Early childhood spans ages 3-6 years and is an important period of development. During this time, children experience physical growth and motor skill development. Cognitively, they are in Piaget's preoperational stage, developing the ability to use symbols and representation. Key cognitive concepts developing include time, space, quantity, and relations. Socially and emotionally, children are learning language, emotions, gender roles, and play skills. Common health issues include minor illnesses, major illnesses prevented by immunization, and accidental injuries, which can be influenced by factors like exposure, stress, poverty, and homelessness.

1. Early childhood

2. Contents
• Physical development and growth
• Health problem in early childhood
• Influences on health
• Motor skills
• Cognitive development during early childhood
• Limitations of preoperational thought
• Types of concepts in early childhood
• Using words, sentences and grammar
• Speaking to others
• Speaking to oneself
• Emotions in early child hood

3. • Characteristics of children’s emotions
• Bedwetting in early childhood
• Sleep disturbances in early childhood
• Gender roles, gender typing and gender stereotypes
• Testes of measure intelligence in early childhood
• Eating problems
• Testes of measure intelligence in early childhood
• Eating problems
• Speech disorders
• Tics and motor habits
• School phobia
• Form of anxiety disorders in children
• Treatment of anxiety disorders
• Play therapy
• Behavior therapies

4. • Symptomatology of hyperactivity in children childhood psychosis or schizophrenia
• Infantile autism
• Levels of mental retardation
• Types of day care
• Distinction between the effects of day care and home environment
• Effects of day care on cognitive development
• Effect of day care on social development
• Pre school
• Kindergarten
• Platy of fantasy
• Types of play
• Fantasy
• Stages in the use of fantasy
• Parental influence of children’s intelligence
• Scaffolding
• The father’s role
• The mother roles (when employed)

5. Early childhood:
• Early childhood is also called as preschool years.
• It is a period which generally ranges from 3-6 years.
• The early childhood is the most crucial years of one’s life span
development.

6. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH:
• Physical development during early childhood
proceeds at a relatively slow rate compared to the
rapid rate of growth in infancy.
• Important points with respect to physical
development:
1.
There are individual variations, but girls tend to be
slightly shorter and lighter than boys.
They who are big at the beginning of preschool age
will be probably big at the end of the period.
gend
er
age height weight
Boys 3 3 feet (90 cm) 30 pounds
5 110 cm 43 pounds

7. 2. Boys and girls develop at about the same pace during the early
childhood till they reach puberty.
3. Boys have more muscle and girls more fatty tissue. Girls tend to
retain fatty tissues longer than boys.
4. Body proportion change dramatically in the preschool period. The
trunk and legs brow rapidly but cranial growth is not as fast as before.
5.The bones ossify at different rates in different parts of the body,
following the laws of developmental direction.
6. Some children have an endomorphic or flabby, fat body build, some
have a mesomorphic or sturdy, muscular body build, and some Have
ectomorphic body build.
7. Around the age of five years the brain has reached 75% of its adult
weight and only a year later, 90%.
8. Hyalinization is completed. (myelin sheath over nerve fibers)

8. • 9. Many physiological changes occur. Breathing becomes slower and
deeper, the heart beats more slowly and steadily and specially in
boys: blood pressure increases.
• 10. during the first four to six months of early childhood, the last four
baby teeth- the back molars erupt. During the last half year of the
early child hood, the baby teeth begin to be replaced by permenant
teeth. First to come out are the central incisors.

9. Health problem in early childhood:
• Today health problems are rare due
to:
• Use of vaccinations
• Educational programs
• Other preventive measures
• However some common health
problems are as follow:
1- Minor illnesses: coughs, sniffles,
stomach aches, running noses, and
respiratory problems because the
lungs are not fully developed.

