EARLY CHILDHOOD

DEVELOPMENT
Physical
Body Proportion: By age
8, the head consists of
1/8 body mass;
adulthood is 1/10
Movement: Movement
becomes more adult like;
children can accomplish
all the same tasks as an
adult
Cognitive
Scaffolding: Emergent
learning allows for skills
to build on one another
Concrete Thought: Can
follow step-by-step,
complex thoughts
Language
Metacognition: Develop
and ability to analyze
ones own thoughts
Empathy: Older children
develop an ability to
focus on others thoughts,
feelings, and motivations.
Social-Emotional
Industry vs Inferiority:
Children explore and
figure out how things
work and acquire
intellectual
skills.(Windell 2012).
Self-Regulation: Develop
self-control strategies
such as self-distraction or
self-instruction.
During the middle childhood
stage, social development is at
its height as children begin to
discover their sense of
character, their likes and
dislikes, as well as a sense of
what their future may hold.
Public school systems can be
encouraging for cognitive,
physical, and social
development; parents can help
promote healthy development
by encouraging independence
and social discovery

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Beginning near middle
childhood, children can be
observed and diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder, a
developmental disability that
effects cognitive, physical, and
social development. Autism is
highly genetic; markers for
autism include little to no
language development,
obsessive compulsive disorder,
and physical behavior
stereotypes such as hand
flapping or slapping.

Early Childhood Development
Peer Reinforcement: What friends enjoy as well as reward versus
what peers reject affects the behavior patterns of children.