Child Development Essay, Research Paper
Physical development during the preschool years has
the most obvious aspects of changes. Children generally
become slimmer as the lower body lengthens and some of
the fat accumulated during infancy is burned off. The
Kindergarten children no longer have the protruding
stomach, round face, disproportionately short limbs, and
relatively large head that are characteristic of a toddler.
By age 6, the proportions of a child’s body are not very
different from those of an adult. As their bodies grow
slimmer, stronger, and less top heavy, and as their brain
maturation permits greater control and coordination of
their extremities, children between the ages of three and
six are able to move with greater speed and grace, and
become more capable of focusing and refining their activity.
The result is an impressive improvement in their various
motor skills. Gross motor skills, involving large body
movements such as running, jumping, climbing, and throwing
improve dramatically during the preschool years. For example
a 3 year old can be quite clumsy, falling down quickly, and
sometimes bumping into stationary objects when running
around, but by age 6, the child can be both skilled and
graceful. Most 6 year olds can ride a tricycle more the less
a bicycle, go across the monkey bars on a school playground,
In addition, throw, catch, and kick a ball. Most of them can
even ice skate, ski, and roller-blade, activities that
demand balance and coordination. Most young children
practice their gross motor skills wherever they are, whether
in a well equipped nursery school with climbing ladders,
balance boards, and sand boxes, or on their own, with
furniture for climbing, side walk curbs for balancing, and
gardens or empty lots for digging up which are typical
skills in a three year old. Generally preschool children
learn basic motor skills by teaching themselves and learning
from other children.
Fine motor skills, involving small body movements,
especially those of the hand and fingers, are much harder
for preschoolers to master than gross motor skills. For
example such things as pouring juice from a pitcher into a
glass without spilling, cutting food with a knife and a
fork, and achieving anything more artful than a scribble
with a pencil are difficult even with great concentration
and effort. Preschoolers could spend hours trying to tie a
bow with their shoelaces, often producing knot upon knot
instead. They experience these difficulties because they
have not yet developed the muscular control, patience, and
judgement needed for the exercise of fine motor skills as do
most 6 year olds. For many 3 year olds, having short fat
fingers can result in frustration and destruction causing
them to burst into tears when they cannot button there
sweaters, or mash a puzzle piece into place when they are
unable to position it correctly.
In children’s artwork for example, 3 year olds often
just plunk, their brushes into the paint, pull them out
dripping wet, then pushes them across the paper without much
forethought or skill, by age 6, most children took care to
get just enough paint on their brushes, planned just where
to put each stroke and stood back from their artwork to
examine the result. Older children also show an
eagerness to practice their skills, drawing essentially the
same picture repeatedly. Such mastery of drawing skills
is related to overall intellectual growth.
Cognitive development is intimately related to the
development of speech. Words not only help the toddler to
say what they are thinking and later to say what they are
feeling but also help them to think. Three-year-olds can
notice the differences a horse and a dog, between various
toys, or between beloved and feared people. The ability for
the toddler to sort into categories and describe things and
people, to put names to their characteristics, and to use
words to compare them, however, enormously increases the
possible complexity and consistency of this kind of
thinking. Toddlers have to grow up. They have to learn that
they are separate people with individual ideas and
preferences that will sometimes clash with those of others,
Nevertheless, to feel happy about this, they also have to
learn that arguments about socks do not put the love between
themselves and their parents at risk.
Toddlers do not understand that other people have
feelings; they certainly do not see others as having
feelings like their own or as being affected by there
behavior. That is why they cannot be good or bad on purpose,
Alternatively, be taught that biting people is wrong by
being bitten themselves. The beginning of pretend play show
the beginning of this kind of understanding, and as the
language for feelings simultaneously develops children of
perhaps 3 years old gradually learn to put themselves in
other peoples shoes. Pretend play demonstrates important
developments in children’s thinking, with repercussions in
there socialization. Toddlers like to play alongside other
toddlers. As imaginative play and the ability to understand
the feelings of others develop, real companionship becomes
both possible and desirable. They need to see that taking
turns, playing by the rules and every aspect of a do-as-you-
would-be-done-to approach do actually work to make life
easier, pleasanter, and more fun for all.