10. 2-Major illnesses: Immunization have banished the specter of diseases
like measles, rubella, mumps, whooping cough, diphtheria and
poliomyelitis- illness that before middles of the 20th century were
widespread and often fatal.
• 1980-1985 children aged 1-4 who were immunized against the major
childhood illness dropped.
• Since than, cases of whooping cough and measles have risen, and
now 1 in 4 pre-schools and 1 in 3 poor children are not protected
against measles, rubella, polio and mumps.
3- Accidental injuries: it is the leading cause of death in childhood,
most often because of automobiles.
Most fatal accidents takes place around homes, children are stuck by,
drown in bathtubs and pools, are burned in fires and explosions, drink
or eat poisonous substances, fall from heights etc.

11. INFLUENCES ON HEALTH:
• 1-exposure
• 2-stress
• 3-poverty
• 4-homelessness
1-EXPOSURE:
Children in large families are sick more often than children in small
families. Children in daycare center seem to pick up mode colds;
influenza, and other infections than children at home.

12. 2-stress:
Stressful events in the family, like move , job changes, divorce and
death seem to increase the frequently minor illnesses at home.
3-Poverty:
Poverty is unhealthy. Poor children often do not eat properly and don’t
get the immunization or medical care they need.
4-homelessness:
Children who do not even have a home to call their own are specially
vulnerable. Since they are spending their crucial early years in an
unstable, insecure, chaotic environment, it is not surprising that both
as preschoolers and as school children they tend to have a high rate of
developmental delays.

13. MOTOR SKILLS:
• Between age of 1-6, children continue
to make important advances in motor development:
Large muscle co-ordination: Small muscle and eye hand co-ordination:
3 years: Jump, 15-24 inches Ascend a stairway Hop largely
using
irregular
jumps
Early
age:
It develops and
becomes perfect
Learn to write;
Alphabets, numbers,
draw lines
4 years: Jump, 24-33 inches Descend a long
stairway, if
supported
Hop 4-6 steps
on one foot.
4 years: Cut a line with
scissors, draw a
person, fold a paper
into triangle
Learn to distinguish
things on basis of
form, size color
5 years: Start, turn, and
stop effectively in
games
Running jump of
28-26 inches
(hop distance of
16 feet)
Descend a
long stairway
unaided.
6 years: A three year old, may require a great deal
pf detail to recognize a picture that a six
year old can readily identify from sketch or
outlined.

14. COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT DURING
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
• According to Piaget, cognitive development,
takes place by means of two processes:
1-Organization: In which one psychological
structure is integrated with another.
2-Adaptation: In which psychological
structures are modified in the course of
interactions with the environment.
According to Piaget there are four stages of
cognitive development:
1-sensorimotor period (birth to 2 years)
2-pre-operational period (2-7)
3-period of concrete operation (7-11)
4-period of formal operations (11- onwards)

15. • The early childhood is a period of pre-
operational thought.
• Pre-operational children can learn not only by
sensing and doing but also by thinking
symbolically, and not only by acting but also
by reflecting on their actions.
• The major important development of this
stage is the symbolic function.
• SYMBOLIC FUNCTION: it is the ability to learn
by using symbols.
• A symbol is a mental representation to which
consciously or unconsciously, a person has
attached meanings.
Three ways in which children show symbolic
function are:
1-Deferred imitation
2-Symbolic play
3- language

16. 1-DEFERRED IMITATION: Imitation
of an observed action after their
time has passed.
e.g. shave.
2-SYMBOLIC PLAY: Children make an
object stand for something else.
e.g. finger to feed doll instead of a
bottle.
3- LANGUAGE: Children use
language to stand for absent things
and for events that are not taking
place at the time.

17. • Preoperational thought differs from the sensorimotor intelligence of
infancy in several ways:
1- Representational thought is faster and more flexible. Unlike sensorimotor
intelligence , which can link actions and perceptions one at a time, but
cannot achieve a cohesive overview, representational thought can grasp
many event at one time.
2- Representational thought is not limited to goals of concrete action.
Children at this stage are capable of reflection and of re-examining their
knowledge; they can contemplate as well as act.
3- Representational thought enable children to deal with numbers and such
qualities as size. By thinking with symbols they can extend their scope
beyond themselves and the concrete objects they encounter every day.
4-Representational thought can be socialized; that is, we can translate our
thoughts into form that can be communicated to other individuals.

