i. Behaviorists emphasize the effects of reinforcement and associations on behavior.
ii. Maturationists emphasize the innate limits and skills of each child.
iii. Constructivists emphasize the importance of children's motivation and active restructuring of information.
3. Patterns of Child Development
A) Physical development:
i. Activity is increasingly differentiated and controlled, creating patterns of behaviors that are executed with increased speed.
ii. Cephalocaudal (proceeds from head to tail) and proximodistal (proceeds from inward to outward of body) trends in development result in increasingly mature behavior and physical development.
iii. Environment plays an important role in children's physical development.
iv. Differences in children's physical skills should be reflected in teachers' selection of activities.
a) Children need physical experiences every day, but the experiences must be varied and appropriate for the child's abilities.
b) Children should play outside every day that weather allows.
c) Children should be provided with age-appropriate equipment that encourages movement.
d) Balls should be age appropriate. Younger children need larger and softer balls than older children.
e) Children need both fine and gross motor activities.
B) Social development:
i. Erikson suggests that children progress through developmental stages, acquiring a new personality trait at each stage.
a) Infancy is the stage of trust vs. mistrust, so that caregiver reliability and responsiveness to the child are especially important.
b) Toddlers are in the stage of autonomy vs. shame and doubt, so that independence and individual success are especially important.
c) Preschool is the period of initiative vs. guilt, when children learn to become goal directed and positive effort should be reinforced.
d) Middle childhood is the period of industry vs. inferiority, in which children learn persistence and cooperation. Excessive competition should be minimized.
ii. Self-esteem requires that the child have a concept of him/herself and view him/herself in a positive way.
a) Children's self-concept develops gradually as they differentiate themselves from those around them.
b) Teachers need to incorporate positive experiences and self-evaluation throughout the curriculum. Focusing on the self only promotes self-esteem when the child feels successful.
c) Play becomes increasingly interactive and symbolic with time, and is important in the emotional development of young children because it allows children to experiment with different roles and behaviors (See Chapter 5).
iii. Social skills
a) Social skills are the ability to assess a social situation and react appropriately.
b) Children develop stable social characteristics very early in life, and these rankings are closely associated with adult behavior.
c) Adults seek to develop prosocial behaviors in children (behaviors that help others, such as helping, cooperating and empathizing).
d) Effective social behavior can be promoted by:
(1) Appropriate adult models
(2) Providing opportunities for children to demonstrate pro-social behavior (e.g., good manners)
(3) Drawing attention to other people's feelings
e To change ineffective social behavior, teachers should
(1) Ensure that children have adequate knowledge about social strategies, situational rules, and behavioral norms.
(2) Encourage children to translate social knowledge into appropriate action.
(3) Help children apply their knowledge in diverse settings.
iv. Aggressive tendencies persist over time, but helping children understand the reasons for aggression and alternative strategies can shape behavior. Aggression can be controlled by
a) Creating a safe emotional environment
b) Modeling appropriate conflict resolution strategies, through adult behaviors and through books and stories
c) Helping children to develop self-regulatory skills
d) Encouraging the identification and discussion of anger
e) Communication with parents and families
v. Sex-role identification begins during the toddler period and becomes increasingly rigid during the preschool period.
vi. Classroom activities encouraging social exploration and role taking, such as role-playing and puppets, promote social skills.
C) Emotional development:
i. Children are born with innate temperaments, but different social environments can change temperament.
ii. Although some children will always be more emotionally volatile than others, with development children become less compulsive, impulsive and emotional.
iii. Developing security reduces infants and toddlers' need for routine and preschool children show increasing ability to enjoy surprises, atypical events and humor through middle childhood.
iv. Increasing sense of self ieads to greater sense of pride in success, greater persistence, and greater self-control.
v. Providing opportunities for children to express their emotions will help children recognize and label their feelings.