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Chapter 7: Physical Development and Health in Early
Childhood
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CHAPTER
Chapter 7 highlights research and theory on the development and rate of change in a child’s
brain and, thus, the implications for physical development. These changes within the brain
particularly impact attention span, memory, communication, and executive brain abilities such
as planning, decision making, and self-control. Physical coordination, speed of movement, and
vigor evolve in multiple ways including significant changes in gross and fine motor skills. Risk-
taking, nutritional choices, and play are highlighted as well as types of maltreatment of children
by caretakers.

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE GRID
Chapter Outline Instructor’s Resources Multimedia Resources
7.1 Growth of the Learning Objectives 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 The Science of Early
Body and Brain Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Childhood
Prompt Reflection Activities Development video
Pair and Share: Childhood Recollections (3:57)
Interview on School Curriculum Brain Development of
Writing Exercise: Brain Games Young Children video
Observing the Dynamic Child 7.1: Executive (4:00)
Functions in Preschool Experiences Build Brain
Architecture video
(1:57)
Observing the Dynamic
Child 7.1: Executive
Functions in
Preschool video
(3:30)

7.2 Motor Learning Objectives 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 Early Childhood Gross
Development Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Motor Development
Prompt Reflection Activities video (1:39)
Observing the Dynamic Child 7.2: Motor Early Childhood Fine
Skills Motor Development
Observational Activity: Gender Differences in video (1:36)
Motor Skills Occuptional Therapy for
Writing Exercise: Hand It Over! Kids video (4:31)
The Dynamic Child in the Classroom: Motor Improving Your Child’s
Development in Early Childhood Fine Motor and Gross
Motor Skills video
(3:50)
Handedness in
Preschoolers video
(2:01)
Observing the Dynamic
Child 7.2: Motor Skills

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 video (4:43)
The Dynamic Child in
the Classroom: Motor
Development in Early
Childhood video
(6:34)

7.3 Children’s Learning Objectives 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.11, 7.12 What Are Night
Health and Safety Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Terrors? video (2:12)
Prompt Reflection Activities Thinking Like a
Class Discussion: Raising Healthy Children Preschool Director:
Group Discussion: Children and the Media Healthy Eating video
Observational Activity: The Apple Does Not (1:40)
Fall Far from the Tree An America Disaster:
Interview Professionals About Feeding The Crisis in Flint
Children video (7:47)
Flint: It’s Not Just About
the Water video
(4:30)
7.4 Child Learning Objectives 7.13, 7.14, 7.15 The Impact of Early
Maltreatment and Shared Writing: Preventing Child Adversity on Child
Neglect Maltreatment Development video
Application Assignment: Investigate a (3:54)
Program that Targets Maltreated Children; The Science of Neglect
Maltreatment and Brain Development video (5:58)
Case Study: Child Maltreatment TED MED Talk: How
Guest Speaker: Child Protective Services Childhood Trauma
Worker Affects Health Across
Thinking About the Whole Child: My Virtual a Lifetime video
Child at Ages 3 to 5 Years (Group Activity) (19:00)

INNOVATIVE IDEAS FOR CHAPTER 7

 Bomb in the Brain: Death of Reason—Effects of Childhood Abuse Application Activity

 What Would You Do? Kids on Leashes Video Activity
 Lead-Laced Water in Flint: A Step-by-Step Look at the Makings of a Crisis
 InBrief: The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development
 Your Questions Answered: How to Make Sure Your Tap Water Is Safe
 Thinking About the Whole Child: Observing Preschoolers’ Physical Development

CHAPTER OUTLINE WITH LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Introduction: Young Children at Play
Raising Your Virtual Child: Early Childhood
7.1 Growth of the Body and Brain
Growth of the Body
LO 7.1 Identify factors that influence individual differences in growth rates.
Brain Growth
LO 7.2 Identify which aspects of brain growth are prominent in early childhood.
The Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions

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 LO 7.3 Describe how improvements in brain functioning are thought to contribute
to the development of executive functions in early childhood.
Individual Differences in Executive Functions
LO 7.4 Explain which factors influence development of executive functions.
Observing the Dynamic Child 7.1: Executive Functions in Preschool
7.2 Motor Development
Gross Motor Skills
LO 7.5 Explain how gross motor skills improve during early childhood.
Fine Motor Skills
LO 7.6 Describe how the fine motor skills of drawing and writing develop.
Drawing Pictures
Learning to Write
Handedness
LO 7.7 Explain the development of handedness in the first 5 years.
Observing the Dynamic Child 7.2: Motor Skills
The Dynamic Child in the Classroom: Motor Development in Early Childhood
7.3 Children’s Health and Safety
Sleep Patterns and Disturbances
LO 7.8 Describe the factors associated with sleep disturbances.
Nutrition and Malnutrition
LO 7.9 Explain what factors influence children’s developing food preferences.
Illnesses
LO 7.10 Describe the most common illnesses or diseases affecting children, and
note preventative measures.
Injuries
LO 7.11 Discuss how risks from the most common sources of injuries among
young children can be minimized.
Environmental Risk Factors
LO 7.12 Describe two environmental hazards that pose a risk to young children.
Secondhand Smoke
Lead Exposure
7.4 Child Maltreatment and Neglect
Incidence, Types, and Risk Factors for Maltreatment
LO 7.13 Discuss the risk factors for child maltreatment.
Consequences of Maltreatment
LO 7.14 Explain how the consequences of maltreatment can be viewed as
following a developmental cascade within and across domains of development.
Physical Health and Brain Development
Cognitive Development
Emotional Regulation and Perception
Social Relationships
Prevention of Maltreatment
LO 7.15 Describe two strategies that may help prevent maltreatment.
Shared Writing: Preventing Child Maltreatment
Thinking About the Whole Child: My Virtual Child at Ages 3 to 5 Years (Group Activity)

LESSON PLANS
Module 7.1 Growth of the Body and Brain
Introduction/hook to stimulate students’ interest (5 minutes)

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 Ask students to think about games they played as a child. Did they play alone or with others?
Were the groups the same sex or were they made up of boys and girls? Were they more
likely to climb to the top of the monkey bars or play on the swing set?
 Organizing theme: How children’s physical development influences both body and brain and
how environmental factors impact the rate of this growth and the efficiency of the brain.

