6 - early childhood

6 – early childhood

Early child age = 2-6 years

Preschool period – transition in social, emotional, cognitive domains

Key developmental task = initiative vs guilt – erikson

Play – primary source to learn and social development

Autonomy – growing independence with guidance and support

Language – rapid extension of expressive and receptive abilities

Growth and motor development

18-24 months

-              Gross motor skills – run, walk, climb stair with 2 feet, push/pull boxes, unscrew lids

-              Fine motor skills – hand preference, stack blocks, turn page, pick up things

2-3 years

-              Gross motor skills – run easily, climb

-              Fine motor skills – pick up small objects, throw ball

3-4 years

-              Gross motor skills – walk up 1 foot at a time, skip, tiptoe, tricycle

-              Fine motor skills – catch ball, cut paper with scissors, hold pencil in thumb + finger

4-5 years

-              Fine motor skills – use bat, kick, catch, use pencil, thread bead

5-6 years

-              Skip on feet, slide, swing

-              Fine – thread needle/sew, play ball game

Brain growth, synapse formation, myelinization continue

Lateralization

-              Brain function divided between 2 cerebral cortex hemispheres. Strong laterlization = strong language skills in kids

Reticular formation

-              Brain structure regulate attention, concentration

Handedness

-              Preference for 1 hand, develop 2-6 years.

False belief principle

-              Kids can look at situation from another perspective, see what information causes flase belief in that person

Preoperational stage – start using symbol, language, imagination not organised yet

Egocentrism – ability to see form another’s perspective

Centration -  focus on one part of situation only

Appearance as reality – believe how something looks is what it actually is

Grammar explosion – learn lots of grammar, words, become fluent

-              Fast mapping – use knowledge / clues and compare to make a guess about answer. Ex. Point to eel, even if they don’t know what is by eliminating other knowledge

-              Inflections  - adding to phrases

-              Questions and negatives -  who, what, when, why, where + say negative sentence

-              Overregularization – using rules when they don’t apply, wrong grammar

-              Complex sentences – combine ideas with and or but

Phonological awareness – ability to recognize, manipulate sentences and words – rhyme, alliteration, segmentation into a sentence, identify syllables, blending

Play – take risks, experiment, test boundaries. Promote executive function – pursue goals, language math skills. Solitary (alone) parallel (own games) associate + cooperative

-              Sensorimotor – explore, manipulate, put things in mouth

-              Constructive – add, build, draw, blocks

-              First pretend – pretend play

-              Absitute pretend – use objects for different use

-              Sociodramatic – play house, roles

-              Rule governed – formal pretend games with rules – red light, green light

Prosocial behaviour / altruism  – uncovered by play, caring for others, putting others first. Part of empathy – comfort, share, concern

Nurses role

Periodic medical checkups, routine assessments and immunizations

Screening tools. Not a diagnosis

Early intervention – to identify delay in development

Numeracy + intelligence

-              Parental influence – early exposure to counting, math concepts

-              Evidence for intelligence – hereditary / genetics + environment / family, school + experience

-              Preschool program quality

-              Foundation – early math help with later academics

Attachment

2-3 years

-              Clingy, separation anxiety, seek reassurance

3-4 years

-              Reduced separation anxiety, increased independence, understand temporary separation

4-6 years

-              More autonomy, more internal attachments, strong peer relationships

Protective function = secure attachment support emotional regulation and social competence

Family structure

Development depend more on how parent figure act than the family structure

Same sex no different than 2 parent families

Divorce

-              Stressor – conflicts, economic hardship, disturbed routine

-              Response = anger, sadness, confusion, blame, regression (going back to previous state)

-              Protective factors – parental cooperation, stability, communication

High conflict but intact homes are worse then those experiencing divorce

Parenting style

Authoritarian – high control, low warmth

-              Less success in school, low self esteem, social skills, may be subdued or rebellious/aggressive

Permissive – low control, high warmth

-              Worse in school, more aggressive, immature, less independent and responsible

Authorative – high warmth and control

-              Independent, friendlty, cooporative, good grades

Uninvolved – low control and warmth

-              Emotionally detached, insecure, impulsve, less achievement oriented

Self concept

Categorical self – categorise based on characteristics – gender, physical, friends

Emotional self – label and explain emotions, regulations. Important how parents calm child and control emotions/model. Includes empathy and awareness

Social self – social scripts, understand social rules, social games – different persona/roles with friend/family

Gender identity

Biological – hormones influence gender typical behaviour

Social learning – children imitate models of their gender, reinforces gender appropriate behaviour

Cognitive / gender schema – develop schema, what boy/girl do and act on behaviour

Gender development

2-3 years – label with genders, don’t understand much

3-4 years – gender identity established, prefer gender toys/activities

4-5 years – gender constancy emerge – understand their gender is stable no matter what context/time

5-6 years – full gender constancy, gender typical play preference continue

Health promotion

-              Food aversions = neophobia, picky eating normal

-              Healthy habit – regular mealtime with family, less processed food

-              Screen time – no screen during meal, 1-2 hr a day

-              Strategies – exposure to new food, model healthy eating, no food reward

Sleeping

3-5 = 10-13 hours of sleep

Illness

Preschoolers 6-7 colds a year + 1-2 Gi infections

Immunizations

Mmrv and tdap 4-6

Activity

Participate in 60 minutes of physical activity per day

Limit sedentary behaviour

-              3/1000 children have hospitilization accidents

-              Home safety + childproofing

Obesogenic enviornments

Kids who are obese have high risk of physical and emotional health problems

Jordans principle

Promote justice and equity for all children in serves like; education, therapry, equipment, mental health

Joyces principle

Give indigenous people right to equitable access with no discrimination, enjoy health