Lesson 9: Pre School Age


Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. ~ Margaret Mead


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Define developmentally appropriate milestones  and theories for preschool children
  • Describe the parenting styles for a parent with a preschool aged child
  • Discuss the hot topics when working with preschool age children

 


Teaching

  • Read Chapter 3 (pgs. 28-41) in The Early Years Matter
  • Read Chapters 4 & 5 (pgs. 111-183)in Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs
  • Video - Developmental Milestone Ages 3-5


The preschool years are considered a time or important growth and learning, rather than just prepping for kindergarten. Ideal learning occurs when relationships with adults are positive, there is the opportunity to interact with other children, scaffolding occurs, and the environment is stimulating. Children of the preschool age often receive daily care out of the home environment. 

Physical Development – Preschoolers are non-stop motion. They are developing their gross and fine motor skills at rapid rates. Physical activities help build strong muscles, bones, and joints, as well as prevent obesity. This is a time of rapid physical growth, with differences among individual children. 
Examples of some gross and fine motor skills (from http://www.getreadytoread.org/early-learning-childhood-basics/early-childhood/understanding-physical-development-in-preschoolers).

Gross motor skills (large body movements) – Young preschoolers become more steady (balance) as their bodies becomes more proportional – they are working on skills such as balancing, jumping, throwing, catching, running and hopping.

  • Walks with agility, good balance, and steady gait.
  • Run at a comfortable speed in one direction and around obstacles; she can also stop, re-start, and turn while running.
  • Aim and throw a large ball or beanbag, or catch one thrown to her.
  • Hop several times on each foot.
  • Walk along and jump over a low object, such as a line, string, or balance beam.
  • Bounce a large ball several times.
  • Kick a stationary ball.
  • Pedal and steer a tricycle.

Fine motor skills (small motor skills, usually involve the fingers) (HINT - F for fine and F for fingers) – improve greatly with practice - involves eye hand coordination – activities such as playing with clay, painting, drawing, string beads, or Legos improve fine motor skills. Handedness is usually determined between the ages of 2 and 6.

  • Brush teeth, comb hair, and get dressed with little help.
  • Skillfully use eating utensils.
  • Use (child-sized) scissors to cut along a line.
  • Pick up small items such as coins, toothpicks, and paperclips.
  • Assemble simple puzzles.
  • Copy simple shapes, like a circle or square.
  • Print some letters of the alphabet.
  • Stack objects so they don’t fall.

Because they are so active, the preschool years is a time of accidents. Accidents are the number one cause of death among this age group. Illnesses are also increased during the preschool years, perhaps because children are exposed to a greater number of people outside the home. 
Where a two year old requires approximately 13 hours sleep plus a nap, a six year old requires approximately 10 hours with no nap. Nightmares and night terrors also occur in this age group. Nightmares occur in the morning and are pretty common, with the child usually waking up. Night terrors (less common) occur early in sleep, the child often sits up abruptly, and is screaming, but does not usually awaken or remember. Night terrors are actually quite scary for the child and the person witnessing them. Bedwetting is also a common issue for preschoolers. It is common until they learn to achieve night time control. 
Preschoolers’ senses are strongly developed but their ability to process information is not complete. They are still developing cognitive strategies and language. Around age 3 the ability to understand patterns is improving and they become interested in patterns, puzzles, and letter combinations. Their hearing is well developed (though often selective!) and they can listen intently to stories. Children this age appreciate simple riddles and rhymes.

Language – Preschool children are acquiring language at an extreme rate. Their speech is relatively clear, and they use 4+ word sentences. 

  • Fast-mapping – quickly understand new word and meaning
  • Overregulation – application of grammar rules incorrectly “Daddy goed to work”.
  • Language Acquisition Device – began in infancy -“pre-wiring” in the brain that facilitates a child’s learning grammar

Social and Emotional Development – Begin to understand relationship with others, and regulate their emotions although they are still learning control. Preschoolers are often excited to learn new things. They are still fairly egocentric (can only see their point of view), but they do often show empathy (feelings for others). This is the age where if a friend is not feeling well, the preschooler may try to help or at least offer sympathy with the touch on the cheek as they scamper off to play. They do have friends but they are often because of common interests at a particular point in time. They begin to act in pretend play. 
Emotionally, preschoolers are trying to act acceptably but that is sometimes a difficult task. A lot of factors come into play, including temperament, environment, culture, and experiences. Adults can be role models for acknowledging and dealing with feelings and emotions. 

Play – As children develop, their play begins to become more advanced.

