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Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
Facilitating Early Childhood Education
DEVELOPMENTAL PATTERNS IN
EARLY CHILDHOOD
D evelopment of a human being from a conception to a full grown adult is a
subject that has fascinated people over generations. Not only is this knowledge useful as a tool for understanding self, but also for guiding the development of children.
OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
- list the stages of the human life span;
- outline the various processes of development;
- describe the patterns of growth and development;
- name the common factors influencing development; and
- enumerate the characteristics of the early childhood child.
26.1 STAGES IN THE LIFE SPAN
Human development can be better understood if we focus on its different stages while relating to the entire life span. The human life span can be divided into the following stages:
- Prenatal period – Conception to birth
- Period of the newborn– Birth to one month
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
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Facilitating Early Childhood Education
- Infancy – 1 month to 2 years
- Early childhood – 2 to 6 years
- Middle childhood – 6 to 11 years
- Adolescence – 11/12 to 18/19 years
- Early Adulthood – 18/19 to 40 years
- Middle age – 40 to 60 years
- Old age – 60 and above
26.2 PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT
Development, which essentially means change is the result of the complex interactions between many processes – biological, social and cognitive.
- Biological processes: The changes in appearances are natural. These processes involve physical changes. Our genetic heritage, growth of body organs, acquisition of motor skills, like cycling, driving, writing etc.; hormonal changes such as moustach, gaining weight at puberty; all reflect the role of biological processes in development.
- Cognitive processes: These processes involve changes in thinking, intelligence and language of the child. Perception, attention, forgetting, knowing, understanding, problem solving, reasoning, memorizing, imagining, all reflect cognitive processes.
- Social processes: These processes involve the changes in the child’s relationship with other people, emotions and personality. These are also termed as Psycho-social processes of behavior. The first smile of an infant, the development of attachment between the mother and child, children learning to share, to assert, to take turn, to play with others; all reflect social processes. Love affection, liking-disliking, bellow- feeting all are social processes. Try it yourself: List 10 examples of cognitive, social and biological process in children.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 26.
Match the following:
I II (i) newborn (a) increase in height (ii) adolescence (b) 2 – 6 years (iii) early adulthood (c) 18/19 years – 40 years (iv) early childhood (d) making friends
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
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Facilitating Early Childhood Education
26 .4 FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
(1) Heredity: This means what we get from our ancestors. This determine how tall or heavy we can be. In this way heredity determines our body-built and intellectual capacity, as well as many other physical, mental and psycho-social behavior traits. (2) Prenatal environment: The environment of the pregnancy is an important factor in its later growth. If the mother is getting poor nutrition or is emotionally upset or smokes, drinkes, or takes some medicine or suffers from certain diseases; the growth of the child can be adversely affected. (3) Nutrition: Proper nutrition is essential for the healthy development of a child. A malnourished child’s growth is either stunted or loopsided. (4) Mental Level: Higher intelligence is associated with faster development while lower intelligence is associated with retardation in various aspects of development. Body and brain are associated as said “healthy mind in a healthy body”. (5) Emotional climate of home: If there is a lot of discord/fight at home or the child is not given enough love and attention or there is physical/mental abuse of the child, then the child’s development is adversely affected. The affectionate, tolerant or respectful attitude towards others in the family have a positive impact on children. (6) Health of the child: If the child frequently falls sick, or suffers from some disorder, or is disabled or has disturbed endocrine functioning, his development is likely to suffer. Any inner physiological disorder affects the development. (7) Level of stimulation: The amount of stimulation an environment provides, the opportunities for exploration of environment, opportunities of interaction with other people—all influence the rate of development. Stimulation means anything which compels the person to act. We may say something which keeps a person busy. (8) Socio-economic status: It determines the kind of nutrition, stimulation, facilities and opportunities the child gets and therefore, affect the rate of his development. It also means the social reputation and the financial conditions of the family. (9) Sex: All children follow the same sequence of development. However, certain skills develop faster in girls and vice-versa. Sex is also a factor that sometime decides the potential of the child in some aspects of development.
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
Facilitating Early Childhood Education
INTEXT QUESTIONS 26.
State whether the following statements are True or False:
(1) Development always proceeds at the same rate. True/False
(2) Development is affected only by the environment. True/False
(3) Growth and development mean the same thing. True/False
(4) Development usually follows the same sequence. True/False
(5) Health of a pregnant woman will affect the development of her child. True/False
(6) Marital discord can affect the development of the child. True/False
(7) The more the child is allowed to explore the environment, the slower the development. True/False
(8) Our learning potential is decided by our heredity. True/False
26.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVELOPMENT IN
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Early childhood as stated earlier is the period from 2 to 6 years of age. This period is sometimes referred to as preschool period. In this stage children become more self-sufficient, begin to take care of themselves, acquire language, become a part of the group, become more coordinated, develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letter etc.) and obtain a higher degree of self-control.
(A) Features of Cognitive Development
- Realises that the world exists even if he/she cannot see it (object permanence)
- Unable to see the perspective of other (egocentric)
- Absence of logical thinking
- Believes that all things (living and non-living) possess life and feelings.
- Indulges in fantasy and make-believe play
- Easily confused by surface appearances
- Uneven attention
- Limited memory
- Confused about causal relationships
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
Facilitating Early Childhood Education At 3-4 years: A child
- displays affection towards parent
- pleasure in genital manipulation
- imaginary fears of dark, monsters, injury etc.
At 4-5 years: A child
- experiences feelings of responsibility and guilt
- feels pride in accomplishment
(D) Features of Social Development
At 2 years: A child
- does opposite of what he is told
At 2-3 years: A child
- copies parent’s action
- is dependent, clinging
- is possessive
- enjoys playing alongside a child
At 3-4 years: A child
- learns to share
- has cooperative play with other children
- may enter nursery school
- begins to identify with same ‘sex parent’.
- imaginary friends
- interest in human body
- practises sex role activities
At 4-5 years: A child
- prefers to play with other children
- becomes competitive
- prefers sex appropriate activities.
Note: It must be remembered that these listed activities are just examples of some things that happen. Development has many other expressions and each is related with the other.
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
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INTEXT QUESTIONS 26.
State under which area of development each occurs:
- cooperative play
- guilt
- object permanence
- learning sex roles
- fear of darkness
- imaginary friends
- jumping and hopping
- cutting and pasting
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT
Prenatal Newnate Infancy Early childhood = LIFE SPAN STAGES Middle childhood Adolescence Adulthood Middle adulthood Old age
Biological PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT = Cognitive Social
(i) All development follows orderly sequence
Developmental Patterns in Early Childhood
Notes
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Facilitating Early Childhood Education (iv) (b) (v) (f) (vi) (d) (vii) (a)
26.2 (1) F (2) F (3) F (4) T (5) T (6) T (7) F (8) T 26. (1) Social development (2) Emotional development
(3) Cognitive development (4) Social development (5) Emotional development (6) Social development (7) Physical development (8) Physical development
