growth and development study guide 2

montessori

schools that offer early childhood education based on the philosophy of maria montessori, which emphasizes careful work and tasks that each young child can do.

reggio-emilia

a program of early-childhood education that originated in the town of reggio emilia, italy, and that encourages each child's creativity in a carefully designed setting

child-centered program

stress children's development and growth by allowing the child to make their own choices and establish their own ideas towards promoting competent communication and learning

teacher-directed program

stress academics which is usually taught by one adult to the entire group.

prefrontal cortex

the area of cortex at the front of the brain that specializes in anticipation, planning, and impulse control.

myelination

the process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron

lateralization

literally, sidedness, referring to the specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain, with one side dominant for each activity. the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa

corpus callosum

a long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows communication between them

HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) axis

a sequence of hormone production originating in the hypothalamus and moving to the pituitary and then to the adrenal glands

gross motor skills

physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping

fine motor skills

physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin

just-right principle

normal in young children, a wish for continuity and sameness is normal and widespread among young children

injury control/harm reduction

practices that are aimed at anticipating, controlling, and preventing dangerous activities; these practices reflect the beliefs that accidents are not random and that injuries can be made less harmful if proper controls are in place

primary prevention

actions that change overall background conditions to prevent some unwanted event or circumstance, such as injury, disease, or abuse

secondary prevention

actions that avert harm in a high-risk situation, such as stopping a car before it hits a pedestrian

tertiary prevention

actions, such as immediate and effective medical treatment, that are taken after an adverse event (illness or injury) occurs and that are aimed at reducing the harm or preventing disability

child maltreatment

intentional harm to or avoidable endagerment of anyone under 18 years of age

substantiated maltreatment

harm or endagerment that has been reported, investigated, and verified

pre operational intelligence

piaget's term for cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6; it includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought) but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible at this age

internalizing problems

difficulty with emotional regulation that involves turning one's emotional distress inward, as by feeling excessively guilty, ashamed, or worthless

externalizing problems

difficulty with emotional regulation that involves expressing powerful feelings through uncontrolled physical or verbal outbursts, as by lashing outat other people or breaking things

developmental psychopathology

the field that uses insights into typical development to understand and remediate developmental disorders

emotional regulation

the ability to control when and how emotions are expressed

self-concept

a persons understanding of who he or she is, in relation to self-esteem, appearance, personality, and various traits

rough-and-tumble play

play that mimics aggression through wrestling, chasing, or hitting, but which there is no intent to harm

gender

the state of being male or female

constructivism

the child is encouraged to learn through determining his own path of knowledge and individual process

scheme

the basic building blocks of such cognitive models and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. a systematic plan for action

centration

a characteristic of pre operational thought in which a young child focuses on one idea, excluding all others

static reasoning

a characteristic of pre-operational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing changes. whatever is now has always been and always will be

irreversibility

a characteristic of pre-operational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occured

egocentrism

concept of Piaget; major milestone in Preoperational Stage; inability of preschool children to see things from another person's point of view.

guided participation

the process by which people learn from others who guide their experiences and explorations

scaffolding

temporary support that is tailored to a learner's needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

zone of proximal development

in sociocultural theory, a metaphorical area surrounding a learner that includes all the skills, knowledge and concepts that a person is close to acquiring but cannot yet master without help

theory-theory

the idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear by constructing theories

theory of mind

a persons theory of what other people might be thinking. Children must realize that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts that they themselves are. that realization seldom occurs before age 4.

fast-mapping

the speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words by tentatively placing them in mental categories according to their perceived meaning

disequilibrium

in Piaget's theory, the "out-of-balance" state that occurs when a person realizes that his or her current ways of thinking are not working to solve a problem or understand a situation

intrinsic motivation

a drive, or reason to pursue a goal, that comes from inside a person, such as the need to feel smart or competent

extrinsic motivation

a drive, or reason to pursue a goal that arises from the need to have one's achievements rewarded from outside, perhaps by receiving material possessions or another person's esteem

accommodation

the restructuring of old ideas to include new experiences

equilibrium

A state in which opposing forces are balanced

assimilation

the reinterpretation of new experiences to fit into old ideas

over-regularization

the application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more "regular" than it actually is

balanced bilingual

a person who is fluent in two languages, not favoring one over the other

solitary play

a child plays alone, unaware of any other children playing nearby

onlooker play

a child watches other children play

parallel play

children play with similar toys in similar ways, but not together

associative play

children interact, observing one another and sharing material, but their play is not yet mutual and reciprocal

cooperative play

children play together, creating dramas or taking turns