Development in early childhood
Childhood begins when helplessness of babyhood has passed at about two years of age. Significant physical and psychological changes take place during the next ten or twelve years. During early childhood, his training is within the home. Later, he is exposed to a large society and spends much of his time outside the home environment.
During preschool years, the child is concerned with further coordination and control of his own body. He seeks to understand his environment and how it works, therefore, he is constantly exploring and getting into things from which he must be restrained. While his personality is developing, he is demanding independence and may demonstrate obstinacy, stubbornness, and disobedience. His achievements in babyhood included learning to walk, to take solid foods, to talk, and to control elimination of body wastes. During early childhood, he must learn to achieve bodily stability, distinguish between right and wrong, develop the ability to communicate with others, and establish satisfactory emotional relations with parents and others. He must learn to depend on others to meet his emotional needs and to give as well as receive affection.
In relating to other children, he finds that taking a toy which belongs to another child is wrong. Through this experience, he begins to learn the fundamental principles of property rights. Much of his learning comes from imitating his parents and playmates.
His appetite is no longer as ravenous as it was in the early part of babyhood. Eating problems arise because his growth rate slow down and he has less appetite. He develops marked food likes and dislikes. It is important for the child to get a balanced diet with sufficient protien-milk, green vegetables, and meat. Starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, and sweets, provide energy, but they do not have sufficient bodybuilding nutrients.
A three-year-old sleeps about twelve hours out of twenty-four. Each successive year during childhood, his average daily need of sleep is approximately one-half hour less than in the previous year. Parents should strike a medium between excessive concern and unconcern regarding the amount of sleep the child gets.
During this stage, awkwardness begins to give way to developing skills and coordination in the achievement of simple tasks. He should improve in speed and accuracy with which he can attain a result. These skills are developed largely through play, through the manipulation of toys rather than the watching of television or being entertained by someone else. Self-feeding and dressing skills, which began in babyhood, show marked improvement in early childhood. The three-year-old should be able to feed himself with a fork and should be able to spread butter with a knife. He is not ready yet to use the knife for cutting foods. By the time he reaches kindergarten age, he should be able to bathe, dress, tie his shoe, and brush or comb his hair with no assistance. A three-year-old can drive nails into wood with a hammer, and a six-year-old should be able to make simple objects like boats. During early childhood, constant supervision is required by parents to prevent bodily injury to the inquiring and curious child.
Speech skills also are developed during early childhood. These patterns are influenced primarily by the parents since the child learns by imitation. His future speech will be influenced greatly by patterns developed at an early stage. Speech skills are very important since social relations require communication. If a child's ability to communicate is limited, his social contacts and ready acceptance as a member of the group will be hindered. His speech skills include correct hearing and repeating of sounds and comprehension-the ability to understand what others say to him. Good hearing, vocabulary, and attention are essential to comprehension. Children's educational programs on television may improve the vocabulary of the child.
The child's attitude towards people, things, and life are influenced greatly by his home life. He identifies with the thinking and attitudes of his parents and imitates their emotions and behavioral patterns. Although the child does not comprehend all that the parents say, their attitudes and emotions are communicated to him. Since the child spends so much time with the mother, he is greatly influenced by her and becomes dependent upon her. Loss of her by death or divorce usually leads to feelings of insecurity. The young child can try the patience of his mother since he is often rebellious, self-assertive, mischievous, demanding, and emotionally frustrated. His emotional variations result from his inability to achieve what he desires, the restrictions placed on him by his parents, and the interruptions of activities which he enjoys doing. The child's self-assertion and rebellion result from his attempts to relinquish absolute dependence on his parents.
