Changing Families Chapter 2 Pages 39-50

Changing Families Page 39  Structure – single parent, extended, gay, step families, etc  Roles – both parents are working  Responsibilities – poverty, social ills, personal problems, providing for children

Families and Early Childhood Page  The family system has the primary responsibility for meeting many children’s needs  Professionals frequently need to address family problems and issues first in order to help children effectively  Early Childhood Professionals can do many things concurrently with children and their families that will benefit both  Addressing the needs of children and their families as a whole *known as the holistic approach to education and the delivery of services*

Working Parents Page 41  Several misconceptions about working mothers 1. Not good mothers 2. Less productive at work 3. Negative impact on their children’s behavior and development  Mother’s working outside home does NOT harm children  The income positively affects the children’s behavior and academic achievement

Affluent Families Page 42  Many parents with middle – and – upper level incomes are willing to invest money in early education for their children

Fathers Page  These days, it is apparent that fathers are rediscovering the joys of parenting and working with young children  Fathers want to be involved in the whole process of child rearing  Increasing in number are stay-at-home dads  The Fatherhood Project is a national research education project that is examining the future of fatherhood and developing ways to support men’s involvement in child rearing.

Single Parents Page 44  The number of one-parent families, male and female, continues the increase  22% families headed by females, 5% headed by males

Teenage Parents Page 45  Each year, one out of 10 (1.1 million) teenagers become pregnant  In 1997, women aged were 52.3 per 1,000, down from 62.1 in 1991  Latino teenagers have the highest birthrate with 99.1 per 1,000  Mississippi has highest birth rate

Poverty Page 45  About 40% of the poor population is made up of children  Nearly 22% of children under 6 live in poverty  Single parent homes with female heads of household, poverty is a greater risk  40% of African American children under 6 live in poverty  Living in poverty means you and your family don’t have the income that allows you to purchase adequate health care, housing, food, clothing, and education services

Poverty (Cont’d.)  Poverty for a nonfarm family of 4 meant an income of less than $10,400  In Mississippi one third of all children are poor, nearly twice the national average  Children and youth from low-income families are often older than others in their grade level, move more slowly through the educational system, are more likely to drop out, and are less likely to find work  More than one half of all children who lack insured health care come from poor families  Children in poverty are more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems and are less likely than others to be “highly engaged” in school. Also, parents of low income families are less likely to help their children complete homework assignments

Housing Page 48  187 children die each year in house fires caused by faulty electrical equipment, particularly heaters

Children’s Illnesses Page  Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways, is the most common chronic childhood illness in the US  Asthma is caused in party by poor air quality, dust, mold, animal fur and dander, allergens from cockroach and rodent feces, dust mites, and strong fumes  Lead poisoning is also a serious childhood disease

Children’s Illnesses (Cont’d)  Major source of lead poisoning is from old lead-based paint  From batteries and dirt from polluted soil and toys  Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and brain damage

Brain Research Pages  The period of most rapid intellectual growth occurs before age 8  It is increasingly evident that children are not born with fixed intelligences  Children reared in homes that are not intellectually stimulating may also lag intellectually behind their counterparts reared in more advantaged environments

Brain Research (Cont’d)  Brain research finding suggest that good parental care, warm and loving attachments, and positive, age-appropriate stimulation from birth onward make a difference in children’s overall development for a lifetime  Positive interactions with caring adults stimulate children’s brains profoundly in terms of establishing new synaptic connections and strengthening existing ones.

Brain Research (Cont’d)  Early experiences during critical/sensitive periods and windows of opportunity are so powerful that they can completely change the way a person develops.

Infants and Toddlers Chapter 7 Pages  Having the right experiences but the right time relates to critical periods, developmental “windows of opportunity” or sensitive periods during which it is easier to learn something than it is at another time.

Young Brains: A Primer Page 192  Babies are born to learn. They are remarkable learning instruments. Their brains make them so.  Children’s brain development and their ability to learn throughout life rely on the interplay between nature (genetic inheritance, controlled by 80 thousand genes) and nurture (experiences they have and the environments in which they are raised)

Young Brains: A Primer (Cont’d)  What happens to children early in life has a long- lasting influence on how children develop and learn  Critical periods influence learning positively and negatively  The human brain is quite “plastic.” It has the ability to change in response to different kinds of experiences and environments

Young Brains: A Primer (Cont’d)  Prevention and early intervention are more beneficial than later remediation  The brain undergoes physiological changes in response to experiences  An enriched environment influences brain development

Nature and Nurture Pages  Nurturing involves all the environmental influences that affect and play a role in development  Nature is genetics – nurture is environment  Nurturing – the environment in which individuals grows and develops – plays an important role in what individuals are and how they behave

Nature and Nurture Pages  Some environmental factors that play a major role in early development include nutrition, quality of the environment, stimulations of the brain, affectionate relationship with parents, and opportunities to learn  Today we understand that nature and nurture are not competing entities; both are necessary for normal development, and it is the interaction between the two that makes us the individuals we are

Nature and Nurture Pages  Motor development is sequential  Maturation of the motor system proceeds from gross to fine behaviors.  Motor development is from cephalo to caudal (from head to foot)  Motor development proceeds from the proximal (midline, or central part of the body) to the distal (extremities), known as proximodistal development

Nature and Nurture Pages  Motor development plays a major role in social and behavioral expectations  Potty Training (I.e)