domains of child development essay

Developmental Domains and Learning of Children Essay

Introduction, aesthetic domain, affective domain, physical domain, social domain.

The development of children during the early school years requires attention to not only their mental abilities but also some other aspects that affect the overall process of growth and socialization. As the key tools for assessing and analyzing the child’s aptitudes and abilities, the four key domains are taken into account – aesthetic, affective, physical, and social developmental domains. Each of these factors determines special properties that children acquire at the stage of growing up and in the process of gaining new experience. This work is aimed at describing the possibilities provided by the knowledge of the four domains’ features in the context of teaching primary school students and their training in the core content areas.

This domain characterizes children’s ability to convey feelings and sensations through various means of artistic expression – painting, music, literature, and other forms of art. If a child can express certain emotions with the help of aids, it indicates the normal development of his or her cognitive functions and perception of the environment (Tomlinson, 2014). I could use this domain in the process of teaching children as one of the elements for assessing pupils’ creative perception of the material they study and their ability to reflect internal motives and experiences in other forms.

The affective domain is an essential component of children’s cognitive development since the analysis of those emotions and values ​​that develop during the early school years may make it possible to identify any disorders timely and take appropriate corrective measures. According to Christian et al. (2015), the correct interpretation of students’ feelings allows teachers to plan the learning process based on the emotional perception of pupils. This domain is useful for me because when planning my teaching plan, I should understand children’s reactions and take into account their attitude to specific disciplines.

Although the physical domain is not directly related to learning basic sciences, this component is an essential aspect of development. As Tomlinson (2014) argues, “American children are increasingly at risk because of the growing and historic prevalence of childhood obesity” (p. 11). Weak physical activities and insufficient attention to growth parameters indicate an incorrect approach to controlling the child’s behavioral habits, which may affect his or her academic performance. Therefore, I would prefer not to ignore this domain when planning the educational process to avoid further student health problems.

Socialization is one of the four key domains is a significant aspect of child development. Adaptation to the educational environment allows students to establish contact with both peers and teachers, thereby ensuring normal interaction. According to Christian et al. (2015), if this aspect is ignored, it can create significant obstacles to the development of other important functions. In my teaching plan, I would pay considerable attention to how my pupils interact with one another, what behavioral patterns they use, and how they learn to solve difficulties.

Teaching primary school students should be accompanied by analyzing four key development domains to help children develop all crucial skills. Each of the aspects considered has unique properties that allow pupils to gain valuable experience and adapt to an unfamiliar environment. When planning the curriculum, I would prefer to adhere to the provisions of these domains to have a clear idea of my students’ developmental characteristics.

Christian, H., Zubrick, S. R., Foster, S., Giles-Corti, B., Bull, F., Wood, L.,… Boruff, B. (2015). The influence of the neighborhood physical environment on early child health and development: A review and call for research. Health & Place , 33 , 25-36. Web.

Tomlinson, H. B. (2014). An overview of development in the primary grades. In C. Copple, S. Bredekamp, D. G. Koralek, & K. Charner (Eds.), Developmentally appropriate practice (3rd ed.) (pp. 9-38). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

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Major Domains in Child Development

Phil Boorman / Getty Images

Physical Development

• Cognitive Development
• Social and Emotional Development
• Language Development

Developmental Delays

When used in relation to human development, the word "domain" refers to specific aspects of growth and change. The major domains of development are physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional.

Children often experience a significant and obvious change in one domain at a time. For example, if a child is focusing on learning to walk , which is in the physical domain, you may not notice as much language development , or new words, until they have mastered walking.

It might seem like a particular domain is the only one experiencing developmental change during different periods of a child's life, but change typically occurs in the other domains as well—just more gradually and less prominently.

The physical domain covers the development of physical changes, which includes growing in size and strength, as well as the development of both gross motor skills and fine motor skills . The physical domain also includes the development of the senses and using them.

When young, children are learning how to perform different activities with their fingers in coordination with their eyes such as grasping , releasing, reaching, pinching, and turning their wrist. Because these small muscle movements take time to develop, they may not come easily at first.

These fine motor skills help kids perform tasks for daily living, like buttoning buttons, picking up finger foods, using a fork, pouring milk, going to the restroom, and washing their hands .

In addition to these fine motor skills , kids also learn to use their larger muscles, like those in their arms, legs, back, and stomach. Walking, running, throwing, lifting, pulling, pushing, and kicking are all important skills that are related to body awareness, balance, and strength. These skills allow your child to control and move their body in different ways.

Parents can help their child's physical development by providing opportunities for age-appropriate activities. For instance, babies need regular tummy time to build their neck and upper body strength, while preschoolers and school-aged children need plenty of opportunities to run around and play. Even tweens and teens need regular opportunities for physical activity .

Meanwhile, you shouldn't overlook your child's need to develop their fine motor skills as well. From an early age, give them opportunities to use their hands and fingers. Give your baby rattles, plush balls, and other toys to grasp.

Later, toys that allow them to pick things up and fit them into slots are good for developing beginning skills. As they get older, teach them how to button buttons, use scissors, hold a pencil, and do other tasks with their fingers and hands.

Physical development also can be influenced by nutrition and illness. So, make sure your kids have a healthy diet and regular wellness check-ups in order to promote proper child development.

Cognitive Development

The cognitive domain includes intellectual development and creativity. As they develop cognitively, kids gain the ability to process thoughts, pay attention, develop memories, understand their surroundings, express creativity, as well as to make, implement, and accomplish plans.

The child psychologist Jean Piaget outlined four stages of cognitive development:

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to Age 2)

This stage involves learning about the environment through movements and sensations. Infants and toddlers use basic actions like sucking , grasping, looking, and listening to learn about the world around them.

Preoperational Stage (Ages 2 to 7)

During this stage, children learn to think symbolically as well as use words or pictures to represent things. Kids in this stage enjoy pretend play, but still struggle with logic and understanding another person's perspective.

Concrete Operational Stage (Ages 7 to 11)

Once they enter this stage, kids start to think more logically, but may still struggle with hypothetical situations and abstract thinking. Because they are beginning to see things from another person's perspective, now is a good time to start teaching empathy .

Formal Operational Stage (Age 12 and Up)

During this stage, a child develops an increase in logical thinking . They also develop an ability to use deductive reasoning and understand abstract ideas. As they become more adept at problem-solving , they also are able to think more scientifically about the world around them.

You can help your child develop and hone their cognitive skills by giving them opportunities to play with blocks, puzzles, and board games. You also should create an environment where your child feels comfortable asking questions about the world around them and has plenty of opportunities for free play .

Develop your child's desire to learn by helping them explore topics they are passionate about. Encourage thinking and reasoning skills by asking them open-ended questions and teaching them to expand on their thought processes. As they get older, teach them how to be critical consumers of media and where to find answers to things they don't know.

Social and Emotional Development 

The social-emotional domain includes a child's growing understanding and control of their emotions. They also begin to identify what others are feeling, develop the ability to cooperate, show empathy , and use moral reasoning .

This domain includes developing attachments to others and learning how to interact with them. For instance, children learn how to share, take turns, and accept differences in others. They also develop many different types of relationships, from parents and siblings to peers, teachers, coaches, and others in the community.

Children develop self-knowledge during the social-emotional stage. They learn how they identify with different groups and their innate temperament will emerge in their relationships.

Tweens, especially, demonstrate significant developments in the social-emotional domain as their peers become more central to their lives and they learn how to carry out long-term friendships . Typically, parents will notice major increases in social skills during this time.

To help your child develop both socially and emotionally, look for opportunities for them to interact with kids their age and help them form relationships with both children and adults. You can arrange playdates, explore playgroups , and look into extracurricular activities . Also encourage them to talk to their grandparents, teachers, and coaches as well.

To encourage a sense of self, ask your child about their interests and passions and encourage them to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Teach them about recognizing and managing feelings. As they get older, talk to them about healthy friendships and how to handle peer pressure .

You also should not shy away from the challenging talks like those covering sex and consent. All of these different social and emotional facets play into your child's overall development.

Language Development 

Language development is dependent on the other developmental domains. The ability to communicate with others grows from infancy, but children develop these abilities at different rates. Aspects of language include:

• Phonology : Creating the sounds of speech
• Pragmatics : Communicating verbally and non-verbally in social situations
• Semantics : Understanding the rules of what words mean
• Syntax : Using grammar and putting sentences together

One of the most important things you can do with your child throughout their early life is to read to them —and not just at bedtime. Make reading and enjoying books a central part of your day. Reading out loud to your kids from birth and beyond has a major impact on their emerging language and literacy skills.

