Physical, Cognitive, and Psychosocial Development in

Early Childhood Education

By Ashley Janca

Physical Development

Motor Skill Development There are two types of motor skills Gross motor skills, and Fine motor skills

The rate at which these motor skills emerge depends on the child and can sometimes be a worry for the parents.

Nearly all children begin to exhibit these motor skills at a fairly consistent rate unless some type of disability is present.

Gross (or large) Motor Skills

Involve the larger muscles including the: Arms and legs

Actions requiring gross motor skills include: Walking, running, balance, and coordination.

When evaluating the factors the experts look at are: Strength, muscle tone, movement quality, and

the range of movement.

Fine (or small) Motor Skills

Involve the smaller muscles: Fingers, toes, and eyes

Actions requiring fine motor skills include: Drawing, writing, grasping objects, throwing,

waving, and catching.

Physical Growth

Large muscles develop before small muscles Muscles in the body’s core, legs and arms develop

before those in the fingers and toes. That’s why children learn to walk before they can draw.

The center of the body develops before the outer regions. Muscles located at the core of the body become stronger

and develop sooner than those in the feet and hands. Development goes from the top down, from the

head to the toes. This is why babies learn to hold their heads up before

they learn to crawl.

Cognitive Development

Early childhood is not only a period of amazing physical growth, it is also a time of remarkable mental development.

Cognitive abilities associated with memory, reasoning, problem-solving and thinking continue to emerge throughout childhood.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Jean Piaget was a biologist who originally studied molluscs but moved into the study of the development of children’s understanding.

He studied them through observing them and talking and listening to them while they worked on exercises he set.

Piaget divided the child’s path of development into four stages which began with birth and continued into the teen years.

The Sensorimotor Stage

A period of time between birth and age two during which an infant's knowledge of the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli.

The Preoperational Stage

A period between ages two and six during which a child learns to use language.

During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information and are unable to take the point of view of others.

The Concrete Operational Stage

A period between ages seven and eleven during which children gain a better understanding of mental operations.

Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.

The Formal Operational Stage

A period between age twelve to adulthood when people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts.

Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning and systematic planning also emerge during this stage.

Psychosocial Development

Psychosocial is broke down into 2 categories: Emotional and Social

Erik Erikson is a big part of this area of development.

Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

He maintained that children develop in a predetermined order.

Instead of focusing on cognitive development, he was interested in how children socialize and how it affects their sense of self.

According to his theory, successful completion of each stage can results in a healthy personality and successful interactions with others.

Unsuccessful completion of the stages results in an inability to trust or may result in anxiety.

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Life

Social Development

Social development is a major part of a child’s development.

Social development consists of 2 interrelated aspects Learning and Application

Social development of a child in the early childhood stage is influences by type of parenting, economic status of the family and family structure.

Social Development

Play is very important in the social development. There are different types of play:

Sensorimotor Play Practice Play Symbolic Play Social Play Constructive Play

I will go over what each means in the next few slides.

Social Development

Sensorimotor Play This type of play is most associated with infancy. It involves the different senses

Tactile, movement, sound, and visual experiences.

Social Development

Practice Play This type of play involves the repetition of new

skills as they are being learned. Is continued throughout our lifetime About 1/3 of a preschooler’s play is practice

play. It contributes to the development of

coordinated motor skills needed for later game playing.

Some activities include finger painting, running, jumping, throwing, sliding, and twirling.

Social Development

Symbolic Play Also called dramatic play Child will transfer objects into other objects and act

toward them accordingly. Is at its peak between the ages of 4 and 5 Helps develop your child’s imagination and also helps

develop needed social skills.

Social Development

Social Play Revolves around social interaction with peers. Will help your child learn how to interact with others. Various games can be attributed to social play, for

example, rough-and-tumble play.

Social Development

Constructive Play Occurs when a child uses their imagination and skills

to create a product. Ex: artwork, magic shows, and building an ant farm This type of play is important because it helps

develop solving skills, imagination, fine motor skills, and self-esteem.

Emotional Development

Emotional development should be started at an age as soon as children start kindergarten and preschool so that their interactions with others will develop them in both social and intellectual ways.

Its is said that emotional development starts in the wound as the baby starts to become aware of its surroundings. The noises that it hears and the feelings that the mother is going through.

Work Cited

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

http://www.nndb.com/people/359/000094077/ http://www.emotionaldevelopment.org http://psychology.about.com http://allpsych.com/psychology101/socialdevelopment.h

tml http://www.blackwellpublishing.com