Early Childhood Development

Physical Growth and Intellectual Development

Early childhood, particularly the preschool years (ages 2–6), is marked by rapid physical, cognitive, and social changes. Children experience significant growth in body size, motor skills, and intellectual abilities.

The Growing Body

• Physical Growth: Children grow from about 25–30 pounds and 36 inches at age 2 to about 46 pounds and 46 inches by age 6.

• Sex Differences: Boys become taller and heavier than girls during the preschool years.

• Economic Factors: Nutrition and healthcare impact growth; children in developed countries tend to be taller and heavier than those in less developed regions.

• Body Proportions: Children become less round and more slender; arms and legs lengthen, and body proportions become more adult-like by age 6.

• Internal Changes: Muscle size increases, bones become sturdier, and sense organs develop (e.g., changes in the Eustachian tube can cause earaches).

Nutrition: Eating the Right Foods

• Appetite: Growth slows compared to infancy, so preschoolers need less food.

• Obesity: Defined as body weight more than 20% above average for age and height; rates have increased among preschoolers.

• Iron Deficiency: Iron-rich foods are important to prevent anemia, which causes fatigue.

• Parental Role: Parents should offer nutritious, low-fat foods and allow children to develop preferences.

Health and Illness

• Minor Illnesses: Preschoolers typically experience 7–10 minor illnesses per year, which help build immunity.

• Accidents: The leading cause of death in this age group; boys and children in poverty are at higher risk.

• Lead Poisoning: Exposure to lead (from paint, ceramics, exhaust) can cause cognitive and behavioral problems, and at high levels, illness or death.

Motor Development

• Gross Motor Skills: Large muscle activities (jumping, running, throwing). By age 5, children can ride bikes and climb ladders.

• Fine Motor Skills: Small muscle activities (using utensils, drawing, tying shoelaces). Skills improve steadily from ages 3 to 5.

• Handedness: Preference for one hand emerges; about 90% are right-handed by the end of preschool years.

Toilet Training

• Readiness: Should begin when children show physical and emotional readiness (e.g., staying dry for 2 hours, regular bowel movements, interest in using the toilet).

• Timeline: Most children are ready between 18–30 months; nighttime control may take longer.

Cognitive Development

Preschoolers show remarkable advances in thinking, imagination, and language, but their reasoning is still limited compared to older children.

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (Ages 2–7)

• Symbolic Function: Ability to use symbols (words, objects) to represent things not present.

• Language and Thought: Language development is closely tied to cognitive advances; Piaget believed cognitive growth enables language.

• Centration: Focusing on one aspect of a situation and ignoring others (e.g., judging quantity by appearance).

• Conservation: Lack of understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

• Egocentrism: Difficulty understanding others' perspectives; two forms: physical (what others see) and emotional (what others feel or think).

• Intuitive Thought: Primitive reasoning; children are confident in their knowledge but cannot explain their reasoning.

• Functionality and Identity: By the end of this stage, children understand that actions have predictable outcomes (functionality) and that certain properties remain constant (identity).

Language Development

• Vocabulary Growth: By age 6, children know about 14,000 words, acquiring new words rapidly through fast mapping.

• Grammar: Preschoolers use increasingly complex sentences and follow grammatical rules, though errors (e.g., "catched") occur.

• Private Speech: Talking to oneself, which helps guide behavior and thought (Vygotsky).

• Pragmatics: Learning the social rules of language (e.g., turn-taking, politeness).

• Social Speech: Speech directed at others, adapting language to the listener.

Gender Identity

Children develop a sense of gender and adopt gender roles and stereotypes during the preschool years.

• Gender vs. Sex: Sex refers to biological differences; gender refers to societal roles and identity.

• Gender Stereotypes: Preschoolers have rigid ideas about gender-appropriate behavior, often more so than adults.

• Biological Perspectives: Hormones and brain structure differences influence gendered behavior; evolutionary theories suggest gender roles aid survival.

• Psychoanalytic Perspective (Freud): Gender identity forms through identification with the same-sex parent during the phallic stage (Oedipal conflict).

• Social Learning: Children learn gender roles by observing and imitating others, including media influences.

Psychosocial Development

Social relationships, play, and parenting styles shape children's emotional and social growth in early childhood.

Friendship and Play

• Friendship: Shifts from shared activities to including trust and support as children age.

• Types of Play:

  • Functional Play: Simple, repetitive activities (e.g., skipping, rolling clay).

  • Constructive Play: Manipulating objects to build or create (e.g., building with blocks).

  • Parallel Play: Playing side by side without interaction.

  • Onlooker Play: Watching others play without participating.

  • Associative Play: Interacting by sharing or borrowing, but not doing the same activity.

  • Cooperative Play: Playing together with shared goals or rules.

  • Pretend Play: Becomes more imaginative and less tied to realistic objects as children age.

Parenting Styles

Parenting style significantly affects children's development. The four main styles are:

Child Abuse and Psychological Maltreatment

• Physical Abuse: More common in stressful environments; associated with negative emotional and behavioral outcomes.

• Cycle of Violence Hypothesis: Abused children are at higher risk of becoming abusers as adults, though not all do.

• Psychological Maltreatment: Includes belittling, threatening, neglect, and emotional unresponsiveness; leads to low self-esteem, underachievement, and sometimes severe outcomes.

• Resilience: Some children overcome adversity due to positive temperament, intelligence, and social skills.

Aggression and Violence in Preschoolers

• Aggression: Intentional harm to others; common in preschoolers, often to achieve goals (instrumental aggression).

• Gender Differences: Boys show more physical aggression; girls more likely to use relational aggression (e.g., exclusion, name-calling).

• Emotional Self-Regulation: Ability to control emotions improves with age.

• Social Learning Theory: Aggression is learned through observation (e.g., media, adults). Exposure to violence increases aggressive behavior; non-aggressive models can reduce it.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Obesity: Body weight more than 20% above average for age and height.

• Centration: Focusing on one aspect of a situation, ignoring others.

• Conservation: Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.

• Egocentrism: Inability to see things from another's perspective.

• Fast Mapping: Quickly associating new words with their meanings after minimal exposure.

• Pragmatics: Social rules of language use.

• Resilience: Ability to overcome adversity and function well despite risk factors.

• Instrumental Aggression: Aggression motivated by the desire to achieve a goal.

• Relational Aggression: Nonphysical aggression aimed at harming social relationships.

Example: Conservation Task

When shown two identical glasses with equal amounts of liquid, then pouring one into a taller, thinner glass, a preschooler will often say the taller glass has more liquid, focusing on appearance rather than actual quantity.

Example: Parenting Styles

Authoritative parents set clear rules but explain their reasoning and encourage independence, leading to children who are self-reliant and socially competent.

Example: Social Learning of Aggression

Children who watch adults behave aggressively toward a doll are more likely to imitate that aggression, especially if they see the adult rewarded for the behavior.