Aside from reading books, look for opportunities to read other things, too, like the directions to a board game, letters from family members, holiday cards, online articles, and school newsletters. Hearing new vocabulary words spoken expands a child's vocabulary and helps them prepare to identify unfamiliar words when used in context.

In addition to reading, make sure you are talking to your kids even before they can say their first word. Tell them about the things you are doing or what you're buying in the store. Point out different things and engage them in the world around them. Singing to your child is another excellent way to build your child's language skills.

As they get older, try holding regular conversations, answering questions, and asking for your child's ideas or opinions. All of these activities are an important part of their language development.

As children grow and learn, they will pass certain developmental milestones . While every child is different and progresses at a different rate, these milestones provide general guidelines that help parents and caregivers gauge whether or not a child is on track.

The exact timing that a child reaches a particular milestone will vary significantly. However, missing one or two milestones can be a cause for concern.

Talk to your child's pediatrician if you're worried that your child is not meeting milestones in a particular area. They can evaluate your child and recommend different services if a delay is identified.

Every state in the U.S. offers an early intervention program to support kids under the age of 3 that have developmental delays . Once they are over age 3, the community's local school district must provide programming. So, don't delay in determining whether or not your child needs assistance. There are resources out there to support them should they need it.

A Word From Verywell

A child's development is a multi-faceted process comprised of growth, regression, and change in different domains. Development in certain domains may appear more prominent during specific stages of life, yet kids virtually always experience some degree of change in all domains.

You can support your child's growth and development in each of these four areas by understanding these domains and supporting the work your child is doing. Watch the changes taking place in your child and supplement their learning with activities that support their efforts.

U.S. National Library of Medicine. Transforming the workforce for children birth through age 8: a unifying foundation .

Nemours KidsHealth. Connecting with your preteen .

Nemours KidsHealth. Communication and your newborn .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Language in brief .

By Rebecca Fraser-Thill Rebecca Fraser-Thill holds a Master's Degree in developmental psychology and writes about child development and tween parenting.

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Chapter Three: Domains in Development

The Four Domains of Development

As you just learned, there are many domains in which children develop from infancy through school age. For this chapter, we are going to discuss four overarching domains: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. The physical domain has to do with growth and changes in the body; the cognitive domain includes the functions of the brain, intelligence, and language; the social domain looks at how children develop skills for managing interactions with others; and the emotional domain covers internal states, such as feelings and personality.

The Whole Child: Development in the Early Years Copyright © 2023 by Deirdre Budzyna and Doris Buckley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Child Development

Chapter objectives.

After this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the principles that underlie development.
• Differentiate periods of human development.
• Evaluate issues in development.
• Distinguish the different methods of research.
• Explain what a theory is.
• Compare and contrast different theories of child development.

Introduction

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn.

We will look at how we change physically over time from conception through adolescence. We examine cognitive change, or how our ability to think and remember changes over the first 20 years or so of life. And we will look at how our emotions, psychological state, and social relationships change throughout childhood and adolescence. 1

Principles of Development

There are several underlying principles of development to keep in mind:

• Development is lifelong and change is apparent across the lifespan (although this text ends with adolescence). And early experiences affect later development.
• Development is multidirectional. We show gains in some areas of development, while showing loss in other areas.
• Development is multidimensional. We change across three general domains/dimensions; physical, cognitive, and social and emotional.
• The physical domain includes changes in height and weight, changes in gross and fine motor skills, sensory capabilities, the nervous system, as well as the propensity for disease and illness.
• The cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence, wisdom, perception, problem-solving, memory, and language.
• The social and emotional domain (also referred to as psychosocial) focuses on changes in emotion, self-perception, and interpersonal relationships with families, peers, and friends.

All three domains influence each other. It is also important to note that a change in one domain may cascade and prompt changes in the other domains.

• Development is characterized by plasticity, which is our ability to change and that many of our characteristics are malleable. Early experiences are important, but children are remarkably resilient (able to overcome adversity).
• Development is multicontextual. 2 We are influenced by both nature (genetics) and nurture (the environment) – when and where we live and our actions, beliefs, and values are a response to circumstances surrounding us.  The key here is to understand that behaviors, motivations, emotions, and choices are all part of a bigger picture. 3

Now let’s look at a framework for examining development.

Periods of Development

Think about what periods of development that you think a course on Child Development would address. How many stages are on your list? Perhaps you have three: infancy, childhood, and teenagers. Developmentalists (those that study development) break this part of the life span into these five stages as follows:

• Prenatal Development (conception through birth)
• Infancy and Toddlerhood (birth through two years)
• Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)
• Middle Childhood (6 to 11 years)
• Adolescence (12 years to adulthood)

This list reflects unique aspects of the various stages of childhood and adolescence that will be explored in this book. So while both an 8 month old and an 8 year old are considered children, they have very different motor abilities, social relationships, and cognitive skills. Their nutritional needs are different and their primary psychological concerns are also distinctive.

Prenatal Development

Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery are primary concerns.

Figure 1.1 – A tiny embryo depicting some development of arms and legs, as well as facial features that are starting to show. 4

Infancy and Toddlerhood

The two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a walking, talking toddler within a relatively short period of time. Caregivers are also transformed from someone who manages feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child.

Figure 1.2 – A swaddled newborn. 5

Early Childhood

Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years and consists of the years which follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling. As a three to five-year-old, the child is busy learning language, is gaining a sense of self and greater independence, and is beginning to learn the workings of the physical world. This knowledge does not come quickly, however, and preschoolers may initially have interesting conceptions of size, time, space and distance such as fearing that they may go down the drain if they sit at the front of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long something will take by holding out their two index fingers several inches apart. A toddler’s fierce determination to do something may give way to a four-year-old’s sense of guilt for action that brings the disapproval of others.

Figure 1.3 – Two young children playing in the Singapore Botanic Gardens 6

Middle Childhood

The ages of six through eleven comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students.

Figure 1.4 – Two children running down the street in Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago 7

Adolescence

Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider abstract concepts such as love, fear, and freedom. Ironically, adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them at greater risk of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted infections that can have lifelong consequences. 8

Figure 1.5 – Two smiling teenage women. 9

There are some aspects of development that have been hotly debated. Let’s explore these.

Issues in Development

Nature and nurture.

Why are people the way they are? Are features such as height, weight, personality, being diabetic, etc. the result of heredity or environmental factors-or both? For decades, scholars have carried on the “nature/nurture” debate. For any particular feature, those on the side of Nature would argue that heredity plays the most important role in bringing about that feature. Those on the side of Nurture would argue that one’s environment is most significant in shaping the way we are. This debate continues in all aspects of human development, and most scholars agree that there is a constant interplay between the two forces. It is difficult to isolate the root of any single behavior as a result solely of nature or nurture.

Continuity versus Discontinuity

Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process, or is it best viewed as one of more abrupt change? The answer to that question often depends on which developmental theorist you ask and what topic is being studied. The theories of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg are called stage theories. Stage theories or discontinuous development assume that developmental change often occurs in distinct stages that are qualitatively different from each other, and in a set, universal sequence. At each stage of development, children and adults have different qualities and characteristics. Thus, stage theorists assume development is more discontinuous. Others, such as the behaviorists, Vygotsky, and information processing theorists, assume development is a more slow and gradual process known as continuous development. For instance, they would see the adult as not possessing new skills, but more advanced skills that were already present in some form in the child. Brain development and environmental experiences contribute to the acquisition of more developed skills.

Figure 1.6 – The graph to the left shows three stages in the continuous growth of a tree. The graph to the right shows four distinct stages of development in the life cycle of a ladybug. 10

Active versus Passive

How much do you play a role in your own developmental path? Are you at the whim of your genetic inheritance or the environment that surrounds you? Some theorists see humans as playing a much more active role in their own development. Piaget, for instance believed that children actively explore their world and construct new ways of thinking to explain the things they experience. In contrast, many behaviorists view humans as being more passive in the developmental process. 11

How do we know so much about how we grow, develop, and learn? Let’s look at how that data is gathered through research

Research Methods

An important part of learning any science is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon. Some people are hesitant to trust academicians or researchers because they always seem to change their story. That, however, is exactly what science is all about; it involves continuously renewing our understanding of the subjects in question and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur. Science is a vehicle for going on a never-ending journey. In the area of development, we have seen changes in recommendations for nutrition, in explanations of psychological states as people age, and in parenting advice. So think of learning about human development as a lifelong endeavor.