Development during late childhood
Late childhood extends approximately from the age of six to puberty (when sexual maturing begins, usually between eleven and fourteen). When the child goes to school, he must learn to accept responsibility of his behavior and activities. The change from the home to the school environment results in radical changes in the child's attitude and behavior. During this stage, he learns the basic rudiments of knowledge for further education and vocation: reading, spelling, and basic number skills. The child is faced with new social expectations, and his childish behavior is no longer acceptable and does not receive the tolerance that it did when he was younger. He is required to compete with members of his peer group. Competition leads either to new self-expectations and aspirations or to withdrawal if the child is repeatedly defeated. Failure to adjust to his social environment and peer expectations for acceptance will result in failure and immature patterns of behavior. Failure may result also in lack of motivation to learn the developmental skills of his age level, which in turn may result in poor personal and social adjustments.
At the beginning of late childhood, boys and girls are made less attractive by missing teeth during the transition from temporary to permanent teeth, stringy and unmanageable hair which results from the change from fine yesterday hair of the child to a coarser textured hair of the adolescent and adult, and poor grooming resulting from lack of interest in appearance. They insist on wearing clothes that are like those of their friends. It is very important for them to be accepted by peers, and thus they are easily influenced by them. They begin to compare themselves and their achievements to those their peer group. For example, a boy may allow his agility or clumsiness to influence his self-image as to whether he is inferior or superior. Self-conseption is influenced much by peer group reaction to each other's skills.
The older child learns that violent expressions of emotions are unaccepted socially. Temper outbursts are labelled as "babyish, fear as being a "fraidy cat" and jealousy as poor sportsmanship. These emotions, however, continue to be expressed at home where there is not the same motivation for controlling them. While girls frequently give vent to their frustrations with tears or temper outbursts, boys are more likely to express theirs by being sullen, or sulky.
During late childhood, a stronger desire for independence result in anger when that desire is frustrated. Also, the older child reacts to interruptions of his activities and to constant criticism. Since he tends to set levels of achievements beyond his capacity, he frequently becomes frustrated with his inability to reach those goals. His anger is expressed in various disagreeable moods.
In the late childhood, more frequent and intense emotional variations may be experienced. These emotional changes come from physical and environmental causes. Irritability may be caused by illness or tiredness. Late childhood begins with the requirement to adjust to school which brings heightened emotionality. A period of emotional calm may follow as the child learns to play with others and improves his skills, but this stage ends with puberty in which the sex organs begin to function and bring heightened emotionality.
The life of the infant resolves around his self-centered interest, but the individual must make a transition to interests beyond himself in order to be accepted and to become a well-adjusted member of a social group. Those who continue to be self-centered are disagreeable and find it difficult to relate harmoniously in social contacts. The child's negativism must give way to more positive attitudes, otherwise, poor adjustments will be made.
Near the end of this stage, the child is no longer satisfied to play at home alone but desires to be associated with a group which is made up of a sufficient number of individuals to play games. The desire to be accepted is very strong and will agree with his group rather than with his parents when conflicts arise. Ordinarily games are played by members of the same sex. During this stage, the child learns to compete with others and to cooperate with members of his own team. Boy's antipathy towards girls reaches a high point just before puberty. Since girls mature earlier, they often regard boys of their own age as boisterous, noisy, and ill-mannered.
In order to maintain his status within the group, the child is pulled between the moral codes of his family and the group with which he associates. When he is not with the group, he will likely revert to the moral code of his parents. Therefore, parents should be concerned about their child's associates.
By later childhood, interest have expanded to include wider social contacts, however, home remains the place to which the child comes back with his experiences. He brings his joys and achievements as well as his hurts and disappointments. Concerned parents play a major role in helping the child adjust to his varied social environment. He will fail at times to be accepted by peers and will need to find an excuse to save face. If they agree completely with him, he may become too negative in his attitude towards his peers. If his parents are overly protective in guarding his rights, they will encourage jealousy and selfishness instead of willingness to share. He needs their moral support and guidance while learning how to be accepted by others in a give and take relationship.
A child develops a concept of his own personality from what his parents think of him. If they apply constant pressure on him to achieve the impossible, he will develop emotional disturbances. If they accept him and his abilities and encourage him to live up to his possibilities, he will become well adjusted.
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