent (ages 13–19) psychology the term "early childhood" is usually defined as the time period from the age of two until the age of six or seven years. There are three simultaneous development stages:
Physical growth and development[edit]
In this phase there is significant synaptic growth and myelination of
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Fine Motor Skills[edit]
There are several developmental expectations for children to reach by the time they reach the age of 2. Children are expected to be able to draw simple shapes such as circles, squares and triangles. They should also be able to cut out such shapes as these. By doing such activities as these develops the children 's fine motor skills, by strengthening there fingers and developing there finger control.[7] Fine Motor Skill
Education
Main article: Early childhood education
Infants and toddlers experience life more holistically than any other age group[8] Social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical lessons are not learned separately by very young children. Adults who are most helpful to young children interact in ways that understand that the child is learning from the whole experience, not just that part of the experience to which the adult gives attention..
The most information learned occurs between birth and the age of three, during this time humans develop more quickly and rapidly then they would at any other point in their life. Love, affection, encouragement and mental stimulation from the parents or guardians of these young children aid in development. At this time in life, the brain is growing rapidly and it is easier for information to be absorbed; parts of the brain can nearly double in a year. During this stage, children need
Physical Development: Kneels to play, throw and kick a ball, builds larger brick towers, pour liquids and uses pencils to make marks and circular scribbles.
An educator’s goal is to enhance the upbringing of the child. To me, a caregiver is a co-parent to that child as we help to educate, shape morals, and enhance development. I make it a duty to build a relationship with parents. I look at each parent, not only as the caregiver to the child but as their own person. I seek to learn their religion, culture, social atmosphere and delve into some of their ideologies. I make it a duty to ask each parent about their day, weekends or what their future plans are. I use these insights into the different families to aid the development of all the children in my class. They do not all share the same culture, religion, social class or environment, so the class gets to see a look into their peers through my eyes.
The typical four year old child who has developed competent gross motor skills is able to hop and stand on one foot; for example, a four year old child without physical delay should be able to play hopscotch. He or she should also be able to cut with scissors and catch a ball that is thrown to them, both examples of appropriate fine motor skills. Cognitively, the four year old should be able to name colors and numbers, say their first and last name appropriately, tell stories, begin to understand
I am applying to your master’s program in Early Childhood Education for the Spring of 2016. I first enrolled at NIU in the fall of 2015 as a Student-at-Large. Since that time I have taken nine courses through the College of Education. Returning to school to pursue a master’s degree in early childhood has been a goal of mine for many years. When I began my undergraduate degree, I had not decided on a major and lacked a clear academic direction.
Some of the highlights obtained about the infant’s cognitive development include how psychological processes are involved in the development of thinking and knowing in young children. The cognitive development of children shows how infants acquire information through the senses of sound, sight, touch, smell, taste, and language. Regarding social and emotional development, it shows how infants learn to interact and control their emotions. Interesting theorists such as Piaget provided a basis for the observation of children’s behavior in motor and intellectual development. Also, Erik Erikson is notable for his interests in the emotional development of children (Newman and Newman). Notable milestones in cognitive development include the sensorimotor
Infants and toddlers develop attachments to the people in their lives and make a relationship with them, depending on how parents and early childhood educators treat them. Young infants seek out security, and mobile infants are excited to explore. Also, toddlers are working on their identity, and they want to know who they are.
A child’s life between the ages of two and six or a pivotal time in a young child’s physical and biosocial growth. The most important physical development that a child through the ages of 2 to 6 will go through is brain growth. Children gradually become better at controlling their emotions, sleep becomes more regular, and their temper tantrums subside. Gross motor skills are another important physical development that greatly increases with age. Children two years or younger have a difficult time walking in a coordinated manner. Children from 2 to 6 years old can already skate, ski, dive, and ride a bike. Fine motor skills evolve greatly in early childhood and are very important to their development. Children between the ages of two and six
In early years the brain in trying to conform to parent’s response and when babies don’t receive that response to mimic the brain does not form as expected. Nevertheless how an adult responds will shape the brain circuit. For example if a child is in a quality early childhood setting where the teachers are teaching a meaningful curriculum the brain is conforming to the teachers response equivalent to a sponge soaking up water. Consequently everything being said is being absorbed and this is the kind of early development and learning that is expected in early childhood. As infants form connections throughout their first years of life it is creating a process of structure building in their brains which is impacted by their life experiences (Sripada,
The fact that I believe that over 70% of parents in the United States become very overly anxious about leaving their baby with any person beside themselves, so I will constitute the idea childcare center where I will carefully nurture the parents fear and met their baby needs. In fact, I will offer them an individual child care packet that will include a heathy physical setting where their baby mental, emotional, and cognitive stimulations that will be guided by a license professional in the field of child care; a professional who will follow the specific guidelines in their field to ensure the baby learning experiences and features of quality in relation to the baby specific aspects of development.
crucial to a child’s healthy development and lifelong learning. How a child develops during this
Over the past few years, the count of immigrants have astronomically increased in the United Stated, this has caused the educational environment throughout schools to reflect a large number of diverse students. Because of the change in the system, the way students are assessed and what teachers need to know have also adjusted. English Language Learners are a group of students with different languages, backgrounds, needs, and goals. Some ELL students have only come to the United States and speak no English and have a family that also speak no English, while some students might live in a home where only English is spoken. Based on the ELL student’s background, learning style and other factors, the way they take in information differs. Most general knowledge teachers only provide ELL students with the basic requirements to gain academic success in the Early Childhood Education classroom. Schools sometimes provide ELD (English Language Development) teachers, ELL specialists and other resources including programs and dictionaries to help students develop their English, while other schools believe that by placing the student in a natural environment where they can interact with other students who speak English then the student will eventually learn how to speak English. As a former ELL student who personally experienced the difficulty of learning and adapting to a new language and also as a student who has experienced various classrooms with diverse students, my opinion is that
Texas law allows school districts to serve both three and four year-olds in prekindergarten, but districts are required to serve only four-year-olds via federal funding from Head Start (Hustedt & Barnett, 2011). According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), prekindergarten enrollment increased from 123,927 in 2001 to 200,181 in 2012. Enrollment dropped off significantly in 2012, however, due to the elimination of the preschool extension grants that funded full-day programs and added more three-year-old classrooms. Texas has a long way to go in providing the kind of research-based quality preschool programs that are needed for the more than 60% of Texas children who are economically disadvantaged, plus other groups of at-risk
Like infants and toddlers, preschoolers grow quickly--both physically and cognitively. During the “preschool” years, development is truly integrated: The biological, psychological, and social changes occurring at this time are interrelated. A theory that will work for this stage in life is from the graph on page 22 in Exploring Lifespan Development, behaviorism, and social learning. This theory is continuous and basically, means to learn from right and wrong. This specifically pertains to this stage in life because during this time the child’s brain, gross and fine motor skills, and health are all trying to mature into the next stage in life. Children begin to learn how to interact with others around their age and how they should act. A study
Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals are: newborn ; infant ; toddler ; preschooler ; school-aged child ; adolescent .
The more a caregiver and young child are tuned into each other’s emotional cues and respond in a healthy, supportive way, the more likely the relationship will support healthy development in multiple areas, such as communication and cognition (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p. 27-28).