“The path of development is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line” (Kennedy-Moore & Lowenthal, 2011). Because development happens this way, it can have many implications for teachers. There are multiple factors and processes that contribute to the variability of individual development of children, however, these differences can be overcome and teachers can give every child the support they need to achieve. Factors specific to the middle childhood years include vocabulary development, differing temperaments, development of attention, fine motor coordination, gross motor skills development and concrete operational development, including conservation, classification and seriation. Although they can create some disorder, these factors should not significantly hinder a child’s education, but teachers should adjust their lesson plans to accommodate all kinds of abilities, including physical abilities. With greater myelinisation of the nerve cells, children develop better conductivity by middle childhood (Hoffung et al., 2013). Because of this, fine motor coordination improves, meaning children can now do more hand-coordinated activities, like needlework, building models and playing instruments (Hoffung et al., 2013). Hoffung and her research partners (2013) also found that by the age of seven, the average child can button their clothing and tie their shoe laces and furthermore, by eight, children can use both hands independently. As middle childhood progresses, children’s handwriting improves, becoming more legible and organised, until by eleven or twelve, their manual skills have reached the same level as an adult (Feder & Majnemer, 2007). Variability occurs in the classroom if some ch... ... middle of paper ... ...acher, 67, 507-511. doi:10.1002/trtr.1248 Sharma, M. (2006). School-based interventions for childhood and adolescent obesity. Obesity Reviews, 7, 261-269. doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2006.00227.x Soukup, J. H., Wehmeyer, M. L., Bashinski, S. M., & Bovaird, J. A. (2007). Classroom variables and access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 74(1), 101-120. Thies, K., & Travers, J. F. (2001). Growth and development through the lifespan. Thorofare, NY: Slack. Visser, J. (2003). Developmental coordination disorder: a review of research on subtypes and comorbidities. Human Movement Science, 22, 479-493. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2003.09.005 Wright, B. C., & Dowker, A. D. (2002). The role of cues to differential absolute size in children’s transitive inferences. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 81, 249–275. doi:10.1006/jecp.2001.2653
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
Seefeldt, C., & Wasik, A. (n.d.b). Education.com - print. Education.com - print. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.education.com/print/cognitive-development-preschoolers/
Children between the ages of 8-12 are defined as being within the developmental stage of middle childhood. At this age, the rapid development of previous stages has decreased and the physical changes within this period are slower and more defined. The refinement of gross and fine motor skills is a critical aspect of this stage as the delayed or retarded development can have significant impact on the areas of cognitive, social and emotional development. In order to ensure children are equipped with the correct knowledge and understanding of health, well being and healthy eating, the period of middle childhood is one in which these aspects are incorporated and failure to properly do so can result in long term ramifications and problems.
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Steinberg, L., Bornstein M.H., Vandell, D.L., Rook, S.R., (2011). Lifespan Development: Infancy Through Adulthood. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
2.) Howlin, Patricia, Tony Charman, and Mohammad Ghaziuddin. The SAGE handbook of developmental disorders. Los Angeles, Calif.: SAGE, 2011. Print.
Berk, L. E. (2010). Development through the lifespan (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Budd, G. M., & Volpe. S. L. (2006). School based obesity prevention: Research, challenges and recommendations. Journal of School Health, 76, 485-495. Cited in McDevitt, T., & Ormrod, J.E. (2010). Child Development And Education. (4th ed.). New Jersey. Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Mastering fine motor skills is a very important process needed for physical and cognitive development. It is during early childhood that most children develop these skills, however there are many children that do not. A young child’s fine motor skills are developed through a vast array of activities that aide the child in doing little things such as grasping a toy as an infant, and buttoning buttons as a toddler or tying shoes when they are a preschooler. Fine motor development is the development of the small muscles in the hands and fingers. Many crucial daily activities depend on strong motor skills, such as writing, using eating utensils and getting dressed, among other things. Without fine motor skills a child will have difficulties preforming
How many of you have heard of developmental coordination disorder or know someone with this disorder? Most of you probably have not heard of this disorder or have it. Developmental coordination disorder is a neuro-developmental disorder that is usually a childhood disorder, which affects one in every twenty children. (Cairney 3). According to Morven Ball, the disorder used to be known as clumsy child syndrome, motor-learning difficulties, or dyspraxia. It can also be described as when the motor ability is below what the age and cognitive ability. The disorder affects three parts of the brain that cause problems with static or dynamic balance or poor postural control, poor sensorimotor, and problems with motor learning. (Cairney 33). Doctors
Physical and motor development are two similar but different areas that describe child development. Physical development encompasses all of the various changes a child's body goes through. Those changes include height, weight, and brain development. Motor development is the development of control over the body. This control would involve developing reflexes such as blinking, large motor skills like walking, and fine motor skills like manipulating their fingers to pick up small objects like Cheerios. It is important to objectively study physical and motor development in children to gain knowledge on what characteristics are considered typical for each age and stage of development. This will enable me to be aware of when a child or children are developing at an irregular pace, and devise recommendations or find experiences and other resources that can aid in stimulating their development and to work towards closing achievement gaps. This particular assignment was to observe the selected child and reaffirm the importance of studying physical and motor development, and to develop ideas on how to involve it in my work as an early childhood professional.
Make a Difference at Your school, Center for Disease Control (CDC) can help find and utilize strategies to prevent obesity among adolescents and children in the U.S. Obesity among children and adolescents can cause many serious immediate and long term health and psychological impacts such as diabetes, heart diseases, discrimination, and self-esteem issues. Less than 25% of adolescents eat the recommended and needed amounts of fruits and vegetables for each day, and 64% of high school students aren’t meeting the recommended daily physical activity for a persons of their age. When looking at children and adolescents in the 95% of young people are enrolled in school, since 1980 obese children ages 6-11 has doubles and ages 12-19 has tripled. Studies
In this age spectrum, children are using movement to satisfy their basic needs such as maneuvering around and touching items in their environment. These motor skills help children of this age learn how to walk and use their hands. For this group, resources such as Little Tikes toys that help toddlers during the beginning, walking stage and manipulatives, like blocks, will allow children to build these skills. Children at six months are learning to use their hands and body to occupy their personal needs, such as eating. “Children use their whole hand to grasp objects, or food” (Significant Child Development Milestones, 2013). Children at twelve months are beginning to use their index fingers and thumbs to grasp objects while also continuing to use the body strength to pull up. These milestones prepare children for the next milestone, like walking and eating without an adult’s
Berger, K. (2007) The developing person through the life span (7th ed). Worth: New York,
As I personally take the time to have a reflection over the course of “Child and Adolescent Development” I find myself intrigued with the amount of knowledge I gained during this course this semester. I wanted to take the time to concentrate on three specific areas in which I felt I had the most growth, but also came as a challenge to me as well. It is important when reflecting over a course that I look at what I found to be challenging, as this was an opportunity of growth for me individually. In this paper I will review some of the main topics that I found to be interesting but also resourceful for my future aspiration not only as a family life educator but also a mother one day.