During the preschool years, however, as cognitive power
increase, the pace and scope of language learning increase
dramatically. By age 3, children typically demonstrate
extensive grammatical knowledge. They not only put the
subject before the object, explaining “I eat apple” rather
than using any of the possible combinations of the three
words. Language accomplishments during early childhood
include learning 10,000 words or more by age six. Children
appear to increase their vocabulary so rapidly by connecting
unfamiliar words through their context to a mental map of
familiar terms. Young children also show marked growth in
They are understanding of basic grammatical forms. Children
of age 6, however, have difficulty with abstract words and
often misunderstand, or overegularize, grammatical rules.
Preschool children are surprisingly capable of learning
everything from math to grammar to social insights, but
their actual learning depends on the somewhat guided
participation they experience, as well as, on the
opportunities they have to manipulate objects, learn
language, and interact with children. For children of every
background a quality preschool program advances learning,
while a poor-quality program, one that provides little more
than physical care and supervision is of little benefit
intellectually. It is apparent that in terms of self-
confidence, social skills, and social roles, much
develops during early childhood. Cognitive growth permits
children a greater appreciation of psychological roles,
motives, and feelings, deepening their understanding
of themselves and others. At the same time their social
world becomes more diverse with the introduction of new
social collaborates such as in preschool or in the
neighborhood and in richer roles for familiar partners such
as parents, siblings, and long time playmates. The play
years are filled with examples of an emerging self concept,
as preschoolers repeatedly explain who they are and who they
are not and assiduously note which possessions are theirs.
During the play years, children gradually begin to perceive
themselves not just in terms of their physical attributes,
or they are characteristic behaviors or abilities, but also
in terms of their dispositions and traits, seeing
themselves, for example, as friendly, shy, happy, or
hardworking. By the late preschool year’s children possess a
self-concept that may include a recognition of certain
psychological tendencies. Nevertheless, preschoolers
psychological understanding of themselves and others is
still very limited. They do not grasp the complexity of
personality or the variability of a person’s competencies:
they do not appreciate, for example, that a person can be
mean to people but kind to animals, or can be good at math
but poor in reading. Preschoolers also do not clearly
distinguish the different psychological causes of actions or
skills, believing, for example, that ability is self
controlled and can always be changed through effort.
As time passes, however, preschoolers become
increasingly aware of, and concerned with, how others
evaluate their behavior, gradually, they begin to
spontaneously appraise their behavior with the same
standards as adults do. The typical three year-old believes
that he or she can win any race, skip perfectly, and count
accurately, and make up beautiful songs. In many situations,
for example, young children will respond with disappointment
or shame when they fail at a task, such as tying there
shoes, when they cause some mishap, such as spilling a cup
of juice, even when no adult is present. Preschoolers
eagerly take on new tasks and play activities and feel
guilty when their efforts result in failure or criticism.
Their readiness to take the initiative reflects
preschooler’s desire to accomplish things, not simply to
assert their autonomy as they did as toddlers. Thus, in a
nursery school classroom, the older preschoolers take the
initiative to build impressive block towers, whereas the
three year-olds are more likely to be interested in knocking
them down. The enthusiasm of older children to learn and
master many things derives, in part, from their growing
sense of membership in the larger culture and a desire to
acquire the skills of a citizen and worker as well as a
family member.
Peer relationships are another important relational
influence during the play years. In addition to providing an
arena for developing their social skills, peer relationships
help preschoolers learn about friendship. Playing with other
children requires preschoolers to take responsibility for
maintaining social interaction through sharing and
reciprocity. These features are evident whether the play is
rough and tumble or sociodramatic play- the latter also
permits children to explore social roles, examine personal
concerns, and learn to cooperate. Self-concept emerges,
usually wit a positive slant. Children boldly initiate new
activities, especially if they are praised for their
endeavors. As they are social and cognitive, skills develop,
children engage in ever more complex and imaginative
types of play, sometimes by themselves and, increasingly,
with others.