  • At every age, children are likely to spend at least some of their time playing alone, a pattern known as solitary play.
  • They may also exhibit onlooker play, a pattern in which they watch another child playing. Children first begin to show some positive interest in playing with others, however, as early as six months of age. They sometimes are involved in onlooker play as a way to observe and learn.
  • By 14 to 18 months, we begin to see two or more children playing with toys, sometimes cooperating together, but more often simply playing side by side with different toys, called parallel play.
  • At around 18 months, we begin to see associative play in which toddlers pursue their own activities, but also engage in spontaneous, though short-lived, social interactions.
  • By three or four, children begin to engage in cooperative play, a pattern in which several children work together to accomplish a goal. Cooperative play can be either constructive or symbolic. The block area is an important staple of any early childhood setting as is the housekeeping area. They are building and involved in make-believe.

Cognition - there are some really important changes during the preschool period. Children begin to understand mental representation and their memories improve. They are starting to understand the concept of time and past, present, and future.
They have vivid, yet sometimes unrealistic imaginations. Piaget referred to their thoughts as Preoperational, with increases in vocabulary and symbolic thought. Language is advancing rapidly and if they hear it they will say it. Vygotsky’s theory of private speech may come into play during this time. Their attention span and memory is improving throughout the preschool years. They are often very rule orientated. Reasoning skills advance throughout the preschool years. 

Erikson 

  • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt – early childhood – the child learns a sense of personal control and gains independence. If they are allowed to make simple choices and decisions they are confident. If they are not allowed to gain some independence they feel inadequate and are doubtful of themselves. Toilet training would be an example of them gaining bodily functions.
  • Initiative vs. Guilt – preschool years – children begin to assert power and control during social interactions. If they are successful they feel capable and will try new things. If they are unsuccessful, they have self-doubt and lack initiative. 

Piaget – Preoperational Stage – abut ages 2-7

  • Symbolic thought – symbols to represent objects and relationships
    Pretend play – make believe – use to help make sense of things and understand – sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between fact and fiction (often get caught in “lies” but to them it is the truth). 
  • Egocentrism - all about them and their needs – considered selfishness but they are unable to understand that others have needs and feelings that may differ from theirs
  • Causality – Why do they ask why? Preschool age children ask why because they really want to know. They are trying to make sense of the world and what is happening around them. 
  • Animism – attributing life like qualities to inanimate objects
  • Conservation – the ability to understand an object is the same even if properties of that object change. We discussed conservation earlier with water in short container and tall container. Preschool children often think the tall container has more because it looks higher. Even if we intentionally measure and explain, they often will not understand. Preschool age children might begin to understand conservation.

Vygotsky – attributes significant learning to language development and social interactions

  • Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)– child carries out tasks with help of someone more skilled
  • Scaffolding – assistance with accomplishing a task until the child can function independently 
  • Private Speech - when a child would solve a problem or work through a situation by talking to themselves about the situation and possible outcomes

I believe the best person to help a child learn to tie their shoes is a child that recently learned this skill. They are able to model and explain the concept to the child trying to learn (scaffold) much better than an adult can. As they go through the steps of the process they are supporting various ZPDs as the child learning can get so far on their own and then needs assistance again.  
There are differing thoughts on the benefits of early childhood education settings. Some individuals feel children are provided better experiences and more attentive care in the home. Others feel children need social interactions and will have an advantage in an educational setting. There is also the option of family child care. This is a personal decision and any of the choices can be good or bad depending on the environment and interactions. 

Parenting Styles – Parenting styles can determine behaviors later in life.

  1. The permissive parenting style is high on nurturance, but low in maturity demands, control, and communication. They love their children but do not set limits.
  2. The authoritarian parenting style is high in control and maturity demands, but low in nurturance and communication. My way or the high way style parenting; very rigid.
  3. The authoritative parenting style is high in control, maturity demands, nurturance, and communication. Strict rules and high expectations but will be flexible and willing to negotiate.
  4. The uninvolved (neglectful) parenting style is low in control, maturity demands, nurturance, and communication. They appear to not care about the child and let them get by on their own.

I remember the difference between authoritarian and authoritative as the authoritative parents “give” their child the things they need. Authoritative and give both end in ive. Authoritative parents give their children structure, love, and attention. 

The Preschool years also have a lot of other debatable parental decisions.

  • When and how to potty train
  • Diet
  • Television (and other technology)
  • Friends/Play Dates/Sleepovers
  • Healthcare
  • Discipline
  • Pre School or Home

Assessment

Lesson 9 Quiz

This quiz consists of a number of multiple choice, matching, and short answer questions. Be sure you have studies the material in this lesson and have your notes ready when you begin the quiz.

Lesson 9 Discussion

Choose one of the debatable issues during the preschool years (or come up with one of your own) and take a side of the issue. State your stance on the issue and support your reasoning.

When you respond to another student’s post take the opposite side of the issue they discussed (play devil’s advocate).  Professionally describe why you take the other stand and support your reasoning.