Take a moment to write down two things that you know about childhood. Now, how do you know? Chances are you know these things based on your own history (experiential reality) or based on what others have told you or cultural ideas (agreement reality) (Seccombe and Warner, 2004). There are several problems with personal inquiry. Read the following sentence aloud:

Paris in the

Are you sure that is what it said? Read it again:

If you read it differently the second time (adding the second “the”) you just experienced one of the problems with personal inquiry; that is, the tendency to see what we believe. Our assumptions very often guide our perceptions, consequently, when we believe something, we tend to see it even if it is not there. This problem may just be a result of cognitive ‘blinders’ or it may be part of a more conscious attempt to support our own views. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for evidence that we are right and in so doing, we ignore contradictory evidence. Popper suggests that the distinction between that which is scientific and that which is unscientific is that science is falsifiable; scientific inquiry involves attempts to reject or refute a theory or set of assumptions (Thornton, 2005). Theory that cannot be falsified is not scientific. And much of what we do in personal inquiry involves drawing conclusions based on what we have personally experienced or validating our own experience by discussing what we think is true with others who share the same views.

Science offers a more systematic way to make comparisons guard against bias.

Scientific Methods

One method of scientific investigation involves the following steps:

• Determining a research question
• Reviewing previous studies addressing the topic in question (known as a literature review)
• Determining a method of gathering information
• Conducting the study
• Interpreting results
• Drawing conclusions; stating limitations of the study and suggestions for future research
• Making your findings available to others (both to share information and to have your work scrutinized by others)

Your findings can then be used by others as they explore the area of interest and through this process a literature or knowledge base is established. This model of scientific investigation presents research as a linear process guided by a specific research question. And it typically involves quantifying or using statistics to understand and report what has been studied. Many academic journals publish reports on studies conducted in this manner.

Another model of research referred to as qualitative research may involve steps such as these:

• Begin with a broad area of interest
• Gain entrance into a group to be researched
• Gather field notes about the setting, the people, the structure, the activities or other areas of interest
• Ask open ended, broad “grand tour” types of questions when interviewing subjects
• Modify research questions as study continues
• Note patterns or consistencies
• Explore new areas deemed important by the people being observed
• Report findings

In this type of research, theoretical ideas are “grounded” in the experiences of the participants. The researcher is the student and the people in the setting are the teachers as they inform the researcher of their world (Glazer & Strauss, 1967). Researchers are to be aware of their own biases and assumptions, acknowledge them and bracket them in efforts to keep them from limiting accuracy in reporting. Sometimes qualitative studies are used initially to explore a topic and more quantitative studies are used to test or explain what was first described.

Let’s look more closely at some techniques, or research methods, used to describe, explain, or evaluate. Each of these designs has strengths and weaknesses and is sometimes used in combination with other designs within a single study.

Observational Studies

Observational studies involve watching and recording the actions of participants. This may take place in the natural setting, such as observing children at play at a park, or behind a one-way glass while children are at play in a laboratory playroom. The researcher may follow a checklist and record the frequency and duration of events (perhaps how many conflicts occur among 2-year-olds) or may observe and record as much as possible about an event (such as observing children in a classroom and capturing the details about the room design and what the children and teachers are doing and saying). In general, observational studies have the strength of allowing the researcher to see how people behave rather than relying on self-report. What people do and what they say they do are often very different. A major weakness of observational studies is that they do not allow the researcher to explain causal relationships. Yet, observational studies are useful and widely used when studying children. Children tend to change their behavior when they know they are being watched (known as the Hawthorne effect) and may not survey well.

Experiments

Experiments are designed to test hypotheses (or specific statements about the relationship between variables) in a controlled setting in efforts to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes. A variable is anything that changes in value. Concepts are operationalized or transformed into variables in research, which means that the researcher must specify exactly what is going to be measured in the study.

Three conditions must be met in order to establish cause and effect. Experimental designs are useful in meeting these conditions.

The independent and dependent variables must be related. In other words, when one is altered, the other changes in response. (The independent variable is something altered or introduced by the researcher. The dependent variable is the outcome or the factor affected by the introduction of the independent variable. For example, if we are looking at the impact of exercise on stress levels, the independent variable would be exercise; the dependent variable would be stress.)

The cause must come before the effect. Experiments involve measuring subjects on the dependent variable before exposing them to the independent variable (establishing a baseline). So we would measure the subjects’ level of stress before introducing exercise and then again after the exercise to see if there has been a change in stress levels. (Observational and survey research does not always allow us to look at the timing of these events, which makes understanding causality problematic with these designs.)

The cause must be isolated. The researcher must ensure that no outside, perhaps unknown variables are actually causing the effect we see. The experimental design helps make this possible. In an experiment, we would make sure that our subjects’ diets were held constant throughout the exercise program. Otherwise, diet might really be creating the change in stress level rather than exercise.

A basic experimental design involves beginning with a sample (or subset of a population) and randomly assigning subjects to one of two groups: the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group is the group that is going to be exposed to an independent variable or condition the researcher is introducing as a potential cause of an event. The control group is going to be used for comparison and is going to have the same experience as the experimental group but will not be exposed to the independent variable. After exposing the experimental group to the independent variable, the two groups are measured again to see if a change has occurred. If so, we are in a better position to suggest that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

The major advantage of the experimental design is that of helping to establish cause and effect relationships. A disadvantage of this design is the difficulty of translating much of what happens in a laboratory setting into real life.

Case Studies

Case studies involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or children reared in isolation. And they are often used by clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal practice when gathering information about a client or patient coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail about situations or conditions. However, the findings from case studies cannot be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for comparison.

Figure 1.7 – Illustrated poster from a classroom describing a case study. 12

Surveys are familiar to most people because they are so widely used. Surveys enhance accessibility to subjects because they can be conducted in person, over the phone, through the mail, or online. A survey involves asking a standard set of questions to a group of subjects. In a highly structured survey, subjects are forced to choose from a response set such as “strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree, strongly agree”; or “0, 1-5, 6-10, etc.” This is known as Likert Scale . Surveys are commonly used by sociologists, marketing researchers, political scientists, therapists, and others to gather information on many independent and dependent variables in a relatively short period of time. Surveys typically yield surface information on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth understanding of human behavior.

Of course, surveys can be designed in a number of ways. They may include forced choice questions and semi-structured questions in which the researcher allows the respondent to describe or give details about certain events. One of the most difficult aspects of designing a good survey is wording questions in an unbiased way and asking the right questions so that respondents can give a clear response rather than choosing “undecided” each time. Knowing that 30% of respondents are undecided is of little use! So a lot of time and effort should be placed on the construction of survey items. One of the benefits of having forced choice items is that each response is coded so that the results can be quickly entered and analyzed using statistical software. Analysis takes much longer when respondents give lengthy responses that must be analyzed in a different way. Surveys are useful in examining stated values, attitudes, opinions, and reporting on practices. However, they are based on self-report or what people say they do rather than on observation and this can limit accuracy.

Developmental Designs

Developmental designs are techniques used in developmental research (and other areas as well). These techniques try to examine how age, cohort, gender, and social class impact development.

Longitudinal Research

Longitudinal research involves beginning with a group of people who may be of the same age and background, and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time. One of the benefits of this type of research is that people can be followed through time and be compared with them when they were younger.

Figure 1.8 – A longitudinal research design. 13

A problem with this type of research is that it is very expensive and subjects may drop out over time. The Perry Preschool Project which began in 1962 is an example of a longitudinal study that continues to provide data on children’s development.

Cross-sectional Research

Cross-sectional research involves beginning with a sample that represents a cross-section of the population. Respondents who vary in age, gender, ethnicity, and social class might be asked to complete a survey about television program preferences or attitudes toward the use of the Internet. The attitudes of males and females could then be compared, as could attitudes based on age. In cross-sectional research, respondents are measured only once.

Figure 1.9 – A cross-sectional research design. 14

This method is much less expensive than longitudinal research but does not allow the researcher to distinguish between the impact of age and the cohort effect. Different attitudes about the use of technology, for example, might not be altered by a person’s biological age as much as their life experiences as members of a cohort.

Sequential Research

Sequential research involves combining aspects of the previous two techniques; beginning with a cross-sectional sample and measuring them through time.

Figure 1.10 – A sequential research design. 15

This is the perfect model for looking at age, gender, social class, and ethnicity. But the drawbacks of high costs and attrition are here as well. 16

Table 1 .1 – Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Research Designs 17

Consent and Ethics in Research

Research should, as much as possible, be based on participants’ freely volunteered informed consent. For minors, this also requires consent from their legal guardians. This implies a responsibility to explain fully and meaningfully to both the child and their guardians what the research is about and how it will be disseminated. Participants and their legal guardians should be aware of the research purpose and procedures, their right to refuse to participate; the extent to which confidentiality will be maintained; the potential uses to which the data might be put; the foreseeable risks and expected benefits; and that participants have the right to discontinue at any time.

