Early Childhood

(Ages 2 to 6)




This group of children is usually full of energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity. They are in
constant motion as they explore by engrossing themselves in activities that capture their interest.
These years involve children improving their motor skills as well as expanding their vocabulary
and intellectual skills (Berk, 2013; Marotz & Allen, 2013).

Physical Development

1. Height increases 2 to 3 inches a year with the average height being 30 to 40 inches.
2. Gains an average of 3 to 5 pounds per year.

3. Has full set of baby teeth.

4. Can balance on one foot and kick large balls.

5. Can hold a crayon or marker between the first two fingers and thumb.

6. Can walk a straight line and hop on one foot.

7. Can climb ladders and playground equipment.

8. Can build a tower with ten or more blocks.

9. Establishes hand dominance.

10. Shows reasonable control over a pencil or marker.

11. Begins to color within the lines.
Cognitive Development

1. Capable of listening to age appropriate stories and make pertinent comments about the
stories.

2. Spends a significant amount of time looking through books and pretending to read.

3. Can sort on the basis of color, shape, or size and can symbolically use objects in play.

4. Can indicate when words sound same or different and by the end of the year are capable
of naming eighteen to twenty uppercase letters.

5. Asks many questions in relation to why? What? Where? When?

6. Eager to learn new things and can recognize numbers fromone to ten.

Language Development

1. Able to answer simple questions correctly.

2. Uses comprehensible speech most of the time.

3. Talk about objects and people that are not present.

4. Can recite, sing songs and rhyme.

5. Can state the full names of family members and sometimes telephone numbers.

6. Can answer correctly when asked what to do in situations when they are hungry, tired, or
cold.

7. Can identify and name four to eight colors.

Social-Emotional Development

1. Constantly talks to self.

2. Participates in simple games and group activities.

3. Understands turn taking but not always willing.

4. Very friendly.

5. Creates intimate relationships with peers.

6. Follows directions given by teacher or parent most of the time.

Moral Reasoning/Self-Regulation

1. Physical aggression declines.

2. Begins to internalize norms of good conduct.

3. Shows sensitivity to others.

4. Models morally relevant behaviors seen in adults.

5. Responds with compassion in wrong-doings.

6. Able to follow simple rules.

7. Better able at handling frustrations.


Developmental Alerts
Developmental alerts include not being able to understand and follow simple directions, not
playing with other children, not asking questions or maintaining eye contact, inability to identify
simple shapes, inability to hop on one foot, not being able to cut on a line with scissors, and
inability to alternate feet when walking up and down stairs (Marotz & Allen, 2013).
Promoting Development

To promote further development, parents should limit the amount of time spent watching
television to 2 to 3 hours a day and encourage outdoor play since it promotes learning and
lessens the risk of obesity. Research has shown that the learning opportunities electronics
provide are limited. Also, research has taught that children learn by experimenting and
experiencing within interactions with others. Therefore in promoting learning, parents should
make frequent visits to the library, provide puzzles with 5 to 20 pieces, provide counting and
alphabet games, read out loud, and provide materials for coloring, cutting, pasting, and coloring.
Furthermore, parents and caretakers should keep an array of books around the house as sources
of reading material for the young child (Marotz & Allen, 2013).
Social and Cultural Factors
During early childhood homelessness can have a negative impact on development. Homelessness
is defined as living in areas not suitable for habitation. Living arrangements that involve living in
shelters, in abandon buildings, in cars, under bridges, and railroad stations are all considered as
being homeless. Homelessness affects children negatively in that they can experience delays in
developing language, social skills, physical skills, and emotional skills. These children can be
aggressive and destructive. These children can also have very short attention spans which makes
learning difficult. Additionally, divorce negatively impacts emotional development. The effects
of divorce include aggressive misconduct: children outwardly display their hurt over the divorce
by acting out. Common among their actions are disobedience, absenteeismfromschool, and
aggression. The stress of the divorces can prevent children frombeing able to concentrate in
school and thereby affecting academic performance (Turner & Welch, 2012). Cultural influences
include being exposed to two different languages due to parents country of origin. In promoting
language development, it is beneficial for the child when parents endorse the use of both the
home language as well as the language used at school. The use of both languages promotes
further language development as one helps in facilitating the other (Berk, 2013). Failure to
promote language can lead to language delay which will result in poor academic success since
understanding language is key in all academic areas.











References

Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Marotz, L.R. & Allen, K. E. (2013). Developmental profiles: pre-birth through adolescence (7
th

ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Turner, P. & Welch, K. (2012). Parenting in contemporary society (5th ed). Pearson Learning
Solutions. Retrieved fromhttp://online.vitalsource.com