LO 7.1 Lecture Notes: Identify factors that influence individual differences in growth rates.
 Inform students that of all the organs, the brain grows most rapidly between the ages of 2 and
5.
 Bodily growth does continue but at a slower pace than in the infant and toddler years, adding
an average of 2 to 3 inches in height and 5 pounds in weight.
 Children begin to lose baby fat and appear taller, slimmer, and more erect.
 The average girl matures faster than the average boy, with girls having greater fine motor
skills.
 The average 5-year-old boy in the United States is 43 inches tall and 40 pounds and the
average girl is 42 ½ inches and 39 pounds.

LO 7.2 Lecture Notes: Identify which aspects of brain growth are prominent in early
childhood.
 Mini-lecture hook: At what age do you believe the brain reaches its adult volume? The human
brain grows to about 80 percent of its adult volume by age 2 and another 10 percent between
2 and 6 years of age (Brown & Jernigan, 2012).
 Synaptogenesis, pruning, and myelination continue to reshape the brain, particularly in
language areas and the prefrontal cortex.
 Gray matter (neuron cell bodies, dendrites, and synapses) grows rapidly in the first two years,
begins to slow in pace, and peaks in late childhood followed by a decline after age 10.
 White matter (myelinated axons) shows rapid increases in infancy followed by a more gradual
increase from age 3 to early adulthood.

Video Link: The Science of Early Childhood Development (3:57)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLiP4b-TPCA
This video from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
(developingchild.harvard.edu) features Center director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., professor at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard
Medical School, addressing basic concepts of early childhood development, established over
decades of neuroscience and behavioral research, that help illustrate why child development—
particularly from birth to 5 years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society.

Video Link: Brain Development of Young Children (4:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFbnU_O9ZEM
The first years of a child’s life set the foundation for his/her future. This video explains how the
brains of young children develop in the first years of life and why this is so crucial to their future.
Children whose bodies and minds are nourished in their early years go on to hold better jobs,
have more stable families, and contribute to our nation’s economic growth.

LO 7.3 Lecture Notes: Describe how improvements in brain functioning are thought to
contribute to the development of executive functions in early childhood.
 One of the fastest-growing areas in early childhood is the prefrontal cortex.
 The prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functions, which are deliberate, conscious
strategies used in goal attainment, decision making, and problem solving.

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 Review Figure 7.3: Executive Functions in Early Childhood and review the specific executive
functions involved that go through rapid change in early childhood: working memory,
inhibition, and shifting. Each of these processes is important for school performance.
 Three-year-olds have a difficult time shifting rules in games but by age 4 they were able to
switch between new rules more readily.

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.1a (5 minutes): Did you see any signs of improvement in executive functions (working
memory, inhibition, and shifting mental states) in your virtual child at ages 3, 4, and 5? (This
may be used as an in-class writing assignment or a group discussion. For best results, prime
students to have answers to these journal prompts ready for class discussion.)

LO 7.4 Lecture Notes: Explain which factors influence development of executive functions.
 Biological factors contribute to the development of executive functions.
 Abnormalities in the development of frontal lobe brain circuits may result in disorders of
genetic or prenatal origin such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, and
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Peterson, Pine, Cohen, & Brook, 2001).
 Environmental factors such as socioeconomic status and culture may also contribute to
differences in executive functions.
 Early results from the Family Life Project reveal a variety of risk factors in working memory,
inhibition, and mental switching at age 3.
 The strongest predictor of executive functioning was cumulative risk, a composite including
factors such as family income, marital status, environmental stress, maternal depression, food
insufficiency, and health problems within the family.
 Parenting quality plays a role: Parents with the highest cumulative risk are more likely to be
low in positive engagement and less likely to provide books and toys.
 Parents help shape executive functions by providing structure and organization.
 Culture may also influence parenting practices, thus impacting the development of executive
functions.
 Executive functions impact school performance, as children need to pay attention, inhibit off-
task behavior, and remember instructions.

Video Link: Experiences Build Brain Architecture (1:57)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNNsN9IJkws
This video is Part 1 of a three-part series entitled “Three Core Concepts in Early Development”
from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University and the National Scientific
Council on the Developing Child. The series depicts how advances in neuroscience, molecular
biology, and genomics now give us a much better understanding of how early experiences are
built into our bodies and brains, for better or for worse. Healthy development in the early years
provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible
citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation.

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.1b (5 minutes): Examine your virtual child’s pre-kindergarten assessment and evaluation (at
age 5). To what extent do you think executive functioning was involved in your child’s outcomes
on this assessment? (This may be used as an in-class writing assignment or a group
discussion. For best results, prime students to have answers to these journal prompts ready for
class discussion.)

Pair and Share: Childhood Recollections (10 minutes total)

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Ask students to discuss the following questions with their seatmates:
1. What specific techniques did your parents use to encourage development of working
memory, inhibition of off-task behaviors, and shifting between tasks?
2. Do you recall any games you played as a young child that may serve to enhance
executive function? If so, what specific games and what aspects of the games do you
believe served to help in executive development functions?
Invite students to share their recollections.

Links to Additional Activities, Demonstrations, and Exercises for this Module

1. Interview on School Curriculum (To be completed outside of class)
Interview a kindergarten teacher or principal at your local elementary school or a lead
teacher at a local daycare center. Inquire as to what aspects of their curriculum and/or
teaching methods help children between ages 2 and 5 develop working memory, inhibition
of off-task behaviors, and mental switching. Ask them to describe specific classroom
activities and/or games played and the learning goals of each.
2. Writing Exercise: Brain Games (Allow at least 15 minutes if completed in class)
This exercise encourages students to think about how their parenting can help or hinder
brain development, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.
Writing Activity Instructions for Students: Imagine you are a parent of a 4-year-old child.
What types of parenting techniques will you use to help your child’s executive function
development? Explain why you will make these particular choices.

Observing the Dynamic Child 7.1: Executive Functions in Preschool

https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/mypsychlab-2015-manis1e_0134410971-
executive_function_in_preschool
Ask each student to pair up with another student. Present students with a worksheet containing
the following questions and ask them to work in pairs. Show Observing the Dynamic Child 7.1:
Executive Functions in Preschool video (3:30). This can be used as an in-class participation
grade. NOTE: Be sure to remove the * before using this as a handout for students!
1. Some of the child’s errors don’t involve immature executive functioning but rather lack of
knowledge of numbers. An example of the latter would be __________.
a. the child’s mistake in calling “3” five
b. the child’s inability to work on her own with numbers larger than five
c. the child’s difficulty in inhibiting counting beyond the current number
d. the child’s difficulty in keeping in mind the overall goal (to count only the correct
number of spindles into each bin)
e. *a and b
f. c and d
2. Which of the following errors seems to involve one or more aspects of executive
functioning?
a. the child’s mistake in calling “3” five
b. the child’s inability to work on her own with numbers larger than five
c. the child’s difficulty in inhibiting counting beyond the current number
d. the child’s difficulty in keeping in mind the overall goal (to count only the correct
number of spindles into each bin)
e. *c and d
f. b and d
3. The teacher supports the child’s efforts. How would you describe these supporting
efforts using the concept of executive functions?
a. The teacher’s support permanently increases the child’s executive functions.