But consent alone does not absolve the responsibility of researchers to anticipate and guard against potential harmful consequences for participants. 18 It is critical that researchers protect all rights of the participants including confidentiality.

Child development is a fascinating field of study – but care must be taken to ensure that researchers use appropriate methods to examine infant and child behavior, use the correct experimental design to answer their questions, and be aware of the special challenges that are part-and-parcel of developmental research. Hopefully, this information helped you develop an understanding of these various issues and to be ready to think more critically about research questions that interest you. There are so many interesting questions that remain to be examined by future generations of developmental scientists – maybe you will make one of the next big discoveries! 19

Another really important framework to use when trying to understand children’s development are theories of development. Let’s explore what theories are and introduce you to some major theories in child development.

Developmental Theories

What is a theory.

Students sometimes feel intimidated by theory; even the phrase, “Now we are going to look at some theories…” is met with blank stares and other indications that the audience is now lost. But theories are valuable tools for understanding human behavior; in fact they are proposed explanations for the “how” and “whys” of development. Have you ever wondered, “Why is my 3 year old so inquisitive?” or “Why are some fifth graders rejected by their classmates?” Theories can help explain these and other occurrences. Developmental theories offer explanations about how we develop, why we change over time and the kinds of influences that impact development.

A theory guides and helps us interpret research findings as well. It provides the researcher with a blueprint or model to be used to help piece together various studies. Think of theories as guidelines much like directions that come with an appliance or other object that requires assembly. The instructions can help one piece together smaller parts more easily than if trial and error are used.

Theories can be developed using induction in which a number of single cases are observed and after patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples. Established theories are then tested through research; however, not all theories are equally suited to scientific investigation.  Some theories are difficult to test but are still useful in stimulating debate or providing concepts that have practical application. Keep in mind that theories are not facts; they are guidelines for investigation and practice, and they gain credibility through research that fails to disprove them. 20

Let’s take a look at some key theories in Child Development.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory

We begin with the often controversial figure, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud has been a very influential figure in the area of development; his view of development and psychopathology dominated the field of psychiatry until the growth of behaviorism in the 1950s. His assumptions that personality forms during the first few years of life and that the ways in which parents or other caregivers interact with children have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional states have guided parents, educators, clinicians, and policy-makers for many years. We have only recently begun to recognize that early childhood experiences do not always result in certain personality traits or emotional states. There is a growing body of literature addressing resilience in children who come from harsh backgrounds and yet develop without damaging emotional scars (O’Grady and Metz, 1987). Freud has stimulated an enormous amount of research and generated many ideas. Agreeing with Freud’s theory in its entirety is hardly necessary for appreciating the contribution he has made to the field of development.

Figure 1.11 – Sigmund Freud. 21

Freud’s theory of self suggests that there are three parts of the self.

The id is the part of the self that is inborn. It responds to biological urges without pause and is guided by the principle of pleasure: if it feels good, it is the thing to do. A newborn is all id. The newborn cries when hungry, defecates when the urge strikes.

The ego develops through interaction with others and is guided by logic or the reality principle. It has the ability to delay gratification. It knows that urges have to be managed. It mediates between the id and superego using logic and reality to calm the other parts of the self.

The superego represents society’s demands for its members. It is guided by a sense of guilt. Values, morals, and the conscience are all part of the superego.

The personality is thought to develop in response to the child’s ability to learn to manage biological urges. Parenting is important here. If the parent is either overly punitive or lax, the child may not progress to the next stage. Here is a brief introduction to Freud’s stages.

Table 1. 2 – Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very difficult to test scientifically. How can parenting in infancy be traced to personality in adulthood? Are there other variables that might better explain development? The theory is also considered to be sexist in suggesting that women who do not accept an inferior position in society are somehow psychologically flawed. Freud focuses on the darker side of human nature and suggests that much of what determines our actions is unknown to us. So why do we study Freud? As mentioned above, despite the criticisms, Freud’s assumptions about the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our psychological selves have found their way into child development, education, and parenting practices. Freud’s theory has heuristic value in providing a framework from which to elaborate and modify subsequent theories of development. Many later theories, particularly behaviorism and humanism, were challenges to Freud’s views. 22

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Now, let’s turn to a less controversial theorist, Erik Erikson. Erikson (1902-1994) suggested that our relationships and society’s expectations motivate much of our behavior in his theory of psychosocial development. Erikson was a student of Freud’s but emphasized the importance of the ego, or conscious thought, in determining our actions. In other words, he believed that we are not driven by unconscious urges. We know what motivates us and we consciously think about how to achieve our goals. He is considered the father of developmental psychology because his model gives us a guideline for the entire life span and suggests certain primary psychological and social concerns throughout life.

Figure 1.12 – Erik Erikson. 23

Erikson expanded on his Freud’s by emphasizing the importance of culture in parenting practices and motivations and adding three stages of adult development (Erikson, 1950; 1968). He believed that we are aware of what motivates us throughout life and the ego has greater importance in guiding our actions than does the id. We make conscious choices in life and these choices focus on meeting certain social and cultural needs rather than purely biological ones. Humans are motivated, for instance, by the need to feel that the world is a trustworthy place, that we are capable individuals, that we can make a contribution to society, and that we have lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems.

Erikson divided the lifespan into eight stages. In each stage, we have a major psychosocial task to accomplish or crisis to overcome.  Erikson believed that our personality continues to take shape throughout our lifespan as we face these challenges in living. Here is a brief overview of the eight stages:

Table 1. 3 – Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

These eight stages form a foundation for discussions on emotional and social development during the life span. Keep in mind, however, that these stages or crises can occur more than once. For instance, a person may struggle with a lack of trust beyond infancy under certain circumstances. Erikson’s theory has been criticized for focusing so heavily on stages and assuming that the completion of one stage is prerequisite for the next crisis of development. His theory also focuses on the social expectations that are found in certain cultures, but not in all. For instance, the idea that adolescence is a time of searching for identity might translate well in the middle-class culture of the United States, but not as well in cultures where the transition into adulthood coincides with puberty through rites of passage and where adult roles offer fewer choices. 24

Behaviorism

While Freud and Erikson looked at what was going on in the mind, behaviorism rejected any reference to mind and viewed overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of psychology. Through the scientific study of behavior, it was hoped that laws of learning could be derived that would promote the prediction and control of behavior. 25

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov (1880-1937) was a Russian physiologist interested in studying digestion. As he recorded the amount of salivation his laboratory dogs produced as they ate, he noticed that they actually began to salivate before the food arrived as the researcher walked down the hall and toward the cage. “This,” he thought, “is not natural!” One would expect a dog to automatically salivate when food hit their palate, but BEFORE the food comes? Of course, what had happened was . . . you tell me. That’s right! The dogs knew that the food was coming because they had learned to associate the footsteps with the food. The key word here is “learned”. A learned response is called a “conditioned” response.

Figure 1.13 – Ivan Pavlov. 26

Pavlov began to experiment with this concept of classical conditioning . He began to ring a bell, for instance, prior to introducing the food. Sure enough, after making this connection several times, the dogs could be made to salivate to the sound of a bell. Once the bell had become an event to which the dogs had learned to salivate, it was called a conditioned stimulus . The act of salivating to a bell was a response that had also been learned, now termed in Pavlov’s jargon, a conditioned response. Notice that the response, salivation, is the same whether it is conditioned or unconditioned (unlearned or natural). What changed is the stimulus to which the dog salivates. One is natural (unconditioned) and one is learned (conditioned).

Let’s think about how classical conditioning is used on us. One of the most widespread applications of classical conditioning principles was brought to us by the psychologist, John B. Watson.

John B. Watson

John B. Watson (1878-1958) believed that most of our fears and other emotional responses are classically conditioned. He had gained a good deal of popularity in the 1920s with his expert advice on parenting offered to the public.

Figure 1.14 – John B. Watson. 27

He tried to demonstrate the power of classical conditioning with his famous experiment with an 18 month old boy named “Little Albert”. Watson sat Albert down and introduced a variety of seemingly scary objects to him: a burning piece of newspaper, a white rat, etc. But Albert remained curious and reached for all of these things. Watson knew that one of our only inborn fears is the fear of loud noises so he proceeded to make a loud noise each time he introduced one of Albert’s favorites, a white rat. After hearing the loud noise several times paired with the rat, Albert soon came to fear the rat and began to cry when it was introduced. Watson filmed this experiment for posterity and used it to demonstrate that he could help parents achieve any outcomes they desired, if they would only follow his advice. Watson wrote columns in newspapers and in magazines and gained a lot of popularity among parents eager to apply science to household order.

