1. Understanding Two- and Three-Year-Olds
Chapter 6
Understanding Two- and Three-Year-Olds

2. Gross-Motor Development
Improved coordination and body control
More control in leg and foot muscles

3. Fine-Motor Development
Finger dexterity and control
Hand preference
Build with blocks

4. Self-Help Skills Two-year-olds can undress themselves dress themselves
drink from a cup without help
eat with a spoon
begin toilet learning

5. Cognitive Development of Two-Year-Olds
The two-year-old’s cognitive development focuses on three main areas:
language comprehension skills
expressive language skills
math readiness skills

6. Language Comprehension Skills
Language comprehension: a person’s understanding of language
Follow directions
Give answers to where questions
Appreciate the difference between soft and heavy
Understand words such as big and tall
Start to understand words related to space

7. Expressive Language Skills
Expressive language: the ability to produce language forms
Speech involving simple sentences
There are two language strategies that are important when you work with two-year-olds.
Feeding-in: you provide the child’s language
Expansion: you expand the child’s language

8. Math Readiness Skills
Math skills are developed as children interact with others and with objects.
Size concepts
Big
Small
Forms and colors
Sort objects by shape and color

9. Social-Emotional Development of Two-Year-Olds
Social development
Play next to each other, but not cooperatively
Tend to be negative
Can be very physical in their responses
Are usually affectionate
Emotional development
Like to control their surroundings
Are afraid of being hurt
Show love and caring

10. Teaching Two-Year-Olds
Working with two-year-olds requires
gentle and firm guidance
flexibility and patience
noise control from time to time
adequate supervision
a dramatic play corner
some routine in their day

11. PART 2
THREE YEAR OLDS

12. Gross-Motor Development
As a result of better coordination, three-year-olds are able to
throw, jump, and hop
catch large balls
ride and steer tricycles
walk heel-to-toe for four steps
balance on one foot for up to eight seconds
hop on one foot up to three times

13. Fine-Motor Development
The fine-motor skills of three-year-olds include
using scissors to cut paper
reproducing simple shapes
manipulating blocks and puzzles

14. Self-Help Skills
Three-year-olds become increasingly self-sufficient. They
turn the water faucet on and off
become better at dressing themselves
are able to use knives during mealtime
have almost full control over toilet routines

15. Cognitive Development of Three-Year-Olds
By the third birthday, the ability to think matures, improving
language comprehension skills
expressive language skills
math readiness skills

16. Language Comprehension Skills
Understanding of language continues to grow in three-year-olds.
They begin to understand the pronouns you and they.
Space concepts become clearer.
Toward Up
Top
Next

17. Expressive Language Skills
Children’s ability to produce language continues to increase.
May use more than 900 words
Improve grammar
Understand the difference between past and present tense
Understand possesive nouns
Start to use question words
Talk out loud to themselves

18. Math Readiness Skills
Three-year-olds continue to learn concepts basic to math.
Start to understand the following concepts:
full
less
smaller
empty
Begin to develop counting skills
Distinguish between one and many

19. Brainstorm
Name some activities you can use with three-year-olds that might contribute to the development of their counting skills.

20. Social-Emotional Development of Three-Year-Olds
After the third birthday, children start to learn socially acceptable ways of expressing their feelings.
Social development
Emotional development

21. Social Development Social development during this age involves
using new ways to show concerns for others
applying positive ways to get attention
adjusting to new people more easily
playing with, rather than next to, other children
recognizing gender roles (behaviors that are expected of girls or boys)

22. Emotional Development
Emotional development involves
strong visible emotions
less frustration
less likelihood to become angry when things do not go their way
development of self-concept
Self-concept: the way you see yourself

23. Teaching Three-Year-Olds
When teaching three-year-olds, you have to consider that they
are happy, sociable, agreeable
enjoy playing in groups of two or three
like pretending
are becoming increasingly independent