Social Development

Preschool & Kindergarten

• age 3-6
• engage in several types of play, sometimes with other children, sometimes beside other children without playing
• spontaneous group likely to be small, not organised , subject to change
• quarrel frequently but quick to forgive and forget
• enjoy being dramatic and inventive, drawing ideas from cartoons
• Major types of children's play

1. Solitary play - plays with a toy alone, does not pay attention to others
2. Onlooker behaviour - watches other children and may comment, but does not join them
3. Parallel play - plays beside another child, perhaps with same toy or same activity, but will not join other child, eg two children building roads will build two separate roads rather than work together to build one road
4. Associative play - plays with other children but unorganised, without assignment of roles or purpose
5. Cooperative play - organised with assignment of roles. May have end result, eg art project, play. Eg play 'house', 'doctor'.

Primary Grades

• age 6-9
• have best friends and selected enemies
• play in small groups, with organised rules
• learn games with one set of rules, if encounter another child with different rules, seldom resolve differences between rules
• quarrels frequent

Elementary Grades

• age 9-12
• social interaction important, peer group becomes powerful influence, more than adult influence
• many children acting with similar mannerism, frequently dressing, talking the same way, mimicking role models, latest "fashion" trend, what's "IN"
• seek attention of peers
• sometimes wise for teacher to ignore minor "attention seeking". If behaviour disrupts, reprimand and design a particular behaviour modification program.
• positive characteristic: increased sensitivity to others' feelings, empathy

Junior High Grades

• age 12-15
• should be encouraged to think through their actions and predict consequences
• encourage think alternative approaches and consequence
• begin to be interested in student government, establish own policies
• discussion of moral and political behaviour can be stimulating, but sometimes difficult for students to express/defend minority opinions
• tendency to conform to peer group by acting, dressing, eating alike
• concerned with self image, acceptance by peers
• vandalism tend to occur

Secondary Grades

• peer pressure important influence, but parents and teachers have important impact on long term decisions
• begin to act more mature
• receptive to respect adults give them
• deeper friendship nurtured

Language Development

Important aspect of language development is relationship between thinking, speaking, reading and writing.
Children seem to develop language while developing cognitive abilities.
They look for patterns and invent rules to put pieces together

Birth to 1 year

• crying and cooing
• near 4 months, begin babbling, producing vowel and consonant sounds
• social interaction important, infants babble in response to adults who speak to them
• 9-10 months- echolalic babbling, imitating sounds other make
• at this point babies who are deaf are often silent
• 9-18 months- utter first word, they say "mama" when they need something
• first words typically labels for objects and actions
• holophrasic stage- speak only one word 'sentences' but can use intonation to convey meaning
• during first year, vocab increases tremendously

2-3 years

• near 2nd year, 2-word stage
• then telegraphic speech- understandable but words are missing
• essential content words (nouns and verbs) are used, articles and pronouns omitted.
• overgeneralisation: after learning "ed" for past tense, will say "Daddy go-ed" instead of "Daddy went"
• overgeneralisation: "s" for plural, will say mouses instead of mice
• overgeneralisation: all men "daddy', all 4 legged animal "doggy"
• 2-3 year: child ask questions
• like to hear themselves, demonstrate echolalia, repeating what is heard
• 3rd year: mean length of utterance - 4-5 words
• vocab 900 words
• tell stories , express how they feel
• mastered consonants p, b, m, w, h and all vowels

4-5 years

• can tell lengthy stories
• vocab 1500 words
• make grammatical errors which disappear with increased practice
• stopping child to correct errors only slows the child down, may introduce frustration
• if child uses word incorrectly, try repeating with the correct word, don't make correction obvious
  eg she says "I helded the doll"... you may repeat "You held the doll? You like to hold the doll, don't you?"
• language experience programs: stimulate discussion, have child tell story, record on paper what child said. Later child reads and writes the story. This teaches child that what can be said can also be written, read, and that all the information can be communicated to other people.
• age 5, vocab: 2200 words, count to 10, name objects, state name, age
• sounds mastered by 4 1/2: t, d, n, g, k , y, ng

6-7 years

• 5 1/2 - 6 1/2 years: use all basic rules of grammar- plurals, possessive, verb tense
• vocab: 8000 - 14,000 words
• speech sounds by 6 1/2: sh, zh, l, th, j
• speech sounds by 7 1/2: s, a, r, wh
• girls mastered all speech sounds by age 7
• boys by age 8

Age-level Characteristics: Physical Development

Physical Development
Preschool

• high activity levels
• protruding abdomen characteristic of toddlers disappears as legs and body trunk grow longer -> centre of gravity become lower, increase control
• enjoy physical activity, jumping, skipping etc
• need rest periods,... naps
• motor activites: large muscles more developed than fine muscles in hands
  fine motor coordination, small puzzle, colouring tie shoelace- difficult
  -> choose thick crayons, wide handle brush, big puzzles
• visual focus: difficult focus on small objects-> choose large print