Operant conditioning, on the other hand, looks at the way the consequences of a behavior increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring again. So let’s look at this a bit more.

B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), who brought us the principles of operant conditioning, suggested that reinforcement is a more effective means of encouraging a behavior than is criticism or punishment. By focusing on strengthening desirable behavior, we have a greater impact than if we emphasize what is undesirable. Reinforcement is anything that an organism desires and is motivated to obtain.

Figure 1.15 – B. F. Skinner. 28

A reinforcer is something that encourages or promotes a behavior. Some things are natural rewards. They are considered intrinsic or primary because their value is easily understood. Think of what kinds of things babies or animals such as puppies find rewarding.

Extrinsic or secondary reinforcers are things that have a value not immediately understood. Their value is indirect. They can be traded in for what is ultimately desired.

The use of positive reinforcement involves adding something to a situation in order to encourage a behavior. For example, if I give a child a cookie for cleaning a room, the addition of the cookie makes cleaning more likely in the future. Think of ways in which you positively reinforce others.

Negative reinforcement occurs when taking something unpleasant away from a situation encourages behavior. For example, I have an alarm clock that makes a very unpleasant, loud sound when it goes off in the morning. As a result, I get up and turn it off. By removing the noise, I am reinforced for getting up. How do you negatively reinforce others?

Punishment is an effort to stop a behavior. It means to follow an action with something unpleasant or painful. Punishment is often less effective than reinforcement for several reasons. It doesn’t indicate the desired behavior, it may result in suppressing rather than stopping a behavior, (in other words, the person may not do what is being punished when you’re around, but may do it often when you leave), and a focus on punishment can result in not noticing when the person does well.

Not all behaviors are learned through association or reinforcement. Many of the things we do are learned by watching others. This is addressed in social learning theory.

Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura (1925-) is a leading contributor to social learning theory. He calls our attention to the ways in which many of our actions are not learned through conditioning; rather, they are learned by watching others (1977). Young children frequently learn behaviors through imitation

Figure 1.16 – Albert Bandura. 29

Sometimes, particularly when we do not know what else to do, we learn by modeling or copying the behavior of others. A kindergartner on his or her first day of school might eagerly look at how others are acting and try to act the same way to fit in more quickly. Adolescents struggling with their identity rely heavily on their peers to act as role-models. Sometimes we do things because we’ve seen it pay off for someone else. They were operantly conditioned, but we engage in the behavior because we hope it will pay off for us as well. This is referred to as vicarious reinforcement (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963).

Bandura (1986) suggests that there is interplay between the environment and the individual. We are not just the product of our surroundings, rather we influence our surroundings. Parents not only influence their child’s environment, perhaps intentionally through the use of reinforcement, etc., but children influence parents as well. Parents may respond differently with their first child than with their fourth. Perhaps they try to be the perfect parents with their firstborn, but by the time their last child comes along they have very different expectations both of themselves and their child. Our environment creates us and we create our environment. 30

Theories also explore cognitive development and how mental processes change over time.

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is one of the most influential cognitive theorists. Piaget was inspired to explore children’s ability to think and reason by watching his own children’s development. He was one of the first to recognize and map out the ways in which children’s thought differs from that of adults. His interest in this area began when he was asked to test the IQ of children and began to notice that there was a pattern in their wrong answers. He believed that children’s intellectual skills change over time through maturation. Children of differing ages interpret the world differently.

Figure 1.17 – Jean Piaget. 32

Piaget believed our desire to understand the world comes from a need for cognitive equilibrium . This is an agreement or balance between what we sense in the outside world and what we know in our minds. If we experience something that we cannot understand, we try to restore the balance by either changing our thoughts or by altering the experience to fit into what we do understand. Perhaps you meet someone who is very different from anyone you know. How do you make sense of this person? You might use them to establish a new category of people in your mind or you might think about how they are similar to someone else.

A schema or schemes are categories of knowledge. They are like mental boxes of concepts. A child has to learn many concepts. They may have a scheme for “under” and “soft” or “running” and “sour”. All of these are schema. Our efforts to understand the world around us lead us to develop new schema and to modify old ones.

One way to make sense of new experiences is to focus on how they are similar to what we already know. This is assimilation . So the person we meet who is very different may be understood as being “sort of like my brother” or “his voice sounds a lot like yours.” Or a new food may be assimilated when we determine that it tastes like chicken!

Another way to make sense of the world is to change our mind. We can make a cognitive accommodation to this new experience by adding new schema. This food is unlike anything I’ve tasted before. I now have a new category of foods that are bitter-sweet in flavor, for instance. This is  accommodation . Do you accommodate or assimilate more frequently? Children accommodate more frequently as they build new schema. Adults tend to look for similarity in their experience and assimilate. They may be less inclined to think “outside the box.”

Piaget suggested different ways of understanding that are associated with maturation. He divided this into four stages:

Table 1.4 – Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory

Piaget has been criticized for overemphasizing the role that physical maturation plays in cognitive development and in underestimating the role that culture and interaction (or experience) plays in cognitive development. Looking across cultures reveals considerable variation in what children are able to do at various ages. Piaget may have underestimated what children are capable of given the right circumstances. 33

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who wrote in the early 1900s but whose work was discovered in the United States in the 1960s but became more widely known in the 1980s. Vygotsky differed with Piaget in that he believed that a person not only has a set of abilities, but also a set of potential abilities that can be realized if given the proper guidance from others. His sociocultural theory emphasizes the importance of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities. He believed that through guided participation known as scaffolding, with a teacher or capable peer, a child can learn cognitive skills within a certain range known as the zone of proximal development . 34 His belief was that development occurred first through children’s immediate social interactions, and then moved to the individual level as they began to internalize their learning. 35

Figure 1.18- Lev Vygotsky. 36

Have you ever taught a child to perform a task? Maybe it was brushing their teeth or preparing food. Chances are you spoke to them and described what you were doing while you demonstrated the skill and let them work along with you all through the process. You gave them assistance when they seemed to need it, but once they knew what to do-you stood back and let them go. This is scaffolding and can be seen demonstrated throughout the world. This approach to teaching has also been adopted by educators. Rather than assessing students on what they are doing, they should be understood in terms of what they are capable of doing with the proper guidance. You can see how Vygotsky would be very popular with modern day educators. 37

Comparing Piaget and Vygotsky

Vygotsky concentrated more on the child’s immediate social and cultural environment and his or her interactions with adults and peers. While Piaget saw the child as actively discovering the world through individual interactions with it, Vygotsky saw the child as more of an apprentice, learning through a social environment of others who had more experience and were sensitive to the child’s needs and abilities. 38

Like Vygotsky’s, Bronfenbrenner looked at the social influences on learning and development.

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) offers us one of the most comprehensive theories of human development. Bronfenbrenner studied Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and learning theorists and believed that all of those theories could be enhanced by adding the dimension of context. What is being taught and how society interprets situations depends on who is involved in the life of a child and on when and where a child lives.

Figure 1.19 – Urie Bronfenbrenner. 39

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model explains the direct and indirect influences on an individual’s development.

Table 1.5 – Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model

For example, in order to understand a student in math, we can’t simply look at that individual and what challenges they face directly with the subject. We have to look at the interactions that occur between teacher and child. Perhaps the teacher needs to make modifications as well. The teacher may be responding to regulations made by the school, such as new expectations for students in math or constraints on time that interfere with the teacher’s ability to instruct. These new demands may be a response to national efforts to promote math and science deemed important by political leaders in response to relations with other countries at a particular time in history.

Figure 1.20 – Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. 40

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model challenges us to go beyond the individual if we want to understand human development and promote improvements. 41

In this chapter we looked at:

underlying principles of development

the five periods of development

three issues in development

Various methods of research

important theories that help us understand development

Next, we are going to be examining where we all started with conception, heredity, and prenatal development.