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 b. The teacher effectively serves as the child’s working memory, reminding her of the
overall goal.
c. The teacher supports the functions of planning, inhibiting, and shifting rules (for
example, four involves counting one more spindle than three) when the child’s efforts
fall short.
d. The teacher points out when the child makes an error in identifying a number.
e. *b and c
f. b and d

To encourage additional critical thinking following the Observing the Dynamic Child video,
ask students to address this question:
Turning things on their head, why might it be adaptive for cognitive and motor
development for children to have immature executive functioning? Hint (if some students
are stymied): This means that the child might “play around” with objects, rather than only
doing the procedure demonstrated by the teacher.
One answer is that playing around allows children to discover new and interesting
activities or properties of objects. For example, the child might discover that lifting
several sticks at a time and dropping the appropriate number in a bin is a faster and
more efficient way of filling the bins than moving the sticks one at a time. Or the child
might discover some property of the sticks that is unrelated to the counting activity, such
as that they can be used to make musical rhythms or other sounds.

Module 7.2 Motor Development

Introduction/hook to stimulate students’ interest (5 minutes)
 Organizing theme: How important is recess or play time for young children’s development?
 What sorts of activities beyond recess and play time support the development of motor skills?
 Inform students that we will explore and differentiate between fine and gross motor skills.

LO 7.5 Lecture Notes: Explain how gross motor skills improve during early childhood.
 By age 2 to 2 ½ years, children learn to walk efficiently. Once walking is learned, they begin
to develop fundamental movement skills, which include running, hopping, skipping,
climbing, throwing, catching, and kicking.
 Figure 7.4: Four Stages of Kicking. Share the four stages with students and describe the
behaviors and skills in each stage.
 Formal movement education can teach children fundamental movement skills more rapidly
than traditional physical education or free play programs (Goodway & Branta, 2003).
 Recall from Chapter 4 the discussion of the dynamic systems theory: Motor development
requires knowledge beyond mastery of movement. It requires perception of movement,
relative location of object in motion, balance, and kinesthetic awareness of object relative to
self.
 Practice and motivation are also essential in motor development, such as encouragement
from parents and siblings.

Video Link: Early Childhood Gross Motor Development (1:39)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0697717ZdU
This video demonstrates children between ages 2 and 5 years engaged in various outdoor and
indoor activities such as climbing, sliding, swinging, running, going down stairs, kicking a ball,
hopping on one foot, and playing organized games, all designed to enhance gross motor skills.

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Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.2a (5 minutes): Explain how certain activities your virtual child has engaged in might provide
practice in fundamental movement skills. (This may be used as an in-class writing assignment
or a group discussion. For best results, prime students to have answers to these journal
prompts ready for class discussion.)

LO 7.6 Lecture Notes: Describe how the fine motor skills of drawing and writing develop.
 Between ages 2 ½ and 5, fine motor skills develop as children become skillful and precise
with hand motion via activities such as writing, drawing, fastening buttons, and tying
shoelaces.
 As early as 18 months, children learn to hold a pencil or crayon in a power grip. Practice
determines increased dexterity but by about age 6 they progress to the tripod grip. Refer to
Figure 7.5: Power Versus Tripod Grip.
 By age 4, many children can write their own name and produce legible representations of the
26 letters of the alphabet.
 Children’s ability to draw pictures provides insight into how advances in motor, cognitive, and
socioemotional aspects of development occur simultaneously.
 Review Figure 7.6: Stages in Children’s Drawings. Research reveals ages 3 to 4 is pivotal for
the development of the use of a vocabulary of symbols such as a circle, square, triangle, and
diagonal line (Machón, 2013).
 Children progress through stages of drawing depending on environmental factors such as
availability of drawing materials and cultural influences.
 Evidence suggests that providing correct practice with a pencil beginning at age 2 ½ can lead
to earlier and more accurate letter writing when children begin school (Callaghan & Rankin,
2002).
 Rule and Stewart (2002) found children had an easier time learning to write with a pencil if
they had prior experience with using a paint brush, stringing beads, and scissors.
 Practicing gross and fine motor skills helps the motor and somatosensory regions of the brain
prune down for efficiency and, thus, smoother movements.

Video Link: Early Childhood Fine Motor Development (1:36)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBFcH2UyhQ
This video demonstrates children between ages 2 and 5 years engaged in various activities
such as using a spoon, manipulating puzzles, and using markers, all designed to enhance fine
motor skills.

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.2b (5 minutes): How do you think the development of your virtual child’s fine motor skills
might affect kindergarten/first grade success? (This may be used as an in-class writing
assignment or a group discussion. For best results, prime students to have answers to these
journal prompts ready for class discussion.)

Video Link: Occupational Therapy for Kids (4:31)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37qPEWQMQa4
This video describes the service offered by the Greenwich Children's Occupational Therapy
team in England to children and young people who have difficulties carrying out everyday
activities. Here, students can observe what types of interventions are used when children face
challenges in meeting fine and gross motor skill milestones.

Video Link: Improving Your Child’s Fine Motor and Gross Motor Skills (3:50)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuVkkhpiHTA
This video demonstrates several engaging ways caregivers can work with their child on his or
her fine motor skills and gross motor skills. In this video, physical therapist Kendra
VanWasshenova from the University of Michigan’s Milestones pediatric rehabilitation program
shows us a few activities that can be done with materials most have at home.

