Chapter 7 childhood General body growth trends Grow quickly between ages 3 and 6 less quickly than before though Age 3 lose baby roundness and take on more slender athletic appearance of Trunk arms and legs grow longer Head is still relatively large Toddler potbelly tightens Grow about 2 to 3 inches a year during early childhood and gain approximately 4 to 6 pounds annually Muscular and skeletal growth progresses making children stronger Cartilage turns to bone much faster than before Bones become firmer protecting internal organs These changes all promote development of a wide range of motor skills Brain growth spurt continues until at least age 3 90 of adult brain size Density of synapses in the prefrontal cortex peaks at age 4 along with myelination of Brain development pathways for hearing Wide individual differences Sleep most children average 11 hours of sleep at night by age 5 and give up naps 1 in 10 parents report that their child has a sleeping problem Sleep disturbances may be caused by accidental activation of the brain s motor control system Tend to run in families and are often associated with separation anxiety Most cases these problems are outgrown and are only occasional Persistent sleep problems may indicate an emotional physiological or neurological condition that needs to be examined o night terrors The child appears to be awaken abruptly early in the night from a deep sleep in a state of agitation The child may scream and sit up in bed breathing heavily and remember nothing the next morning of the episode Very common Occur mostly between 3 and 13 and affect boys more than girls Best not to interrupt night terrors or sleepwalkers o enuresis Repeated involuntary urination at night by children old enough to be expected to have bladder control Not unusual More common boys Most outgrow the habit by age 8 Establish regular unrushed bedtime routines About 20 minutes of quiet activites o encouraging good sleep habits Helping the child go to sleep Allow no scary or loud tv shows Avoid highly stimulating active play before bedtime Keep a small night light on if it comforts the child Don t feed or rock a child at bedtime Stay calm but don t yield to requests for one more story one more bathroom trip Offer rewards for good bedtime behavior Try sending the child to bed a little later Sometimes going to bed too early is a reason for sleep problems Helping children go back to sleep If the child gets up take him back to bed Speak calmly but firm and consistent After a nightmare reassure the child and occasionally check on them Do not wake after night terrors Help the child get enough sleep on a regular basis Walk or carry a sleepwalking child back to bed Childproof your home gates gross motor fine motor skills Development of the sensory and motor areas of the cerebral cortex permits better coordination between what children want to do and what they can do Gross motor skills Preschool children make huge advances here These activities include running and jumping They may be described as the physical skills that involve the large muscle groups They may accomplish this due to their stronger muscles and increased lung capacity Physical development flourishes best in active unstructured free play Fine motor skills Physical skills that involve the small muscles and eye hand coordination These activities include buttoning shirts and drawing pictures These activities allow children to become more responsible for their personal care System of action Increasingly complex combinations of skills which permit a wider or more precise range of movement and more control of the environment handedness The preference for using on hand over the other is usually evident by age 3 Not always clear cut May prefer different hands for different activities Boys are much more likely to be left handed See section on artistic development p 219 Pictoral stage begins between 4 and 5 preventing obesity The greatest increase in prevalence of overweight is among children in low income families cutting across all ethnic groups Estimated 22 million children under age 5 are obese Tendency toward obesity can be hereditary but the main factors driving the obesity epidemic are environmental Excessive weight gain from caloric intake and lack of exercise Overweight children tend to become obese adults Key to prevent obesity may be to make sure the child is served appropriate portions and not force them to clean their plates 3 factors are critical in the prevention of obesity 1 Regularly eating an evening meal together as a family 2 Getting adequate amounts of sleep 3 Watching less than 2 hours of tv a day Too little physical activity is a huge factor Food allergies Milk eggs peanuts tree nuts fish soy and wheat health o and SES The lower a families SES the greater a child s risks of illness injury and death Poor children are more likely to have chronic conditions and activity limitations to lack heath insurance and to have unmet medical and dental needs State Children s healthy Insurance Program SCHIP created to help states extend health care coverage to uninsured children in poor and near poor families Access to quality health care also huge issue Homelessness growing problem with families with children o smoke Parental smoking is a preventable cause of childhood illness and death Potential damage caused by exposure to tobacco is greatest during the early years of life when the children s bodies are still developing These children are at an increased risk of respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia ear problems worsened asthma and slowed lung growth Air pollution also an issue Increased risk of death and chronic resp disease Piaget The Preoperational Child Age 2 to 7 characterized by great advances in the use of symbolic thought or representational ability which first emerged during the sensorimotor stage Growing understanding of space causality identities categorization and number Symbolic function The ability to use symbols or mental representations words numbers or images to which a person has attached meaning Show growth through deferred imitation having kept a mental representation of a previously observed event Pretend play children may make an object such as a doll represent or symbolize something else such as a person Language uses a system of symbols to communicate Children reason through transduction tendency to mentally link particular phenomena whether or not there is logically a casual
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