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Kayte Canning
EDUC 84
December 4, 2015
(Personal photograph)
Two Years and Six Months to Three Years and Six Months
Opening Statement
When a child is between the ages of two and a half to three and a half years,
they are at the end of the toddler stage and the beginning of the Preschool
stage. A key milestone at this age is that the children begin to go to
preschool. For some, this is the first time they are away from their parents
and this can be very difficult. Children react to this time in a variety of ways
and it can have an impact on their development in all areas.
Cognitive Development
At this age, children are in the preoperational stage of Piagets stages of
cognitive development (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 237). This means that they
use symbols to represent the world around them. An example of this is using
number and word symbols to ask for two cookies. They know how many
the number two represents and they know what the word cookie represents.
Also, at this stage of cognitive development, they live with egocentrism. This
means that they have a hard time seeing things from someone elses
perspective and think that everyone sees things the same way they do. The
text book gives the example that a three year old might nod their head when
on the phone. They do not realise that they have to verbally say yes for the
person on the other end of the line to understand (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p.
237).
Emotional Development
A key milestone in a two and a half to three and a half year old is their
development of self-concept. For example, they start talking about their
personal characteristics (Excerpts; p. 40, Emotional 2.1 Self Concept). They
know things about themselves like their hair colour, their likes and dislikes,
etc. Also, they begin to develop their self-esteem. They judge themselves as
worthy or unworthy (Excerpts; p. 40, Emotional 2.3). Children this age can
often be seen standing up for themselves or explaining that they are good at
something because of their developing (and sometimes inflated) self-esteem.
Physical Development
Childrens gross motor skills continue to develop rapidly. An example of this
is that their coordination, speed and endurance increase (Excerpts; p. 52,
Physical 5.1 Gross Motor Skills). This allows them to play running game such
as tag for longer and with more skill. Another specific milestone in physical
development is the growth of the brain. The brain has achieved 80 percent
of its mature weight by age 3 (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 214). A third aspect of
physical development that advances at this age is throwing. They cannot
quite throw like an adult at this age but can likely throw and catch a ball that
is bounced between them and their partner (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 219).
Communication (language and literacy) Development
At this age, children tend to have a decent vocabulary and are in the process
of learning how to phrase those words properly to make correct sentences. In
Children: A Chronological Approach, they give the example that a child will
say Doggie go, and the proper way to correct this would be for a parent to
say Yes, the doggie went home. (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 258). This will
allow the child to learn how to be grammatically correct, without becoming
discouraged. Childrens ability to engage in conversation also improves at
this time. By 3 years, children are more adapt adept at continuing
conversations by making remarks that relate to the topic being discussed
(Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 261). Finally, they begin to use gestures to
communicate (Excerpts; p. 42, Communication 3.1 Using Verbal and Non-
Verbal Communication).
Social Development
The way that children address play continues to change during this stage of
development. Play often involves a great deal of conflicts and children at this
age will often try to overcome these conflicts with violence/aggression.
Specific examples of these behaviours would be kicking, hitting, pushing, etc.
(Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 297). Their play is usually co-operative play and
often involves groups of one gender or the other. (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p.
297). Typically, although not always, girls will play dress up or dolls, etc.
while boys play with cars, and more games that involve violence. Children
respond to social situations differently, but it is common at this age for
children to be hesitant before engaging in new activities, which occurs as a
result of encouragement.
Closing Statement
Something I would do to encourage development as an early childhood
educator working with this age of children would be to introduce team
games. This could be something like monkey in the middle. This type of
game would influence their throwing and catching abilities (Excerpts; p. 53,
Physical 5.2 Gross Motor Skills). It would also help with the skills of
engaging in give and take when interacting with others because this is a
game that encourages conversation (Excerpts; p. 43, Communication 3.6
Listening to Others). It also encourages co-operating because they will have
to follow the rules even when they are not happy with the outcome
(Excerpts; p. 38, Social 1.6 Co-operating).
Three Years Six Months to Five Years
Opening Statement
When a child is between the age of three and a half and five years, they are
in the preschool/kindergarten age. At this stage of development, a specific,
significant event is learning to read. At this age children often read their first
book and learn how to sound out words and make sense of them when
reading. They do this by learning the sounds of the alphabet and putting
them together slowly to sound out words. It also makes it easier if they have
pictures to refer to.
Cognitive Development
One skill developed in the kindergarten years is the ability to classify. The
children become better at comparing, matching and sorting according to
common properties (Excerpts; p. 48, Cognition 4.10 Classifying). An
example of when children put this ability to use is when they put things away
in the right place, such as pencils, crayons, markers, and glue. Another
cognitive skill that is significant to this age range is reasoning logically.