LO 7.7 Lecture Notes: Explain the development of handedness in the first 5 years.
 Mini-lecture hook: Ask students to write a short sentence with their dominant hand and then
with their nondominant hand. Then ask how many are left-handed, right-handed, or
ambidextrous. When and how does handedness develop?
 In North America, 88 percent show right-handed preferences and 12 percent left-handed.
 Some cultures with a right-handed bias may have left-handedness as low as 1 to 2 percent,
suggesting an environmental influence on handedness.
 Research reveals handedness is polygenic, or influenced by more than one gene (Francks et
al., 2002; Ocklenburg, Beste, & Güntürkün, 2013).
 Recent research points to a theory of development for handedness that includes bidirectional
interactions of brain development, behavior, and experience (Michel, 2014; Michel et al.,
2013) and hence is an example of a developmental systems theory.
 Eighty-five percent of infants adopt a position in the womb that makes it easier for right arm
movements, which indicates that a tendency toward handedness can begin in the womb.
 Newborns have a preferred head and arm orientation (either right or left) that correlates with
their prenatal orientation (Michel & Goodwin, 1979).
 Some infants may switch hand preference after 6 months of age. Refer to Figure 7.8: The
Development of Hand Preference in Infancy, which indicates hand preferences between 6
and 14 months: 38 percent had a stable right-hand preference; 14 percent a stable left-hand
preference; 48 percent began using either hand but steadily increased preference for right
hand.
 There is brain plasticity for hand preference in the first 2 years of life.
 Social experience influences handedness, with mothers showing unconscious behaviors
indicating bias in movements that stimulate the child’s hand preference.

Video Link: Handedness in Preschoolers (2:01)

https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/mypsychlab-2015-manis1e_0134410971-
handedness_in_preschool
Invite students to take on the role of a researcher. Have them watch the video Handedness in
Preschoolers. Can you tell easily which hand each child prefers? Is there evidence that the
children are actually more skilled with one hand than the other (apart from simply having a
preference)? What uses do the children make of the nondominant hand?

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.2c (5 minutes): Based on small to moderate genetic and shared environmental contributions
to handedness, is your virtual child likely to be left- or right-handed? (This may be used as an in-
class writing assignment or a group discussion. For best results, prime students to have
answers to these journal prompts ready for class discussion.)

Observing the Dynamic Child 7.2: Motor Skills

https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/mypsychlab-2015-manis1e_0134410971-
motor_skills
Ask each student to pair up with another student. Present students with a worksheet containing
the following questions and ask them to work in pairs. Show the Observing the Dynamic Child

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7.2: Motor Skills video (4:43). This can be used as an in-class participation grade. NOTE: Be
sure to remove the * before using this as a handout for students!
1. Which of the following activities in the video seems to provide an excellent opportunity
for fine motor skill practice?
a. Eating snacks
b. Playing outside
c. Yoga/dance class
d. Cleaning up
e. a and c
f. *a and d
2. Which of the following activities in the video seems to provide an excellent opportunity
for gross motor skill practice?
a. eating snacks
b. yoga/dance class
c. drawing/painting
d. playing outside
e. *b and d
f. c and d
3. Watch the portions of the video where children are in yoga/dance class and playing
outside. Which of the following might be considered fundamental movement skills?
a. jumping off a ledge
b. balancing on two feet before jumping off a ledge
c. moving one arm up and down
d. moving the upper body and arms at the same time
e. *b and c
f. a and c

To encourage additional critical thinking following the Observing the Dynamic Child video,
ask students to watch the video again and find two additional examples of fundamental
movement skills and an action in which two or more fundamental movement skills are
coordinated. Share some examples with the class and discuss whether they were correctly
identified or not, and why.

Links to Additional Activities, Demonstrations, and Exercises for this Module

1. Observational Activity: Gender Differences in Motor Skills (To be completed outside
of class)
Visit a local playground, park, or other area where children ages 2 to 5 congregate, such as
a restaurant with an indoor play space. Observe and make notes of the following behaviors:
running, hopping, skipping, climbing, throwing, catching, and kicking. Look for additional
actions that are identified as fine motor skills: drawing, writing, picking up a stick, collecting
rocks, playing with pebbles, playing with cups or shovels—things generally done using the
fingers and hands. Is there any difference in the incidences of these behaviors between
boys and girls? Explain. What specific gross motor activities do you observe? What specific
fine motor skills do you observe? Do you note any differences between a 2-year-old and a
5-year-old in how they approach the same activity? Explain.
2. Writing Exercise: “Hand It Over!” (Allow at least 10 minutes for activity and
discussion)
This exercise encourages students to think about the challenges left-handed children may
face in a right-hand-biased world.
Writing Activity Instructions for Students: Ask students to take out a piece of paper and
write their name, date (day/month/year), and the following sentence: “One fish, two fish,

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 red fish, blue fish” at the top right corner. Then, ask them to use their other hand and
rewrite the same information on the top left corner of the paper. Discuss how it felt to use
the nondominant hand. What challenges did students have performing the task using
their nondominant hand? Ask any left-handed students to describe specific challenges
they face in day-to-day existence that the right-handed majority may take for granted. If
the writing activity was already used as a lecture hook, make this activity about asking
left-handed students to discuss specific experiences and challenges they faced growing
up as a left-hander and functioning on a daily basis in the world as a left-hander. Are
there any students who switched hand dominance or learned a skill with the
nondominant hand after the sensitive period (first 5 years or so)? If so, how difficult was
it to acquire the skill? Good examples include sports skills such as swinging a bat or a
tennis racquet, or musical skills such as playing a stringed instrument or the piano.

The Dynamic Child in the Classroom: Motor Development in Early Childhood

https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/mypsychlab-2016-manis1e_0136049745-
motor_development_in_early_childhood
Overview
The Chapter 7 video (6:34) allows students to make direct comparisons between the gross and
fine motor skills of toddlers and preschoolers at a large Montessori center. Specifically, students
should compare fine motor coordination and the coordination of movement, as well as skills in
running, balancing, and walking. Onscreen questions help guide the students in observing the
children in the video.

Discussion Questions from the Video

1. What similarities and differences do you observe between the toddlers and the
preschoolers in terms of both gross motor and fine motor skills?
The toddlers tend to reach for bubbles with their whole hands. They are not as
secure at standing and walking. The preschoolers use the index finger or two fingers to
try to catch bubbles, and they are able to jump up in the air without losing their balance.
2. What similarities and differences do you notice between toddlers and preschoolers in
fine motor coordination as they eat?
The toddlers are able to use their thumb and one or more fingers to grasp food, and
can hold food in two hands, just as the preschoolers do. The preschoolers are able to
drink from open glasses (rather than sippy cups), though they use two hands to do so.
The preschoolers are also able to use utensils to eat from bowls rather than only eating
with their hands.
3. What differences do you notice in the movements of toddlers and preschoolers?
The toddlers’ movements are slower, less forceful, and do not extend over as great a
distance (as in moving the arms up and down or to the side). Most of them cannot
imitate the adult actions very accurately. They are also less flexible in terms of spreading
their legs and bending side to side, and have less developed balance in movements of
the arms and torso.
4. Do you notice any differences in balancing, walking, or running?
Toddlers use the bars to walk up and down a ramp in order to maintain balance.
They are able to walk and hold objects and to slide. One toddler is able to run in a
shuffling gait. Preschoolers run faster, picking up their knees and kicking their legs back.
Preschoolers are able to climb up and balance on a low wall and jump down without
falling. Preschoolers are able to hop two-legged.

