Young Child

Cognitive:

A great overview of child cognitive development:

Piaget:
Your child is now in the second first stage of Piaget's cognitive development. This is called the pre-operational stage.

• Stage lasts from 2-7 years old
• During this time stable concepts form, mental reasoning emerges, ego-centrism begins, and magical beliefs are constructed
• Thought is flawed and not organized
• This stage involves a transition from primitive to more sophisticated use of symbols
• Children still do not yet think

Symbolic Function Sub stage

• The ability to think symbolically and to represent the world mentally predominates in this sub-stage  
• It occurs roughly between the ages of 2-4
• Symbolic function is demonstrated by the child’s ability to mentally represent an object not present  

Children in this stage are also very egocentric. This means that they are unable to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective. (It's all about them) They also tend to believe that inanimate objects have “lifelike” qualities and are capable of actions (Animism: A child may believe that a tree pushes its leaves off in the fall)

Vygotsky	Piaget
-Private speech is important - Most tasks are to difficult to master alone - Young children use private and social speech	-Private speech is egocentric -Mental reasoning -magical beliefs -Using hands -Kids ask questions about everything -Kids say/believe things without rational reasoning

Language Development:

• Young children's understanding sometimes gets ahead of their speech
• Many of the oddities of young children's language sound like mistakes to adult listeners but from the children's per

Morphology:

• As children move beyond two word utterances, they know morphology rules
• The begin using plurals and nouns
• Put appropriate endings on words

Semantics:

• As children move beyond the two-word stage, their knowledge of meanings rapidly advances
• The speaking vocabulary of a 6-year old ranges from 8000-14,000

How to ensure proper development:

Help your child develop by encouraging language development and cognitive thinking. Allow them to try and problem solve as much as possible, then assist them. Correct them while they are learning how to express their thoughts and feelings. Remeber that their minds are working better and faster than their speech. Their speech might not make since so try to guide them in the right direction. Read books together instead of watching TV or playing on an iPad.                            
                              

                              

Physical:

Growth:
- Growth quickly then slows down to eventually stop
- Body fat declines 
- Girls are slightly smaller and have more body fat
- Boys have more muscle tissue

Gross motor skills:
-At 3, children can do simple movements, hopping, jumping, they are proud of it
-At 4, children become more adventurous- taking on jungle gyms, still proud
-At 5, Children perform stunts and anything they can climb on, racing each other

Fine Motor Skills:

-At 3, Clumsy at picking up very small objects between their forefinger, build high blocks but they fall down cause they aren’t in a straight line

-At 4 , their coordination has improved become more precise

-At 5, children are no longer interested in building towers, but rather horses, churches, and buildings

Energy:

-What children eat affects their skeletal growth, body shape and susceptibility to disease

-An average preschool child requires 1700 calories per day

-Differences in physical activity, metabolism, and the efficiency with which children use energy are why kids the same sex, and size vary in their energy needs

Eating Behavior

-Children's habits become ingrained very early in life; eating habits during the preschool years will establish later eating habits

-Try to avoid eating on the run and allow for more sit down family meals

Wellness in Canada:

- Childhood immunization is still necessary to prevent many childhood diseases such as chicken pox

- Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 9

How to ensure proper development:

At this age your child is exploring the world around them. Allow them to play to increase motor skills ability. Try to teach them a healthy lifestyle as an infant and in to young childhood. They will carry these values and beliefs with them into the rest of their lives.

Social Emotional:

At this point your child will be in Erickson's stage of Initiative vs. Quilt. They are going to be entering a wider social world and start to take responsibility. They take ownership over their toys, behaviors and bodies. They start to have a great sense of accomplishment. They are trying to find a sense of purpose.

For Freud, your child will be around the Phallic stage: Oedipus complex for boys and the Electra complex for girls occur. They become face to face with realities for their family life and a conscience emerges as they learn some things are taboo.