Identifying actions and outcomes (Excerpts; p. 48, Cognition 4.9 Reasoning
Logically). An example of this is when children acknowledge that their
behaviour affects the outcome; if they are well behaved, their parents will be
more pleased with them. In addition, the childs math skills improve. By
kindergarten, children have mastered counting, and they use this skill as the
starting point for learning how to add (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 362). The text
proceeds to give the example of if a teacher gives them a question of how
many oranges John has if he originally has four and is given two more. They
will typically solve this problem by counting.
Emotional Development
A childs self-control continues to advance during this age. Some
preschoolers are better than others at self-control, but in general it continues
to improve as they get older (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 302). An example of this
is that most of the time parents would have to put cookies out of reach so
their toddler doesnt eat them, but once a child is this age, they can often
exercise self-control and not eat the cookies just because they know they are
not supposed to. Positive attitudes towards learning are another aspect of
development that shines through at this age. The ELECT document explains
that they persevere when challenged, they cope with failure, and they ask
for help when needed (Excerpts; p. 41, Emotional 2.6 Positive Attitudes
towards Learning). An example of this is that they will keep trying if they
cant figure out a puzzle, but will recognize and accept help when they need
it.
Physical Development
The brain continues to grow during this period. As mentioned above, by age
three children have developed eighty percent of the brains mature weight.
However, by age five ninety percent of the brains mature weight has been
achieved (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 214). Also, synaptic pruning occurs during
the preschool years. This means that unnecessary synapses are eliminated
to allow for the brain to function more efficiently (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p.
215). To continue in the physical domain, sleep is evolved in these years.
Many preschool children have nightmares and some even have night terrors.
This means that they wake up in a panic and experience heavy breathing
and sweating (Kail & Zolner, 2012). Another skill that is expanded is riding
toys, which falls under gross motor development. A lot of preschool children
can ride tricycles (Excerpts; p. 53, Physical 5.2 Gross Motor Skills) but by the
end of this age group, most can ride a two-wheeled bicycle.
Communication (language and literacy) Development
At this age a new form of communication is introduced: writing. This skill is
developed by gradually moving from scribbling to drawing to writing
(Excerpts; p. 45, Communication 3.12 Understanding of Orientation and
Familiar Conventions of Print). An example of when this is often used is
captioning pictures they have drawn. They can draw a picture of their family
and caption it This is my mom and Dad and Me walking, for example. This
helps them to communicate because people will actually know what their
picture is supposed to be. Another communication skill developed at this
time is retelling stories. They are developing the ability to make connections
to, create, and retell stories (Excerpts; p. 44 Communication 3.9). This
enables them to explain something that they did or that they are going to do
in the form of a story. Another example of language development is that
children become able to talk differently when directing their speech towards
different audiences. The text gives the example of how a four year old
explains a toy to an adult differs from the way she explains it to a two year
old. She knows she has to speak much more simply and use the toddlers
name frequently to keep her attention (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 260).
Social Development
At this age, development of the signs of social anxiety can occur. Most
children do engage in a mixture of co-operative and solitary play. Sometimes
the environment encourages solitary play. In moderation, solitary play is
nothing to worry about. However, if a child spends their time aimlessly
wandering, watching instead of engaging in play, this can be a sign of social
anxiety (Kail & Zolner, 2012, p. 299). The preschooler develops skills to
engage in group play. They start by observing the play. They ask if they can
play or offer ideas to help improve play. Then finally, they join in and engage
in the play (Excerpts; p. 37, Social 1.3 Peer Group Entry Skills). Another
aspect of social development that is significant at this time is their helping
skills. Children often become very interested in helping others at this age.
They have the ability to recognize how other people are feeling and offer
comfort. They also can see when someone needs help and take advantage of
the opportunity to offer assistance (Excerpts; p. 37 Social 1.4 Helping Skills).
Closing Statement
As an early childhood educator in a preschool or kindergarten environment, I
would support childrens learning by encouraging children to play together
and supporting them so that they are more comfortable meeting new
friends. This would help their social skills (Excerpts; p. 38, Social 1.6 Co-
operating). It will also foster cognitive skills if they ask for clarification on
why someone else is behaving the way that they are (Excerpts; p. 47,
Cognition 4.4 Questioning). In addition, it would support their communication
skills (Excerpts; p. 43, Communication 3.6 Listening to Others).
References
Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning (2014) Excerpts from ELECT.