Module 7.3 Children’s Health and Safety

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Introduction/hook to stimulate students’ interest (5 minutes)
 Organizing theme: At what age do you first remember learning about healthy behaviors?
 Are children born with the innate ability to discern between healthy food choices and
unhealthy food choices? Do children know how to self-regulate their sleep time?

LO 7.8 Lecture Notes: Describe the factors associated with sleep disturbances.
 Toddlers ages 1 to 2 tend to sleep about 12 to 14 hours a day with one nap of 1 to 3 hours,
whereas 3- to 5-year-olds sleep less (Hoban, 2004; National Sleep Foundation, 2011).
 Sleep difficulties begin to appear between 2 and 5 years of age and as noted in Figure 7.9:
National Sleep Foundation Survey Results, the most common is stalling before bedtime.
 One way to address sleep disturbances is to adhere to a regular bedtime routine including
reading a story, listening to music, taking a soft toy to bed, or turning on a night-light.
 Nightmares and sleep terrors appear to have genetic and environmental origins.
 Children with frequent nightmares tend to show an anxious or fussy temperament at 17
months and had more conflict with parents during the day.
 In one longitudinal study, sleep terrors occurred in about 20 percent of children and seem to
have both a strong genetic component and level of daily stress influence.

Video Link: What Are Night Terrors? (2:12)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GLVWTU3P-c
Dr. Haviva Veler, director of the Pediatric Sleep Center at Weill Cornell, discusses the
symptoms of night terrors, how parents can help their child with night terrors, and when to seek
help from an expert.

LO 7.9 Lecture Notes: Explain what factors influence children’s developing food preferences.
 Between 2 and 5 years of age, children exercise more choice over food options than in
infancy and prefer foods high in sugar, salt, protein, and fat. Is this environmentally inspired or
evolutionary in nature?
 About 9 percent of children ages 2 to 5 were obese in 2011–2012 (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, &
Flegal, 2014).
 How can parents teach children to make healthy food choices? Effective methods include
offering children the same food repeatedly. Children tend to prefer what they are exposed to
most often. Ask students if they have experienced this with an initially unfamiliar food within
the past few years.
 Another effective technique involves offering healthy foods in pleasant surroundings.
 Less than 1 percent of children in the United States are malnourished.
 Some children may experience food insecurity, irregular servings of nutritious food needed
to provide for normal activity and health, with the rate of food insecurity in the United States
estimated at 10 percent in 2013.
 Not getting consistent healthy foods is associated with poorer health and school achievement
and increased risk of obesity.

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.3a (5 minutes): How might the research on children’s food preferences influence your
approach to your virtual child’s meals? (This may be used as an in-class writing assignment or a
group discussion. For best results, prime students to have answers to these journal prompts
ready for class discussion.)

Video Activity: Thinking Like a Preschool Director: Healthy Eating (5 minutes)

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https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/mypsychlab-2015-manis1e_0134410971-
healthy_eating_2
Watch the video Thinking Like a Preschool Director: Healthy Eating (1:40). Recall the video
interview of the nutritionist in Chapter 2 of the PowerPoint presentation. Ask students if they can
identify any similarities between the preschool director’s approach at school and the
nutritionist’s advice for healthy eating at home.

LO 7.10 Lecture Notes: Describe the most common illnesses or diseases affecting children,
and note preventative measures.
 Health recommendations for young children include regular medical checkups, continued
immunizations, and beginning self-care with the teeth.
 Regular medical checkups require access to affordable medical care. Approximately 3
percent of children in the United States have no usual source of medical care (Martinez &
Cohen, 2015).
 Children experience an average of seven to 10 colds per year, with higher rates in children
attending child care centers or preschool. Middle ear infections result in more complications
and may create temporary problems with hearing.
 Although few children die of infectious diseases in the United States, worldwide the most
frequent killer of infants are preterm birth and asphyxia, while pneumonia and diarrhea kill
young children most often, followed by malaria and other infections.

Class Discussion: Raising Healthy Children (5–10 minutes)

Although access to medical care is important at all ages, why would it be especially important
for a society to make medical care accessible for young children? Note: Students may have
different political views of the Affordable Care Act given the many years of controversy over
“Obamacare.” There is more than one way for societies to provide near-universal care for young
children. Try to get them to think outside the box and take the point of view of a society wanting
to raise healthy children, or not to be encumbered with excessive numbers of sick individuals
when the disease or illness was preventable or more treatable early in development.

LO 7.11 Lecture Notes: Discuss how risks from the most common sources of injuries among
young children can be minimized.
 In the United States and other industrialized countries, accidents are the most common
source of injuries or death among children 11 years and younger, and occur more often in
children under age 5.
 Fatal injuries are rare and most commonly involve accidents followed by birth defects and
homicide at ages 1 to 4.
 Looking at Figure 7.10, students can review the most common Reasons for Emergency Room
Visits, 2009–2010, for children ages 1 to 4 and 5 to 14. What is the most common reason for
emergency room visits for children between 1 and 4 years of age?
 Boys are more likely than girls to be injured or killed (Safe Kids, 2008). Why?
 Young children may have underdeveloped ability to control attention and inhibit undesirable
actions.
 Children with ADD or hyperactivity are more likely to have physical accidents than other
children (Schwebel et al., 2004).
 Parental instruction in safety rules and parental oversight in the home help reduce rates of
injuries and accidental death.
 Low compliance with parental rules and lack of direct parental supervision are strong
predictors of injury rates in 4- to 6-year-olds (Morrongiello, Midgett, & Shields, 2001).

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 Injury and fatality rates are highest among American Indian/Alaska Native and African
American children and lowest among Asian/Pacific Islanders, with white and Hispanic children
falling in between (Safe Kids, 2008).