Child Growth and Development Copyright © by Jean Zaar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Child Growth and Development

(12 reviews)

Jennifer Paris

Antoinette Ricardo

Dawn Rymond

Alexa Johnson

Copyright Year: 2018

Last Update: 2019

Publisher: College of the Canyons

Language: English

Formats Available

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Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Mistie Potts, Assistant Professor, Manchester University on 11/22/22

This text covers some topics with more detail than necessary (e.g., detailing infant urination) yet it lacks comprehensiveness in a few areas that may need revision. For example, the text discusses issues with vaccines and offers a 2018 vaccine... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This text covers some topics with more detail than necessary (e.g., detailing infant urination) yet it lacks comprehensiveness in a few areas that may need revision. For example, the text discusses issues with vaccines and offers a 2018 vaccine schedule for infants. The text brushes over “commonly circulated concerns” regarding vaccines and dispels these with statements about the small number of antigens a body receives through vaccines versus the numerous antigens the body normally encounters. With changes in vaccines currently offered, shifting CDC viewpoints on recommendations, and changing requirements for vaccine regulations among vaccine producers, the authors will need to revisit this information to comprehensively address all recommended vaccines, potential risks, and side effects among other topics in the current zeitgeist of our world.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

At face level, the content shared within this book appears accurate. It would be a great task to individually check each in-text citation and determine relevance, credibility and accuracy. It is notable that many of the citations, although this text was updated in 2019, remain outdated. Authors could update many of the in-text citations for current references. For example, multiple in-text citations refer to the March of Dimes and many are dated from 2012 or 2015. To increase content accuracy, authors should consider revisiting their content and current citations to determine if these continue to be the most relevant sources or if revisions are necessary. Finally, readers could benefit from a reference list in this textbook. With multiple in-text citations throughout the book, it is surprising no reference list is provided.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This text would be ideal for an introduction to child development course and could possibly be used in a high school dual credit or beginning undergraduate course or certificate program such as a CDA. The outdated citations and formatting in APA 6th edition cry out for updating. Putting those aside, the content provides a solid base for learners interested in pursuing educational domains/careers relevant to child development. Certain issues (i.e., romantic relationships in adolescence, sexual orientation, and vaccination) may need to be revisited and updated, or instructors using this text will need to include supplemental information to provide students with current research findings and changes in these areas.

Clarity rating: 4

The text reads like an encyclopedia entry. It provides bold print headers and brief definitions with a few examples. Sprinkled throughout the text are helpful photographs with captions describing the images. The words chosen in the text are relatable to most high school or undergraduate level readers and do not burden the reader with expert level academic vocabulary. The layout of the text and images is simple and repetitive with photographs complementing the text entries. This allows the reader to focus their concentration on comprehension rather than deciphering a more confusing format. An index where readers could go back and search for certain terms within the textbook would be helpful. Additionally, a glossary of key terms would add clarity to this textbook.

Consistency rating: 5

Chapters appear in a similar layout throughout the textbook. The reader can anticipate the flow of the text and easily identify important terms. Authors utilized familiar headings in each chapter providing consistency to the reader.

Modularity rating: 4

Given the repetitive structure and the layout of the topics by developmental issues (physical, social emotional) the book could be divided into sections or modules. It would be easier if infancy and fetal development were more clearly distinct and stages of infant development more clearly defined, however the book could still be approached in sections or modules.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is organized in a logical way when we consider our own developmental trajectories. For this reason, readers learning about these topics can easily relate to the flow of topics as they are presented throughout the book. However, when attempting to find certain topics, the reader must consider what part of development that topic may inhabit and then turn to the portion of the book aligned with that developmental issue. To ease the organization and improve readability as a reference book, authors could implement an index in the back of the book. With an index by topic, readers could quickly turn to pages covering specific topics of interest. Additionally, the text structure could be improved by providing some guiding questions or reflection prompts for readers. This would provide signals for readers to stop and think about their comprehension of the material and would also benefit instructors using this textbook in classroom settings.

Interface rating: 4

The online interface for this textbook did not hinder readability or comprehension of the text. All information including photographs, charts, and diagrams appeared to be clearly depicted within this interface. To ease reading this text online authors should create a live table of contents with bookmarks to the beginning of chapters. This book does not offer such links and therefore the reader must scroll through the pdf to find each chapter or topic.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were found in reviewing this textbook.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Cultural diversity is represented throughout this text by way of the topics described and the images selected. The authors provide various perspectives that individuals or groups from multiple cultures may resonate with including parenting styles, developmental trajectories, sexuality, approaches to feeding infants, and the social emotional development of children. This text could expand in the realm of cultural diversity by addressing current issues regarding many of the hot topics in our society. Additionally, this textbook could include other types of cultural diversity aside from geographical location (e.g., religion-based or ability-based differences).

While this text lacks some of the features I would appreciate as an instructor (e.g., study guides, review questions, prompts for critical thinking/reflection) and it does not contain an index or glossary, it would be appropriate as an accessible resource for an introduction to child development. Students could easily access this text and find reliable and easily readable information to build basic content knowledge in this domain.

Reviewed by Caroline Taylor, Instructor, Virginia Tech on 12/30/21

Each chapter is comprehensively described and organized by the period of development. Although infancy and toddlerhood are grouped together, they are logically organized and discussed within each chapter. One helpful addition that would largely... read more

Each chapter is comprehensively described and organized by the period of development. Although infancy and toddlerhood are grouped together, they are logically organized and discussed within each chapter. One helpful addition that would largely contribute to the comprehensiveness is a glossary of terms at the end of the text.

From my reading, the content is accurate and unbiased. However, it is difficult to confidently respond due to a lack of references. It is sometimes clear where the information came from, but when I followed one link to a citation the link was to another textbook. There are many citations embedded within the text, but it would be beneficial (and helpful for further reading) to have a list of references at the end of each chapter. The references used within the text are also older, so implementing updated references would also enhance accuracy. If used for a course, instructors will need to supplement the textbook readings with other materials.

This text can be implemented for many semesters to come, though as previously discussed, further readings and updated materials can be used to supplement this text. It provides a good foundation for students to read prior to lectures.

Clarity rating: 5

This text is unique in its writing style for a textbook. It is written in a way that is easily accessible to students and is also engaging. The text doesn't overly use jargon or provide complex, long-winded examples. The examples used are clear and concise. Many key terms are in bold which is helpful to the reader.

For the terms that are in bold, it would be helpful to have a definition of the term listed separately on the page within the side margins, as well as include the definition in a glossary at the end.

Each period of development is consistently described by first addressing physical development, cognitive development, and then social-emotional development.

Modularity rating: 5

This text is easily divisible to assign to students. There were few (if any) large blocks of texts without subheadings, graphs, or images. This feature not only improves modularity but also promotes engagement with the reading.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text flows logically. I appreciate the order of the topics, which are clearly described in the first chapter by each period of development. Although infancy and toddlerhood are grouped into one period of development, development is appropriately described for both infants and toddlers. Key theories are discussed for infants and toddlers and clearly presented for the appropriate age.

Interface rating: 5

There were no significant interface issues. No images or charts were distorted.

It would be helpful to the reader if the table of contents included a navigation option, but this doesn't detract from the overall interface.

I did not see any grammatical errors.

This text includes some cultural examples across each area of development, such as differences in first words, parenting styles, personalities, and attachments styles (to list a few). The photos included throughout the text are inclusive of various family styles, races, and ethnicities. This text could implement more cultural components, but does include some cultural examples. Again, instructors can supplement more cultural examples to bolster the reading.

This text is a great introductory text for students. The text is written in a fun, approachable way for students. Though the text is not as interactive (e.g., further reading suggestions, list of references, discussion points at the end of each chapter, etc.), this is a great resource to cover development that is open access.

Reviewed by Charlotte Wilinsky, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Holyoke Community College on 6/29/21

This text is very thorough in its coverage of child and adolescent development. Important theories and frameworks in developmental psychology are discussed in appropriate depth. There is no glossary of terms at the end of the text, but I do not... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This text is very thorough in its coverage of child and adolescent development. Important theories and frameworks in developmental psychology are discussed in appropriate depth. There is no glossary of terms at the end of the text, but I do not think this really hurts its comprehensiveness.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The citations throughout the textbook help to ensure its accuracy. However, the text could benefit from additional references to recent empirical studies in the developmental field.

It seems as if updates to this textbook will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement given how well organized the text is and its numerous sections and subsections. For example, a recent narrative review was published on the effects of corporal punishment (Heilmann et al., 2021). The addition of a reference to this review, and other more recent work on spanking and other forms of corporal punishment, could serve to update the text's section on spanking (pp. 223-224; p. 418).

The text is very clear and easily understandable.

Consistency rating: 4

There do not appear to be any inconsistencies in the text. The lack of a glossary at the end of the text may be a limitation in this area, however, since glossaries can help with consistent use of language or clarify when different terms are used.

This textbook does an excellent job of dividing up and organizing its chapters. For example, chapters start with bulleted objectives and end with a bulleted conclusion section. Within each chapter, there are many headings and subheadings, making it easy for the reader to methodically read through the chapter or quickly identify a section of interest. This would also assist in assigning reading on specific topics. Additionally, the text is broken up by relevant photos, charts, graphs, and diagrams, depending on the topic being discussed.

This textbook takes a chronological approach. The broad developmental stages covered include, in order, birth and the newborn, infancy and toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. Starting with the infancy and toddlerhood stage, physical, cognitive, and social emotional development are covered.

