Chapter 5: Early childhood body and mind

Question 1

Height and wight

Answer 1

BMI is lower than at any other time of life
weight and height increases, relationship between measurements changes
children become slimmer as lower body lengthens
center of gravity moves from breastbone to belly button

Question 2

Nutrition

Answer 2

appetite decreases between 2 + 6
low income families tend to guard against undernutrition and rely on fast foods, children are vulnerable to obesity
children who eat more vegetables and fewer fried foods usually gain bone mass but not fat

Question 3

Nutrition Deficiencies

Answer 3

obesity is a more frequent problem than malnutrition
about 8% of all young children have a food allergy, usually to a healthy, common food

Question 4

Development of brain (Pre-frontal Cortex)

Answer 4

sleep becomes more regular
emotions become more nuanced and responsive
temper tantrums decrease or subside
uncontrollable laughter and tears are less common

Question 5

Development of brain (Corpus Callosum, Laterization)

Answer 5

brain specializes on each side for certain things, Laterization is part of the corpus callosum development

Question 6

Development of brain

Answer 6

brain growth: by age 2 the brain is 75% of the adult brain, by age 6 brain is 90% of adult brain.

Question 7

Irreversibility

Answer 7

characteristic of preoperational thought, whereby a young child thinks that nothing can be undone; a thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred

Question 8

Egocentrism (Piaget)

Answer 8

young children’s tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective

Question 9

Focus on appearance (Piaget)

Answer 9

characteristics of preoperational thought, whereby a young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent

Question 10

Piaget’s preoperational theory of development (centration)

Answer 10

characteristic of preoperational thought, whereby a young child focusses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others

Question 11

Piaget’s preoperational theory of development (conservation)

Answer 11

principle stating that the amount of a substance remains remains the same (i.e., is conserved) when its appearance changes

Question 12

Piaget’s preoperational theory of development (static reasoning)

Answer 12

characteristics of preoperational thought, whereby a young child thinks that nothing changes; whatever is now has always been always been and always will be

Question 13

Vygotsky’s theory of development (Scaffolding)

Answer 13

temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

Question 14

Vygotsky’s theory of development (Zone of Proximodistal Development)

Answer 14

skills that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently

Question 15

Vygotsky’s theory of development (Overimitation)

Answer 15

tendency of children to copy an action that not a relevant part of the behavior learned

Question 16

Language development (grammar)

Answer 16

early childhood is a sensitive period for language development
vocabulary explosion - 500 words at age 2 and 10,000 at age 6

Question 17

Language development (fast mapping)

Answer 17

speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words by quickly categorizing them

Question 18

Language development (logical extension)

Answer 18

occurs when children use a word to describe other objects in the same category

Question 19

Language development (overregulation)

Answer 19

application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur

Question 20

Language development (semi lingual)

Answer 20

children who are taught two languages risk becoming semi lingual, with delayed, incomplete, and possibly impaired development

Question 21

Early childhood education (Child Centered)

Answer 21

emphasizes children’s natural inclination to learn through play
encourage self-paced exploration and artistic expression
show influence of Vygotsky, thought children could learn through play with other children with adult guidance
examples:
Montessori schools emphasize individual pride and accomplishment, present literacy related tasks
Reggio Emilla approach is a famous Italian early childhood education program the encourages each child’s creativity in carefully designed setting

Question 22

Early childhood education (Teacher Directed)

Answer 22

academic subjects taught by a teacher to an entire class
help children learn letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, as well as how to listen to the teacher and sit quietly
make a clear distinction between work and play
less expensive, child/adult higher

Question 23

Head Start

Answer 23

most widespread early childhood education program in the states
begun in 1965 and is funded by federal government
program was thought to be highly successful at raising children’s intelligence, ten years later early gains were found to fade