Integrating the Information: Thinking About Your Virtual Child: Journal Prompt
7.3b (5 minutes): Based on the risk factors described above, is your virtual child at high,
medium, or low risk for a physical injury, and how does this change with age? (This may be
used as an in-class writing assignment or a group discussion. For best results, prime students
to have answers to these journal prompts ready for class discussion.)

Group Discussion: Children and the Media (10 minutes)

Break into groups of three or four students. Discuss the types of television programs, movies,
and video games frequently viewed by young children. Ask students to discuss whether those
media sources may influence risky behavior in young children. Is it possible for young children
to want to copy the actions of their favorite television or movie characters? In other words, does
exposure to images of risky behavior cause risky behavior? Why, or why not?

LO 7.12 Lecture Notes: Describe two environmental hazards that pose a risk to young
children.
 Children may be more vulnerable to the dangers of environmental hazards than adults
because they lack knowledge about how to identify and avoid such dangers.
 Estimates suggest 9 percent of young children are exposed to significant levels of
secondhand smoke (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2013).
 Children exposed to secondhand smoke have increased incidence of infections in the lower
respiratory tract, bronchitis, pneumonia, middle ear disease, sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS), and respiratory symptoms.
 Small amounts of lead in the bloodstream are associated in young children with nervous
system damage; deficits on IQ, memory, and problem-solving tests; and attentional and
behavioral difficulties that can persist into adulthood.
 Lead appears to cause permanent harm in the brain and is compounded by poverty and poor
diet.
 About 3 percent of American children as a whole and 6 percent of African American children
had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood in surveys conducted in 2007 and 2010
(Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2013).

Video Link: An American Disaster: The Crisis in Flint (7:47)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm8Dh133wY8
NBC News’s Stephanie Gosk reports on how lead poisoning has taken a catastrophic toll on
Flint, Michigan’s children. Plus: Rachel Maddow and panel discuss the dearth of resources in
Flint for the city’s children, and how to solve that problem.

Video Link: Flint: It’s Not Just About the Water (4:30)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/06/us/flint-problems-unemployment-poverty-crime/index.html
CNN reports on the chronic, underlying factors contributing to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Discuss how poverty, unemployment, and crime impact communities such as Flint.

Links to Additional Activities, Demonstrations, and Exercises for this Module

1. Observational Activity: The Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Tree (To be completed
outside of class)

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 This activity is designed to help highlight the level of nutritional guidance provided by
parents. Children often indicate preferences by throwing a tantrum if they don’t get what
they want—and parents often give in. It can be challenging for parents to encourage
children to select healthy food. However, sometimes children follow the unhealthy choices
demonstrated by their parents.
Writing Activity Instructions for Students: Visit a local restaurant where you can observe
families of preschool-age children. You might wish to purchase a food item so that you
can comfortably sit near a family in order to observe more directly. (A mall food court is
an excellent environment in which to observe multiple families and a wide variety of food
choices.) Select at least three families. Note the approximate age and gender of the
family members. Make notations of the following as accurately as possible: What parent
is accompanying the child? Does the parent select the food for the child or is the child
allowed to select? If the child is given the option to select, is it from the whole menu or
does the parent provide a choice from a list of pre-determined options? Do the child and
parent or other family members appear to be within a normal weight range? (This may
be difficult to discern since weights may vary between children of the same age.)
Note any conflict you see between parent and child. Is the child eating all of the food
or is s/he picking only certain food items? Does the parent allow the child to get dessert
before finishing the entrée or does the child get dessert only if the entrée is finished?
What other details did you notice in your observations? Be as concrete and descriptive
as possible with your observations.
2. Interview Professionals About Feeding Children (To be completed outside of class)
Schools and child care facilities provide a great source of real-world information. Interview
the supervisor of cafeteria foods or the meal preparation specialist at your local school or
child care center. The focus of this interview is to identify and record the types of processes
that go into the planning, preparation, and service of snacks and meals for children during
the school and/or child care day. Who plans the menu? Is it monthly or weekly? What sorts
of regulations guide the menu items? How much fresh food is offered compared to prepared
foods such as pizza? What do food specialists do to encourage children to make healthy
choices?
Writing Activity Instructions for Students: Students will interview one school food
specialist and one child care specialist, both working primarily with children ages 2 to 5
years.
Students are required to write a four- to five-page paper summarizing their findings
and integrating course concepts that serve to highlight their findings.
Most professionals will agree to a brief interview (15 to 30 minutes), either on the
phone or in person. Be sure to arrange a suitable meeting time with your interviewee.
Instructors may need to inform the students on how to conduct an effective interview.
Students should be prepared with a basic list of questions, centered on the topic of
emotional competence, to guide the interview (prepare five to 10 questions in advance).
Students will need to decide on a recording mechanism, typically a written accounting of
questions and responses. However, if using a voice recorder, students should be
instructed to get permission from the interviewee before making a voice recording.
Students should be instructed to conclude the interviews by thanking the professionals
for their time and insightful expertise. Instructors should encourage students to send
written thank-you notes to the professionals after conducting the interviews.
Students will then write a four- to five-page paper summarizing the interview results,
including the questions asked, and elaborating on how the professional responses
corroborated or conflicted with concepts learned in class. Instructors should provide
expectations of paper formatting, font, cover page, and reference page.

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Module 7.4 Child Maltreatment and Neglect
Introduction/hook to stimulate students’ interest (5 minutes)
 Organizing theme: How do you interpret the following biblical proverb?: “Spare the rod, spoil
the child.”
 Students will learn the differences among four types of maltreatment: physical abuse,
emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.

LO 7.13 Lecture Notes: Discuss the risk factors for child maltreatment.
 Maltreatment consists of physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and
neglect that result in death, serious physical or emotional harm, or sexual abuse or
exploitation or create an imminent risk of serious harm (Cicchetti & Toth, 2015).
 Child Protective Services (CPS) data reported in 2011 showed that 10 per 1,000 children
under 18 years of age were maltreated (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family
Statistics, 2013).
 In the CPS data, parents were the source of maltreatment more than 80 percent of the time.
 Maltreatment was most common among African American, Native American, and multiracial
children and least common among Asian Americans.
 Maltreatment occurs equally often for boys and girls and is most common among children
under 4 years of age.
 Review Table 7.1 Types of Maltreatment and Relative Frequency in 2011 for definitions and
frequency of each type of maltreatment.
 Neglect was the most common category of maltreatment followed by physical abuse, sexual
abuse, and emotional abuse.
 Risk factors for physical abuse: living in conditions of poverty; single parenthood; a lack of
social support; social isolation; history of abuse; history of mental illness or substance abuse.
 Children with disabilities are twice as likely to be abused as children without disabilities
(Sedlak et al., 2010).
 Rising stress levels combined with lack of parenting skills present the fuel for abuse.
 Neglect is more likely to occur with high stress levels; drug and alcohol abuse is often
involved.
 Emotional abuse is more difficult to study.
 Sexual abuse is uncommon prior to age 3 but more common for older children and reaches a
peak between ages 12 and 15.
 Sexual abusers are socially isolated, have relationship problems, have low self-esteem, and
may have psychiatric disorders.

