1. Child Development Principles and Theories
Chapter 4

2. Terms to Know Development Infant Toddler Preschooler
Physical development
Gross-motor development
Fine-motor development
Cognitive development
Social-emotional development
Cephalocaudal principle
Proximodistal principle
Maturation
Neurons
Synapses
Windows of opportunity
Theory
Schemata
Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational stage
Concrete operations stage
Multiple intelligences

3. Child Development
Development – change or growth that occurs in children
Infants – birth through the first year
Toddlers – children from age one up to the third birthday
Preschooler - children ages three to six

4. Areas of Development Physical development Cognitive development
Physical body changes that occurs in a relatively stable, predictable sequence
Gross motor development – improvement of skills using the large muscles in the arms and legs. Includes activities such as running, skipping, jumping.
Fine motor development – involves the small muscles of the hands and fingers. Includes grasping, cutting, holding.
Cognitive development
AKA intellectual development
Processes people use to gain knowledge.
Includes language, thought, reasoning and imagination
Social – emotional development
These two are put together because learning to relate to others is social development. Emotional development involves feelings and expressing feelings.
Trust, fear, confidence, pride, friendship and humor are all part of social – emotional development.
All three are linked to the other. Development in one area can greatly influence another.
Example: Writing words requires fine motor skills (physical). It also involves language and thought (cognitive). Language is needed to communicate with others and is also necessary for growing socially and emotionally (social – emotional).

5. Principles of Development
Cephalocaudal principle
Head downward
Child first gains control of the head, then arms, then legs.
Proximodistal principle
Development proceeds from center of body outward
Spinal cord develops before other parts of the body
Arms develop before hands, hands and feet develop before toes and fingers
Maturation
Sequence of biological changes in children
Depends on changes in the brain and nervous system
These changes assist children to improve their thinking abilities and motor skills

6. Windows of Opportunity
Specific spans of time for the normal development of certain types of skills
Vision
Birth to 6 months
If a child is kept in a dark room for the first few months of life, vision will not develop properly
Needs little stimulation to develop
Infants need interesting objects to look at

7. Windows of Opportunity, cont.
Emotional Control
Birth to 3 years
Includes the abilities to identify feelings, manage strong emotions and develop empathy.
Severe stress or early abuse can damage a child’s emotional development
Children need caregivers who can read their cues, respond promptly and meet their needs in a nurturing manner
Vocabulary / Speech
Birth to 3 years
Infants must hear language to learn it
Speak in full sentences
Talk to children often
Tell them what you are doing, what they are doing and what will happen next
Read stories
Play music
Engage in social interactions that require language

8. Windows of Opportunity, cont.
Math / Logical Development
1 to 4 years old
Give children chance to work on materials that offer an appropriate level of challenge
Motor Development
Prenatal to 8 years
Stable, long lasting structures can be created
Young children need a variety of gross – and fine – motor activities to support motor development

9. Genie’s Story
Feral children

10. Theories of Development
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory

11. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
Birth to 18 months
To develop trust, infants need warm, consistent, predictable and attentive care
When distressed, they need to be comforted
Need loving, physical contact, nourishment, cleanliness and warmth
They will devel0p a sense of confidence and trust that the world is safe and dependable
Mistrust occurs if an infant experiences an unpredictable world and is handled harshly

12. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
18 months and 3 years
Autonomy = Independence
Objective is to gain self – control without losing self – esteem
Children need to learn to choose and decide for themselves
Children need positive opportunities for self-feeding, toileting, dressing and exploration
Overprotection or lack of activities results in self- doubt, poor achievement and shame

13. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
3 to 5 years of age
Children need to develop a sense of purpose. This happens when an adult directs the child’s urges toward acceptable social practices.
If children are discouraged by criticism, feelings of incompetence are likely to emerge.

14. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
6 – 12 years old
Planning and carrying out projects
Helps children to learn society’s rules and expectations
Realistic goals and expectations enrich children’s sense of self
Children can develop a sense of incompetence and insecurity if they are discouraged, criticized or parents demand too much control

15. Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Schemata – mental representations or concepts
Assimilation – process of taking in new information and adding it to what the child already knows
Accommodation – adjusting what is already known to fit the new information.

16. Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Sensorimotor stage
Birth to 2 years old
Infants use all their senses to explore and learn
Object permanence – children learn that objects still exist even if they are out of sight
Preoperational stage
2 to 7 years old
Children are egocentric
Assume others see the world as they do
Language, symbolic play and drawing is learned
Conservation
Even if the physical appearance changes, the amount does not change
Classify groups of objects

17. Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Concrete Operations stage
7 to 11 years old
Children develop the capacity to think systematically, but only when they can refer to actual objects and use hands-on activities
Capable of reversing operations (1 + 3 = )
Beginning to understand others’ POVs
Formal Operations stage
11 years to adulthood
Think abstractly
Problem solving
Reasoning

18. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Vygotsky believed that children learn through social and cultural experiences
While interacting with others, children learn customs, values, beliefs, and language of their culture
Private speech
Self – talk or “thinking out loud”
Helps guide child activity and develop their thinking
Zone of Proximal development
Presents learning as a scale
One end of the scale are tasks within child’s current development level.
Other end of scale are tasks too difficult for children to accomplish, even with help
Middle of scale are tasks children cannot accomplish alone
When children receive help from a knowledgeable peer or adult it is called scaffolding. This person provides a structure for the child to learn, such as giving clues or demonstrating.

19. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Emphasizes that there are different kinds of intelligences used by the human brain.
Believes intelligence is the result of complex interactions between children’s heredity and experiences.
Each intelligence functions separately but are linked.

20. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Bodily – kinesthetic
Ability to control one’s own body
Use body to solve problems, handle objects and express emotions
Children benefit from creative-moment experiences and role playing.
Musical – rhythmic
Recognizes musical patterns
Appreciate and create music
Background music helps stimulate thought
Logical
Ability to use reason and logic to solve problems
Ability to explore categories, patterns and other relationships
Benefit from using blocks and storybooks

21. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Verbal – linguistic
Ability to use language for expression
Children learn best by talking, listening, reading and writing
Interpersonal
Communication and social skills
These skills are nurtured in your children when caring behaviors are modeled for them
Intrapersonal
Ability to understand the inner self
Children can best learn this when sharing emotions that all children experience such as joy, sadness and disappointment.
Use storybooks that contain emotional examples

22. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Visual – spatial
Allows people to use their vision to develop mental images
These children need unstructured materials such as building blocks and puzzles
Also use visual aids, charts and labels
Naturalistic
Ability to classify objects in nature such as animals and plants
To build on this, children need to be able to sort and classify items