There are no interface issues with this textbook. It is easily accessible as a PDF file. Images are clear and there is no distortion apparent.

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This text does a good job of including content relevant to different cultures and backgrounds. One example of this is in the "Cultural Influences on Parenting Styles" subsection (p. 222). Here the authors discuss how socioeconomic status and cultural background can affect parenting styles. Including references to specific studies could further strengthen this section, and, more broadly, additional specific examples grounded in research could help to fortify similar sections focused on cultural differences.

Overall, I think this is a terrific resource for a child and adolescent development course. It is user-friendly and comprehensive.

Reviewed by Lois Pribble, Lecturer, University of Oregon on 6/14/21

This book provides a really thorough overview of the different stages of development, key theories of child development and in-depth information about developmental domains. read more

This book provides a really thorough overview of the different stages of development, key theories of child development and in-depth information about developmental domains.

The book provides accurate information, emphasizes using data based on scientific research, and is stated in a non-biased fashion.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is relevant and provides up-to-date information. There are areas where updates will need to be made as research and practices change (e.g., autism information), but it is written in a way where updates should be easy to make as needed.

The book is clear and easy to read. It is well organized.

Good consistency in format and language.

It would be very easy to assign students certain chapters to read based on content such as theory, developmental stages, or developmental domains.

Very well organized.

Clear and easy to follow.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

General content related to culture was infused throughout the book. The pictures used were of children and families from a variety of cultures.

This book provides a very thorough introduction to child development, emphasizing child development theories, stages of development, and developmental domains.

Reviewed by Nancy Pynchon, Adjunct Faculty, Middlesex Community College on 4/14/21

Overall this textbook is comprehensive of all aspects of children's development. It provided a brief introduction to the different relevant theorists of childhood development . read more

Overall this textbook is comprehensive of all aspects of children's development. It provided a brief introduction to the different relevant theorists of childhood development .

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Most of the information is accurately written, there is some outdated references, for example: Many adults can remember being spanked as a child. This method of discipline continues to be endorsed by the majority of parents (Smith, 2012). It seems as though there may be more current research on parent's methods of discipline as this information is 10 years old. (page 223).

The content was current with the terminology used.

Easy to follow the references made in the chapters.

Each chapter covers the different stages of development and includes the theories of each stage with guided information for each age group.

The formatting of the book makes it reader friendly and easy to follow the content.

Very consistent from chapter to chapter.

Provided a lot of charts and references within each chapter.

Formatted and written concisely.

Included several different references to diversity in the chapters.

There was no glossary at the end of the book and there were no vignettes or reflective thinking scenarios in the chapters. Overall it was a well written book on child development which covered infancy through adolescents.

Reviewed by Deborah Murphy, Full Time Instructor, Rogue Community College on 1/11/21

The text is excellent for its content and presentation. The only criticism is that neither an index nor a glossary are provided. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The text is excellent for its content and presentation. The only criticism is that neither an index nor a glossary are provided.

The material seems very accurate and current. It is well written. It is very professionally done and is accessible to students.

This text addresses topics that will serve this field in positive ways that should be able to address the needs of students and instructors for the next several years.

Complex concepts are delivered accurately and are still accessible for students . Figures and tables complement the text . Terms are explained and are embedded in the text, not in a glossary. I do think indices and glossaries are helpful tools. Terminology is highlighted with bold fonts to accentuate definitions.

Yes the text is consistent in its format. As this is a text on Child Development it consistently addresses each developmental domain and then repeats the sequence for each age group in childhood. It is very logically presented.

Yes this text is definitely divisible. This text addresses development from conception to adolescents. For the community college course that my department wants to use it is very adaptable. Our course ends at middle school age development; our courses are offered on a quarter system. This text is adaptable for the content and our term time schedule.

This text book flows very clearly from Basic principles to Conception. It then divides each stage of development into Physical, Cognitive and Social Emotional development. Those concepts and information are then repeated for each stage of development. e.g. Infants and Toddler-hood, Early Childhood, and Middle Childhood. It is very clearly presented.

It is very professionally presented. It is quite attractive in its presentation .

I saw no errors

The text appears to be aware of being diverse and inclusive both in its content and its graphics. It discusses culture and represents a variety of family structures representing contemporary society.

It is wonderfully researched. It will serve our students well. It is comprehensive and constructed very well. I have enjoyed getting familiar with this text and am looking forward to using it with my students in this upcoming term. The authors have presented a valuable, well written book that will be an addition to our field. Their scholarly efforts are very apparent. All of this text earns high grades in my evaluation. My only criticism is, as mentioned above, is that there is not a glossary or index provided. All citations are embedded in the text.

Reviewed by Ida Weldon, Adjunct Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 6/30/20

The overall comprehensiveness was strong. However, I do think some sections should have been discussed with more depth read more

The overall comprehensiveness was strong. However, I do think some sections should have been discussed with more depth

Most of the information was accurate. However, I think more references should have been provided to support some claims made in the text.

The material appeared to be relevant. However, it did not provide guidance for teachers in addressing topics of social justice, equality that most children will ask as they try to make sense of their environment.

The information was presented (use of language) that added to its understand-ability. However, I think more discussions and examples would be helpful.

The text appeared to be consistent. The purpose and intent of the text was understandable throughout.

The text can easily be divided into smaller reading sections or restructured to meet the needs of the professor.

The organization of the text adds to its consistency. However, some sections can be included in others decreasing the length of the text.

Interface issues were not visible.

The text appears to be free of grammatical errors.

While cultural differences are mentioned, more time can be given to helping teachers understand and create a culturally and ethnically focused curriculum.

The textbook provides a comprehensive summary of curriculum planing for preschool age children. However, very few chapters address infant/toddlers.

Reviewed by Veronica Harris, Adjunct Faculty, Northern Essex Community College on 6/28/20

This text explores child development from genetics, prenatal development and birth through adolescence. The text does not contain a glossary. However, the Index is clear. The topics are sequential. The text addresses the domains of physical,... read more

This text explores child development from genetics, prenatal development and birth through adolescence. The text does not contain a glossary. However, the Index is clear. The topics are sequential. The text addresses the domains of physical, cognitive and social emotional development. It is thorough and easy to read. The theories of development are inclusive to give the reader a broader understanding on how the domains of development are intertwined. The content is comprehensive, well - researched and sequential. Each chapter begins with the learning outcomes for the upcoming material and closes with an outline of the topics covered. Furthermore, a look into the next chapter is discussed.

The content is accurate, well - researched and unbiased. An historical context is provided putting content into perspective for the student. It appears to be unbiased.

Updated and accurate research is evidenced in the text. The text is written and organized in such a way that updates can be easily implemented. The author provides theoretical approaches in the psychological domains with examples along with real - life scenarios providing meaningful references invoking understanding by the student.

The text is written with clarity and is easily understood. The topics are sequential, comprehensive and and inclusive to all students. This content is presented in a cohesive, engaging, scholarly manner. The terminology used is appropriate to students studying Developmental Psychology spanning from birth through adolescents.

The book's approach to the content is consistent and well organized. . Theoretical contexts are presented throughout the text.

The text contains subheadings chunking the reading sections which can be assigned at various points throughout the course. The content flows seamlessly from one idea to the next. Written chronologically and subdividing each age span into the domains of psychology provides clarity without overwhelming the reader.

The book begins with an overview of child development. Next, the text is divided logically into chapters which focus on each developmental age span. The domains of each age span are addressed separately in subsequent chapters. Each chapter outlines the chapter objectives and ends with an outline of the topics covered and share an idea of what is to follow.

Pages load clearly and consistently without distortion of text, charts and tables. Navigating through the pages is met with ease.

The text is written with no grammatical or spelling errors.

The text did not present with biases or insensitivity to cultural differences. Photos are inclusive of various cultures.

The thoroughness, clarity and comprehensiveness promote an approach to Developmental Psychology that stands alongside the best of texts in this area. I am confident that this text encompasses all the required elements in this area.

Reviewed by Kathryn Frazier, Assistant Professor, Worcester State University on 6/23/20

This is a highly comprehensive, chronological text that covers genetics and conception through adolescence. All major topics and developmental milestones in each age range are given adequate space and consideration. The authors take care to... read more

This is a highly comprehensive, chronological text that covers genetics and conception through adolescence. All major topics and developmental milestones in each age range are given adequate space and consideration. The authors take care to summarize debates and controversies, when relevant and include a large amount of applied / practical material. For example, beyond infant growth patterns and motor milestone, the infancy/toddler chapters spend several pages on the mechanics of car seat safety, best practices for introducing solid foods (and the rationale), and common concerns like diaper rash. In addition to being generally useful information for students who are parents, or who may go on to be parents, this text takes care to contextualize the psychological research in the lived experiences of children and their parents. This is an approach that I find highly valuable. While the text does not contain an index, the search & find capacity of OER to make an index a deal-breaker for me.

