1. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Chapter 8 Physical Development in the Preschool Years Child Development, 3/e by Robert Feldman Created by Barbara H. Bratsch

2. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall What changes in the body and the brain do children experience in the preschool years? What are the nutritional needs of preschool children and what causes obesity? What threats to their health and wellness do preschool children experience? What are child abuse and psychological maltreatment, what factors contribute to them, and can anything be done about them? In what ways to children’s gross and fine motor skills develop during the preschool years? How do handedness and artistic expression develop during these years?

3. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall The Growing Body The preschool years are marked by steady increases in height and weight Children grow stronger, their muscle size increases and their bones become sturdier

4. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall The Growing Brain Lateralization – the process whereby certain functions are located more in one hemisphere of the brain than in the other Many individual differences exist in lateralization

5. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Brain Growth Spurt

6. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Sensory Development Eye movements and focusing become more advanced They view objects as made up of multiple parts Auditory acuity improves, although not as much as in the initial stages of the preschool years Sleep can be challenging for preschoolers –Nightmares – vivid, bad dreams occurring toward morning –Night terrors – intense physiological arousal that causes a child to wake up in a state of panic

7. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Health and Wellness Nutritional Needs –Preschool children need less food to maintain growth. Growth is slower than the infant stage Minor illnesses help build the immune system. The average preschooler has 7 or 8 colds a year Major illnesses –Cancer and AIDS are severe major illnesses that greatly impact the children and their families –Reactions to hospitalizations – preschoolers can experience separation anxiety –Emotional illness – Parents and teachers may be seeking quick fixes to behavioral problems so medication use is on the rise

8. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall No Physician Visits

9. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Medications for Emotional Issues

10. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Injuries Children have twice the chance of dying from injury than from an illness before the age of 10 Accident risk –Boys tend to take more risks and get injured more –Cultural norms play a role, eg. Asian-American children have more supervision and are injured less –Economic factors play a role, eg. Poor families may live in areas with more hazards

11. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Lead Poisoning

12. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Child Abuse and Psychological Maltreatment In the US, more than 3 million children are victims of child abuse each year The line between “spanking” and “beating” is not clear

13. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Warning Signs of Child Abuse Visible, serious injuries that have no reasonable explanation Bite or choke marks Burns from cigarettes or immersion in hot water Feelings of pain for no apparent reason Fear of adult or care providers Inappropriate attire in warm weather (long sleeves, turtlenecks) to conceal injuries to the neck, arms, or legs Extreme behavior – highly aggressive, extremely passive, or extremely withdrawn Fear of physical contact

14. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Cycle-of-violence hypothesis – the abuse and neglect that children suffer predisposes them as adults to abuse and neglect their own children Psychological maltreatment – harm to children’s behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or physical functioning caused by other caregivers, verbally, through their actions, or through neglect Neglect – ignoring one’s children or being emotionally unresponsive to them Resilience – the ability to overcome circumstances that place a child at high risk for psychological or physical damage

15. Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Motor Development Gross motor skills- by 4 or 5 years old, children have gained greater control over their muscles. By 5 years of age, most children can learn to ride bikes, ski, or even climb ladders due to more advanced motor skills Fine motor skills- skills such as using scissors, tying shoes or playing the piano become possible Handedness, showing preference for use of one hand over the other, usually emerges by the end of preschool years Picture development also expands as their drawings begin to take on more recognizable objects