LO 7.14 Lecture Notes: Explain how the consequences of maltreatment can be viewed as
following a developmental cascade within and across domains of development.
 The effects of abuse follow a developmental cascade, wherein negative events or behavior
at one age create negative behavior at a subsequent age. Refer to Figure 7.11: A
Developmental Cascade.
 Physical and emotional abuse may alter the course of early brain development by increasing
harmful levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
 MRI scans of maltreated children show evidence of reduced cerebral volume, larger
ventricles, and smaller corpus callosum.
 Children who have a history of physical abuse have deficits in language, IQ, and academic
achievement (Wekerle & Wolfe, 2003; Wekerle et al., 2014).
 Maltreated children develop atypical responses to emotional distress in other people.

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 Maltreated children have a low threshold for detection of anger but may misinterpret a
person’s emotional state or overreact to perceived threats that are not there.
 Seventy to 95 percent of maltreated infants have been found to have insecure or disorganized
attachments and may have poor emotional regulation, may act aggressively, or may withdraw
from social interactions with peers (Bolger & Patterson, 2001; Cicchetti & Toth, 2005).

Video Link: The Impact of Early Adversity on Child Development (3:54)

https://youtu.be/chhQc0HShCo?list=PLuKMerO1zya_3krFpcOKgaeB2_2zQgYua
This video outlines basic concepts from the research on the biology of stress that show that
major adversity can weaken developing brain architecture and permanently set the body’s
stress response system on high alert. Science also shows that providing stable, responsive
environments for children in the earliest years of life can prevent or reverse these conditions,
with lifelong consequences for learning, behavior, and health.

Video Link: The Science of Neglect (5:58)

https://youtu.be/bF3j5UVCSCA
Extensive biological and developmental research shows significant neglect—the ongoing
disruption or significant absence of caregiver responsiveness—can cause more lasting harm to
a young child’s development than overt physical abuse, including subsequent cognitive delays,
impairments in executive functioning, and disruptions of the body’s stress response. This video
explains why significant deprivation is so harmful in the earliest years of life and why effective
interventions are likely to pay significant dividends in better long-term outcomes in learning,
health, and parenting of the next generation.

LO 7.15 Lecture Notes: Describe two strategies that may help prevent maltreatment.
 Two strategies to help prevent maltreatment include minimizing stress and improving mother–
child attachment relationships.
 Minimizing stress includes assisting at-risk families to manage their daily lives and child care.
 As illustrated in Figure 7.13: Results of Intervention Study, by Group, interventions that can
improve attachment relationships between mothers and maltreated children include
attachment building and psychoeducational interventions.

Shared Writing: Preventing Child Maltreatment

The following is the Shared Writing activity within REVEL. It can be assigned within REVEL,
with the guideline of writing a minimum of 140 characters, or as a longer in-class writing activity.
The two child maltreatment prevention studies discussed at the end of this chapter focused
on altering behavior within the family microsystem, but other ecological systems beyond the
family are relevant. Describe one strategy that social policy makers might follow to reduce
the number of potential child maltreatment victims. How would you know that the strategy
was working?

Links to Additional Activities, Demonstrations, and Exercises for this Module

1. Video Link: TED MED Talk: How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime
(19:00)
https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_acr
oss_a_lifetime?language=en
This TED MED talk covers the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) and research
on the developing brain. In the video, Dr. Burke Harris discusses the way that history of
trauma may be implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Due to the length of this video, it should be assigned to be

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 viewed outside of class. This may be used as an in-class discussion starter or written
assignment.
2. Application Assignment: Investigate a Program that Targets Maltreated Children
Have students research a program that directly targets maltreated children. Possible
programs include Child Protective Services, Family Preservation Services, and other case
management services. You may also have local programs for students to research. Have
students compile their findings into a short (two- to three-page) paper or present findings to
the class through presentation or discussion.
3. Guest Speaker: Child Protective Services Worker
Invite a Child Protective Services worker to speak in your class. If your institution has a
social work program, you may also ask a social work faculty member to discuss work with
maltreated children and families. Ask the guest speaker to discuss the impact maltreatment
appears to have on the developing brain. Direct students to come prepared with at least two
questions for the speaker.
4. Application Assignment: Maltreatment and Brain Development
Have students read the following document:
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/brain_development.pdf. After reading the document,
have students summarize the impact of child maltreatment on the developing brain. Then,
direct students to come up with specific, research-supported recommendations to prevent
child maltreatment. Ask students to compile their program in a short (three- to four-page)
paper. You may also ask students to present their specific recommendations to the class.
5. Case Study: Child Maltreatment
An Internet search with the terms “child maltreatment case study” will return many results.
Ask students to choose one case study found online and link the experience of child
maltreatment with brain development. Have them compile their findings in a short (two- to
three-page) paper or ask them to present their findings to the class.

Thinking About the Whole Child:

My Virtual Child at Ages 3 to 5 Years (Group Activity)
Break up into small groups in class, meet with a classmate or two outside class, or engage in an
online discussion. The goal is to compare your virtual child experiences and reflect on the
variations in your children’s developmental pathways. The following questions are suggestions
to get you started in your discussion of your children.
1. How well is your child developing in terms of gross motor and fine motor development?
Compare your child’s development to that of others’ children. (The assessments given to
your child at the end of ages 3 and 4 will help you answer this question.)
2. What evidence can you find in the program of your child’s use of executive functions
(which include working memory, inhibition of responses or thoughts, and shifting
between mental states, rules, or tasks)? Look broadly at your child’s cognitive, social,
emotional, and behavioral development for examples.
3. How have people in your discussion group chosen activities that suited their children’s
developmental level but also challenged them to extend their gross and fine motor skills
as well as executive functioning?