18. Limitations of preoperational thought :
• Centralization
• Irreversibility
• Focus on status rather than transformation
• Reasoning
• Egocentrism

19. Types of concepts in early childhood:
• Time
• Self
• Weight
• Numbers
• Sex roles
• Space
• Life
• Death
• bodily functions
• Beauty
• Social awareness
• Comic

20. Among these 6 important concepts are;
1- Time: the concept of time is difficult for children to grasp in early
childhood.
Generally , children seem to exhibit a clearer understanding of
“yesterday” and “today” than of tomorrow.
2- space: children cannot develop “cognitive” maps of a given spatial
arrangement. They can represent the space in terms of specific routes
but do not have mental picture of the whole; they can’t show the
environment.
3- quantity: an adult’s concept of quantity generally rests on 2
fundamental concepts;
a)Conservation
b)one-to-one correspondence

21. Conservation:
• Certain properties remain
invariant despite any
transformations to which they
might may be subject.
• In early childhood it is yet poorly
developed.
One-to-one correspondence:
• Before learning to count a child
needs to understand 'one to one
correspondence'.
• This means being able to
match one object to one other
object or person. You can
practice 'one to one
correspondence' in all sorts of
different contexts.

22. 4- Relation: Child can discriminate between objects and, to some
degree, differentiate levels of intensity.
E.g. perceive that one sound is louder than another or that one object
is larger than another.
5- self: By the time they are three, most young children know their full
names, and the names of different parts of their bodies.
6- Sex roles: Concepts of appropriate sex roles are developed by the
time boys are 5 years old, but for girls, there concepts are less clear
because the approved sex role for girls is not as clearly defined as for
boys.

23. Using words, sentences and grammar:
• Speech become more adult after age of 3.
• Children over 3 use plurals and the past tense, and they know the
difference between I, you and we.
• b/w age 4-5 children children’s sentences average four to five words. They
can now deal with prepositions like over, under, in on an behind.
• b/w age 5-6 children use more complex long sentences. Use conjunctions,
prepositions and articles.
• 6-7, speech becomes quite sophisticated. They now speak in grammatically
correct compound and complex sentences.
• Although young children speak fluently, understandably, and fairly
grammatically, they often make errors by failing to note expectation to
rules.

24. Speaking to others:
• As child master words, sentences and grammar, they communicate
better and is used to establish and maintain communications with
others.
• Piaget characterized most of young children’s speech as
egocentric(not adapted to the listener), but recent research suggests
that children’s speech is quite social from an early age.
• 4 years old use motherese when speaking to 2 years old. Even 2 years
old use social speech as they point out or show objects to others.
• Most of the time the feedback they get shows that they have
captured the listener’s attention.

25. Speaking to oneself:
• Private speech-talking aloud to oneself with no intent to communicate with
others is normal and common in early and middle childhood.
• Piaget considered private speech as an egocentric inability to recognize
another person’s viewpoint and therefore an inability to communicate.
• On the other hand Vygotsky(1962) saw private speech as a special form of
communication-communication with one self.
• Like Piaget h believed that private speech helps children integrate language
with thought.
• But unlike Piaget, he believed that private speech increases through early
school years as children use it to guide and master their actions, and fades
away as they establish internal control through silent thought.

