EDF 3340 Exam 2 Clemson University

montessori schools

schools that emphasize careful work and tasks that each young child can do

reggio-emilia schools

originated in the town of reggio emilia, italy and 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

conservation

the principle that the amount of substance stays the same even when its appearance changes

What physical (body) changes do children undergo between 2 and 6 years of age?

Children develop adult-like body proportions (legs equal about 1/2 of overall height) and gain about 4.5 pounds of weight and 3 inches of height per year.

What physical (brain) changes do children undergo between 2 and 6 years of age?

The brain grows from 75% to 90% of its adult weight (increases are mainly in areas that allow advanced language and social understanding)

How does increased myelination change the speed at which preschoolers are able to learn and do things?

Myelination allows communication from axon to axon to occur much faster. The areas of the brain that show greatest early myelination are the motor and sensory areas. As young children more quickly perceive information/process it, they are able to learn more rapidly, and as they are able to perform motor skills from thought more quickly, they are able to do things faster as well.

Describe an experiment that shows children in early childhood have not reached prefrontal maturity.

When children under the age of 4 were asked to sort a set of cards which had different animals in different colors on them first by animal, and then by color, they sorted them by animal both times.

What is an example of a child-centered activity?

children are given a paper bag of cinnamon sticks to smell, touch, taste, etc. as a way to explore senses instead of sitting quietly and listening to a teacher talk about the five senses

What is an example of a teacher-directed activity?

a teacher talking to a class of quiet students as a whole group about the colors

What is the difference in philosophy of teacher-directed versus child-centered early childhood learning?

Teachers in child-centered programs believe that children need to follow their own interests rather than adult directions, that children should be allowed to explore their peak of creative vision at their own pace, and that teachers should organize the classroom with developmentally appropriate activities for each child and guide each child toward activities that will enhance learning. Teachers in teacher-directed programs stress academics and believe in positive/negative reinforcement, separation from the seriousness of schoolwork and unstructured play of home, and the importance of developing one skill in a progression before attempting the next (EX: forming letters before writing a story).

How does culture influence the development of gross motor skills in early childhood?

Some cultures allow/encourage young children to skate, ski, dive, and ride a bike - all things that demand balance and coordination of both hemispheres of the brain. Other cultures encourage young children to climb cliffs or swim in the ocean. The activities children are encouraged to participate in determine what skills they will be required to develop via brain maturation, motivation, and guided practice.

How does brain development explain challenges in fine motor skills in early childhood?

Many fine motor skills require use of both hands and thus both sides of the brain which are not well coordinated in early childhood.

What are the three levels of prevention with examples of each?

*In primary prevention, the environment of the child is adjusted to reduce chance of injury - EX: putting an outlet cover on an open outlet

*In secondary prevention, actions are taken that avert harm in high risk situations - EX: stopping a car before it hits a person

*In tertiary prevention, actions are taken after an injury has already occurred to prevent further damage - EX: seeking immediate and effective medical treatment for a broken bone so that it heals properly

Why have we adopted the term "injury control" over "childhood accident"? What implications does the new term have for parents and care providers?

"Accident" implies that injury is random and unpredictable which allows the public to feel blameless. Injury control implies that harm can be minimized and is a more accurate term as it is unlikely that serious injuries will occur if proper safety precautions are taken (car seat protects body in crash, bike helmet cracks instead of skull, etc.)

What is the difference between child maltreatment, child abuse, and child neglect?

Child maltreatment is intentional harm to, or avoidable endangerment of, anyone under 18, and it includes the terms child abuse and child neglect. Child abuse is deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical, emotional, or sexual well-being; and child neglect is failure to meet a child's basic physical, educational, or emotional needs.

What are some examples of Vygotsky's guided participation and scaffolding? How might a teacher might use these to keep a child in the zone of proximal development?

Guided Participation: a group of children are learning to draw, write, or dance; the teacher performs some sort of action first; then the children follow the teacher but also copy one another; a child that was copied appreciates that someone else followed their lead

Scaffolding: an adult encourages a child to look both ways before crossing the street while holding their hand and doing so themself

Providing temporary support and guiding exploration while children develop skills that they can currently only exercise with assistance is a great way to keep them in the area of learning that is just attainable enough to promote learning but not already a perfected concept.

What are the similarities and differences between Piaget and Vygotsky's theories on learning?

Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that learning is a constructive process, and stressed the importance of readiness, the importance of social interaction, and the fact that challenge is good. They differ on their opinions on the importance of language, the types of experiences that promote development, the kind of social interactions that are most valuable, and the influence of culture.

Explain Theory-theory and give some examples of faulty theories that children might develop to explain the world.

Theory-theory is the idea that children try to explain everything they encounter by constructing theories. Some faulty theories children might develop could be that the sky goes dark at night because the president turns off a giant light switch, etc.

Explain fast-mapping, and why it is important for the rapid vocabulary growth that takes place during early childhood.

Children learn new words by placing them in mental categories that help them remember their meaning. EX: learning zebra by associating its characteristics with the characteristics already associated with the category horse

What is Head Start, and what were some of the reasons it was started?

Head start is a federally subsidized early education program for children from families in poverty to get a head start on their formal education. It is intended to lift families out of poverty and improve retention rates/success of students from low income homes.

Heckman highlights skills that are fostered in early childhood education, what are those skills? (Are they content based?) Why does he think they are important?

cognitive skills, attentiveness, motivation, self-control, and sociability

These skills are not content based but are character skills that turn knowledge into know-how and people into productive citizens.

Provide an example of the cost-benefits of high quality preschool programs from one of our discussions (Heckman, South Carolina, your textbook high scope example).

The Heckman Equation estimates about a $7 return on each investment of $1 on quality early childhood education.

What are some behaviors that you would expect to see from a child displaying externalizing problems? What about internalizing problems?

Children with externalizing problems in emotional regulation may lash out at other people, break things, or lie down kicking and screaming. Children with internalizing problems in emotional regulation may be extremely fearful of things such as the bathtub drain or act withdrawn.

What is the behaviorist approach to motivating a child? What might be the long-term issue with this approach? How could you adjust this approach to account for this long-term problem?

Behaviorists suggest rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior in order to motivate a child. However, long term use of shame, guilt, and gratitude can harm academic achievement. Use of time-out can be an effective way to punish children by taking away something fun (time to play with friends or siblings) without causing shame and other negative emotions the child may internalize.

Why is play so important for children's social and emotional development? What are some specific types of play that children engage in during early childhood and their benefits?

Play allows children to learn how to make and keep friends. Peers provide practice in emotional regulation, empathy, and social understanding.

Sociodramatic play is a type of play in which children act out various roles and themes in stories that they create themselves. It allows them to practice regulating their emotions as they pretend to be angry, brave, afraid, etc.

Rough-and-tumble play mimics aggression through wrestling, chasing, or hitting but without intent to harm. This advances children's social understanding.

Give two different theoretical explanations for how gender identity develops. How do boys and girls know what those of their gender "should do"?

Behaviorism: reward/punishment for behaviors that the parents deem gender appropriate/not appropriate

Cognitive Theory: children attempt to understand their experiences and customs, taboos, and terminologies that enforce gender norms by categorizing males and females as opposites and behaving in a way that fits their self-concept