INNOVATIVE IDEAS FOR CHAPTER 7

Application Activity: Bomb in the Brain: Death of Reason—Effects of Childhood
Abuse
This activity is designed to engage students in the application of course concepts. Ask students
to watch The Bomb in the Brain Part 4—The Death of Reason—The Effects of Child Abuse
(33:22) on the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse site,

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http://www.naasca.org/2012-Articles/031212-BombInTheBrain.htm. Ask students to research
two of the organizations listed under the Recovery tab created to help in the treatment and
recovery of child abuse victimization.

Video Activity: What Would You Do? Kids on Leashes (20 minutes; video 3:21)
A mother uses harnesses to control her children’s behaviors. When she ties her child to a
parking meter outside a store while she goes in, trouble ensues. In a second scenario, the
caretaker is a nanny with four children in harnesses. Will onlookers intervene? View the episode
of What Would You Do? at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVDzRPZbHTk. Instruct
students to write a one-page response paper explaining what they would do as both an
observer of this situation and as a parent in a similar situation. What might a child psychologist
say about the resulting outcomes of a child kept in control using a leash? Explain your answer.

Lead-Laced Water in Flint: A Step-by-Step Look at the Makings of a Crisis

Part I: Review the following article on the evolution of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-
by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis. Ask students to write a two-page executive summary
outlining the most salient points presented in the article.
Part II: Review the results of an eight-month investigation, led by Michigan’s state Attorney
General Bill Schuette, in a video (1:40) and article at http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/us/flint-
water-crisis-charges/.
Ask students to add to their summary the findings of the investigation and their response to
those findings. Were they surprised to hear of the alleged cover-up by state officials? What
might explain the motivation for the cover-up—why would state officials hide critical documents
and mislead the public about the water crisis? How might these types of egregious actions be
prevented in the future?

InBrief: The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development (Harvard

University’s Center on the Developing Child)
Review the following video (3:53): http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-
impact-of-early-adversity-on-childrens-development-video/ or ask students to refer to the
following pdf: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/inbrief-adversity-
1.pdf.
Instruct students to answer the following questions:
1. How does early childhood stress impact the developing brain?
2. How does chronic stress influence the stress response, and what are some of the long-
term health risks?
3. What are some effective ways to reduce, prevent, or reverse the impact of adverse
stressors on children?

Your Questions Answered: How To Make Sure Your Tap Water Is Safe
Have students review the following transcript from The Diane Rehm Show:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/2016/02/22/your-questions-answered-how-to-make-sure-your-tap-
water-is-safe. After reading the article, have them outline where they would go to research their
own tap water safety report.

Thinking about the Whole Child:

Observing Preschoolers’ Physical Development

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A fun and valuable way to pull together the information in this chapter is to visit a preschool or
child care center that has children of multiple ages between 2 ½ and 5. If possible, observe
during their free play periods, both indoors and outdoors.
Although you can’t observe it directly, you know that continuing maturation of the brain
underlies all of the behavior you observe. You can look for a few behavioral signs that are
particularly characteristic of neurological maturation in early childhood, such as increases with
age in lateralization of hand and arm preferences, improvements in attention span, and
increases in the ability to follow directions, plan and enact elaborate sociodramatic play scenes,
and to tell stories. You may also notice individual differences within the same age group in the
extent of hand preference, attention span, or other behaviors.
What changes in motor skills should you look for? Outdoors you may notice that children
engage in a great deal of gross motor play, including jumping, riding tricycles, running, climbing,
etc. You should particularly look for the fundamental motor skills that make up more complex
actions. You may notice that younger children have some but not all elements of the complete
skill, or they execute them slowly and not very smoothly. Indoors you may notice more frequent
use of fine motor skills, such as drawing, finger painting, working with clay, building with blocks,
and printing letters. In keeping with dynamic systems theory, find examples of how changes in
bodily growth and strength, movement, coordination, visual perception, motivation, or practice
contribute to advances in either gross or fine motor skills.
Issues with children’s health were also highlighted in this chapter. If you are able to observe
during mealtime, you might notice that preschools generally offer familiar foods that children
enjoy. Are all of the food groups represented? Do the teachers exert any pressure on children to
eat particular foods, or to finish the food on their plates? How do the teachers and children act
with regard to any new or special foods present in the meal? You can also look for evidence that
the children have begun to internalize healthy habits, such as washing their hands, using
tissues to wipe their noses, and not coughing on their playmates. Finally, you should look for
signs that children have begun to follow safety rules, such as not throwing sand or other objects
that might hit people, and what preschool teachers do to remind children of the rules.
What differences among children might you notice? You might observe that the older
children have more distinct personalities, which reflects their growing awareness of themselves
as individuals and their greater confidence and skill in social interactions. Some children are
friendlier and more exuberant than others, and some are shyer, more inhibited, or even negative
in their reactions to novel peers and situations. You may also observe differences in emotional
regulation and effortful control; some children are better able to manage their emotions and
behavior, leading to more successful interactions with peers. You might try to classify children
as undercontrolled, overcontrolled, or resilient, although this is difficult to do in a short
observation. If they are willing, teachers might be of some help in identifying children who
exemplify each personality type.
You may notice gender differences in play styles and increasing gender segregation across
the years. Boys are generally more physically active and aggressive and play in larger groups,
and girls are more likely to play cooperatively and to communicate verbally in smaller groups or
pairs, although you may also notice that there is overlap between boys and girls on these
dimensions.
Although you can’t observe anything like parenting style or parenting techniques in the
center setting, you will probably notice that teachers and caregivers adopt a variety of the
parenting techniques we discussed (e.g., explanations of rules, inductive reasoning, and time-
outs). In addition, teachers vary along the same dimensions of warmth and control that parents
do, although they generally fall within the authoritative range.

Innovative Ideas References

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[CNN]. (2016, July 29). CNN: Flint Water Crisis: New Criminal Charges are Brought. [Video file.]
Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/us/flint-water-crisis-charges/.

InBrief: The impact of early adversity on children’s development (n.d.). In Center on the
Developing Child. [Video file.] Retrieved from
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-on-
childrens-development-video/.

InBrief: The impact of early adversity on children’s development (n.d.). From the Center on the
Developing Child. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/inbrief-adversity-1.pdf.

Kennedy, M. (host). (2016, April 20.) Lead-Laced Water In Flint: A Step-by-Step Look At the
Makings of a Crisis. [Web log file.] Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-
a-crisis.

National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (n.d.). The bomb in the brain—death of
reason—effects of child abuse. Retrieved from http://www.naasca.org/2012-Articles/031212-
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