26. Emotions in early childhood:
Fear Common in 2-4 year old. E.g. animals. By 6 years, they are more likely to be afraid of dark.
Jealousy When they think parental interest and attention are shifting towards some one else. They may show it openly or
reverting to infantile behavior. i-e; bedwetting, pretending ill, or being generally naughty
Aggression Occurs among 2.5-3 years old. They may show instrumental aggression.
2-5 aggression declines, because they are better able to express themselves with words.
6-7 empathy replace egocentrism. So children becomes less aggressive.
Curiosity Children are curious about anything new that they see, also about their own and bodies of others.
Grief They are saddened by loss of anything they love or that is important to them: pet, person or an in-animate object.
Envy They become envious of the abilities or material possessions of another child.
Affection They learn to love the things- people pets, or objects –that give them pleasure. They express their affection as
they grow older.
Joy Young children derive joy from such things as a sense of physical well-being.
They express their joy by smiling and laughing, clapping their hands, jumping up and down, or hugging the object
or person that has made them happy.

27. Characteristics of children’s emotions:
1-Children’s emotions are brief. Child’s
emotions are intense and short-lived,
therefore is able to clear the system
quickly.
2-Children’s emotion are more intense
than those of adults. Children react with
equal intensity to serious situations.
3-Children’s emotions are transitory.
Changing from one situation to other.
i-e; child shifts quickly from laughter to
tears, anger to smiles or jealousy to
affection.

28. 4-Children’s emotions appear more frequently
than those of adults.
5-Children show different emotional responses to
the same situation.
6-Children emotions can be easily detected by the
symptoms of their behavior. While adult may be
able to hide his feelings and emotions.
7-Their emotions change in strength from age to
age. While some emotions grow weaker, other
grow stronger. i-e; fear in the presence of a
stranger may slowly vanishes as they grow old.
8-In early stages he gives immediate and direct
expression to his emotions. however, as he grows
older, he tends to control and regulate these
emotional expression, depending upon parental
training.

29. Bedwetting in early childhood:
• Bedwetting, or nocturnal enuresis, refers to the unintentional passage
of urine during sleep. Enuresis is the medical term for wetting,
whether in the clothing during the day or in bed at night. Another
name for enuresis is urinary incontinence.
• For infants and young children, urination is involuntary. Wetting is
normal for them. Most children achieve some degree of bladder
control by 4 years of age. Daytime control is usually achieved first,
while nighttime control comes later.

30. • The age at which bladder control is expected varies considerably.
• Some parents expect dryness at a very early age, while others not
until much later. Such a time line may reflect the culture and attitudes
of the parents and caregivers.
• Factors that affect the age at which wetting is considered a problem
include the following:
• The child's gender: Bedwetting is more common in boys.
• The child's development and maturity
• The child's overall physical and emotional health. Chronic illness and/or
emotional and physical abuse may predispose to bedwetting.
• Bedwetting is a very common problem.
• Parents must realize that enuresis is involuntary. The child who wets
the bed needs parental support and reassurance.

31. Sleep disturbances in early childhood:
• A child who demands a night lift may simply be trying to put off going to
sleep, but many youngsters are afraid of being left alone in the dark, and it
is important to know that bedtime fears can be treated.
• Children who have often gone through stresses like an accident or illness in
the family may engage in long bed time struggles.
• Night terrors:
They seem to result from waking up suddenly from deep sleep. Children
wake up in an unexplained state of panic.
• Nightmares:
About 1-4 children b/w ages 3-8 have nightmares . They are frightening
dreams often brought on by staying up too late, eating a heavy meal close to
bed time, or even excitement.

32. Testes of measure intelligence in early
childhood :
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-V
• Age range: 2–85+ years
• How it works: This test assesses abilities in five basic areas. These
include fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-
spatial processing and working memory.

33. Eating problems:
• Children become overweight
and obese for a variety of
reasons. The most common
causes are genetic factors, lack
of physical activity, unhealthy
eating patterns, or a
combination of these factors.
Only in rare cases is being
overweight caused by a medical
condition such as a hormonal
problem

34. Anorexia Nervosa:
• Anorexia nervosa (AN), a form
of self-starvation, is an eating
disorder characterized by a
distorted body image that leads
to restricted eating and other
behavior that prevents a person
from gaining weight. Anorexia
nervosa is sometimes referred
to as anorexia.