Primary Grades

• 6-9 years old
• need rest periods, sitting still for long periods (20-60mins) is difficult
• large muscles better developed than fine muscles
• may have difficulty adjusting eye focus between near and far objects
• vigorous and accident prone
• increased fidgeting (fingernail biting, hand tapping)
• need to learn social behaviour, variety of activities, eg half reading, half colouring
• allow for physical activity
• visual problems: shape of lens shallow, difficult adjust focus

Elementary Grades

• age 9-12
• fine motor skills fully developed, therefore arts, craft, music are popular, utilise newly acquired skills
• sex difference in growth: girls- growth spurt at 11, boys- growth spurt at 13
• onset of puberty: girls- 9-16 (averaging 12,13) boys- 11-18 (averaging 14)

Junior High

• Puberty: appearance of secondary sex characteristics
• Maturation differences: some students benefit from early maturation (independent and self confident), while some find it a dificult problem to handle.

Secondary Grades

• age 16-18

Intellectual Development

Preschool/Kindergarten

• age 3-6
• like to talk
• appropriate activities: show and tell, show and share, share and tell
• sometimes brings toy to class and discusses it, passes each toy for each child to hold
• active imagination
• attention span relatively short

Primary Grades

• like to talk, esp when a significant adult is listening
• easier to have the child talk than read or write
• need to help them develop listening skills
• eager to learn
• eager to tattle tale on other children
• do not assume child tattles because they are angry or need attention. they tattle because the way a rule was interpreted differed from their literal interpretation and they want the record set straight
• need a strategy to deal with tattlers

Elementary Grades

• gender-related differences in intellectual abilities are apparent
• girls do better in verbal tasks eg reading, spelling, mathematical computation
• boys do better in mathematical reasoning and spatial problems
• girls tend to get higher grades in school
• memory and attention span have increased
• intellectually curious
• begin collecting things
• set high standards for achievement, desiring to be the best in class, often set themselves up for failure due to unrealistic goals
• want to be independent and need emtional support from adults

Junior High

• age 12-15
• transition in cognitive development
• capable of formal thought, consider extenuating circumstances in moral judgement
• rate of transition varies from student to student- group discussion will reveal this
• a student demonstrating formal thought may not necessarily do so on another day or another topic
• when presenting abstract information, double check how well they understand this
• when discussing moral issues, some more easily consider extenuating circumstances than others
• small group discussions work better, easier for minority opinion to be considered
• encourage to be more involved in current events, political issues stimulating
• increased attention span, but preoccupation with other concerns eg puberty, self identity make concentration difficult
• more capable of abstract thought
• emphasis should move away from rote memorisation and unquestioning acceptance of factual information
• concentrate on stimulating interest in the "why" and "how", prevent apathy in students and dullness in skills
• explain why important to learn history, generate interest

Secondary Grades

• age 16-18
• ability to work with formal thought, even if ability exists, may not be exercised well
• instead of straight lectures, structure lessons to encourage abstract and problem solving behaviours
• present information with key pieces missing or hidden
• group discussion important but should be conducted without students feeling pressure to perform in front of other classmates
• realise that having the ability to engage in formal thought doesn't mean can theorize scientifically or rationally
• help develop their abilities by suggesting methods for thinking through problems and encourage creativity

Emotional Development

Preschool/Kindergarten

• age 3-6
• express emotions openly, sometimes verbally, sometimes physically
• jealousy often seen, esp with respect to attention given by teacher to certain students
• help children recognise value in expression of emotions verbally rather than physically
• emotional outbursts short-lived and soon forgotten, so do not feel obliged to intervene if there is conflict
• help minimize problems by changing activities frequently and providing ample rest time and snacks

Primary Grades

• age 6-9
• want to please the teacher, you can use to your advantage,
• they need your praise
• because they want to please you, they are quick to be offended by criticism or lack of attention
• have difficult time dealing with failure
• important to provide situation where all students can feel successful
• have difficulty putting themselves in other's place, often insensitive, watch for this and try to intervene

Elementary Grades

• emotionally difficult, puberty approaching
• conflicts develope between expectation by peer group and expectation by adults
• important time to maintain communication and make sure ground rules understood
• be aware of what is "In" and acknowledge that these are important to students
• behaviour problems, delinquency manifested at this age

Juniour High Grades

• age 12-15
• Puberty, identity confusion, cognitive development - transition period fraught with stress
• therefore moody and stressed
• pre-occupied with their concerns and not attending to lessons you have prepared
• whenever you can, work their concerns, physical appearance, and other life related issues into your lessons
• beware drug abuse

Secondary Grades

• age 16-18
• depression esp among females, crying , sulking, suicidal thoughts
• suicidal thoughts should be immediately referred to counsellor
• Juvenile delinquency: frequently low-achievers with poor family relationships, impoverished homes, receive little or no encouragement from family/peers. Economic/social pressures to drop out. Difficult for them to see that long term reward of a good job is more beneficial than dropping out.