The text includes accurate information that is well-sourced. Relevant debates, controversies and historical context is also provided throughout which results in a rich, balanced text.

This text provides an excellent summary of classic and updated developmental work. While the majority of the text is skewed toward dated, classic work, some updated research is included. Instructors may wish to supplement this text with more recent work, particularly that which includes diverse samples and specifically addresses topics of class, race, gender and sexual orientation (see comment below regarding cultural aspects).

The text is written in highly accessible language, free of jargon. Of particular value are the many author-generated tables which clearly organize and display critical information. The authors have also included many excellent figures, which reinforce and visually organize the information presented.

This text is consistent in its use of terminology. Balanced discussion of multiple theoretical frameworks are included throughout, with adequate space provided to address controversies and debates.

The text is clearly organized and structured. Each chapter is self-contained. In places where the authors do refer to prior or future chapters (something that I find helps students contextualize their reading), a complete discussion of the topic is included. While this may result in repetition for students reading the text from cover to cover, the repetition of some content is not so egregious that it outweighs the benefit of a flexible, modular textbook.

Excellent, clear organization. This text closely follows the organization of published textbooks that I have used in the past for both lifespan and child development. As this text follows a chronological format, a discussion of theory and methods, and genetics and prenatal growth is followed by sections devoted to a specific age range: infancy and toddlerhood, early childhood (preschool), middle childhood and adolescence. Each age range is further split into three chapters that address each developmental domain: physical, cognitive and social emotional development.

All text appears clearly and all images, tables and figures are positioned correctly and free of distortion.

The text contains no spelling or grammatical errors.

While this text provides adequate discussion of gender and cross-cultural influences on development, it is not sufficient. This is not a problem unique to this text, and is indeed a critique I have of all developmental textbooks. In particular, in my view this text does not adequately address the role of race, class or sexual orientation on development.

All in all, this is a comprehensive and well-written textbook that very closely follows the format of standard chronologically-organized child development textbooks. This is a fantastic alternative for those standard texts, with the added benefit of language that is more accessible, and content that is skewed toward practical applications.

Reviewed by Tony Philcox, Professor, Valencia College on 6/4/20

The subject of this book is Child Growth and Development and as such covers all areas and ideas appropriate for this subject. This book has an appropriate index. The author starts out with a comprehensive overview of Child Development in the... read more

The subject of this book is Child Growth and Development and as such covers all areas and ideas appropriate for this subject. This book has an appropriate index. The author starts out with a comprehensive overview of Child Development in the Introduction. The principles of development were delineated and were thoroughly presented in a very understandable way. Nine theories were presented which gave the reader an understanding of the many authors who have contributed to Child Development. A good backdrop to start a conversation. This book discusses the early beginnings starting with Conception, Hereditary and Prenatal stages which provides a foundation for the future developmental stages such as infancy, toddler, early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence. The three domains of developmental psychology – physical, cognitive and social emotional are entertained with each stage of development. This book is thoroughly researched and is written in a way to not overwhelm. Language is concise and easily understood.

This book is a very comprehensive and detailed account of Child Growth and Development. The author leaves no stone unturned. It has the essential elements addressed in each of the developmental stages. Thoroughly researched and well thought out. The content covered was accurate, error-free and unbiased.

The content is very relevant to the subject of Child Growth and Development. It is comprehensive and thoroughly researched. The author has included a number of relevant subjects that highlight the three domains of developmental psychology, physical, cognitive and social emotional. Topics are included that help the student see the relevancy of the theories being discussed. Any necessary updates along the way will be very easy and straightforward to insert.

The text is easily understood. From the very beginning of this book, the author has given the reader a very clear message that does not overwhelm but pulls the reader in for more information. The very first chapter sets a tone for what is to come and entices the reader to learn more. Well organized and jargon appropriate for students in a Developmental Psychology class.

This book has all the ingredients necessary to address Child Growth and Development. Even at the very beginning of the book the backdrop is set for future discussions on the stages of development. Theorists are mentioned and embellished throughout the book. A very consistent and organized approach.

This book has all the features you would want. There are textbooks that try to cover too much in one chapter. In this book the sections are clearly identified and divided into smaller and digestible parts so the reader can easily comprehend the topic under discussion. This book easily flows from one subject to the next. Blocks of information are being built, one brick on top of another as you move through the domains of development and the stages of development.

This book starts out with a comprehensive overview in the introduction to child development. From that point forward it is organized into the various stages of development and flows well. As mentioned previously the information is organized into building blocks as you move from one stage to the next.

The text does not contain any significant interface issued. There are no navigation problems. There is nothing that was detected that would distract or confuse the reader.

There are no grammatical errors that were identified.

This book was not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

This book is clearly a very comprehensive approach to Child Growth and Development. It contains all the essential ingredients that you would expect in a discussion on this subject. At the very outset this book went into detail on the principles of development and included all relevant theories. I was never left with wondering why certain topics were left out. This is undoubtedly a well written, organized and systematic approach to the subject.

Reviewed by Eleni Makris, Associate Professor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/6/20

This book is organized by developmental stages (infancy, toddler, early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence). The book begins with an overview of conception and prenatal human development. An entire chapter is devoted to birth and... read more

This book is organized by developmental stages (infancy, toddler, early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence). The book begins with an overview of conception and prenatal human development. An entire chapter is devoted to birth and expectations of newborns. In addition, there is a consistency to each developmental stage. For infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, the textbook covers physical development, cognitive development, and social emotional development for each stage. While some textbooks devote entire chapters to themes such as physical development, cognitive development, and social emotional development and write about how children change developmentally in each stage this book focuses on human stages of development. The book is written in clear language and is easy to understand.

There is so much information in this book that it is a very good overview of child development. The content is error-free and unbiased. In some spots it briefly introduces multicultural traditions, beliefs, and attitudes. It is accurate for the citations that have been provided. However, it could benefit from updating to research that has been done recently. I believe that if the instructor supplements this text with current peer-reviewed research and organizations that are implementing what the book explains, this book will serve as a strong source of information.

While the book covers a very broad range of topics, many times the citations have not been updated and are often times dated. The content and information that is provided is correct and accurate, but this text can certainly benefit from having the latest research added. It does, however, include a great many topics that serve to inform students well.

The text is very easy to understand. It is written in a way that first and second year college students will find easy to understand. It also introduces students to current child and adolescent behavior that is important to be understood on an academic level. It does this in a comprehensive and clear manner.

This book is very consistent. The chapters are arranged by developmental stage. Even within each chapter there is a consistency of theorists. For example, each chapter begins with Piaget, then moves to Vygotsky, etc. This allows for great consistency among chapters. If I as the instructor decide to have students write about Piaget and his development theories throughout the life span, students will easily know that they can find this information in the first few pages of each chapter.

Certainly instructors will find the modularity of this book easy. Within each chapter the topics are self-contained and extensive. As I read the textbook, I envisioned myself perhaps not assigning entire chapters but assigning specific topics/modules and pages that students can read. I believe the modules can be used as a strong foundational reading to introduce students to concepts and then have students read supplemental information from primary sources or journals to reinforce what they have read in the chapter.

The organization of the book is clear and flows nicely. From the table of context students understand how the book is organized. The textbook would be even stronger if there was a more detailed table of context which highlights what topics are covered within each of the chapter. There is so much information contained within each chapter that it would be very beneficial to both students and instructor to quickly see what content and topics are covered in each chapter.

The interface is fine and works well.

The text is free from grammatical errors.

While the textbook does introduce some multicultural differences and similarities, it does not delve deeply into multiracial and multiethnic issues within America. It also offers very little comment on differences that occur among urban, rural, and suburban experiences. In addition, while it does talk about maturation and sexuality, LGBTQ issues could be more prominent.

Overall I enjoyed this text and will strongly consider using it in my course. The focus is clearly on human development and has very little emphasis on education. However, I intend to supplement this text with additional readings and videos that will show concrete examples of the concepts which are introduced in the text. It is a strong and worthy alternative to high-priced textbooks.

Reviewed by Mohsin Ahmed Shaikh, Assistant Professor, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania on 9/5/19

The content extensively discusses various aspects of emotional, cognitive, physical and social development. Examples and case studies are really informative. Some of the areas that can be elaborated more are speech-language and hearing... read more

The content extensively discusses various aspects of emotional, cognitive, physical and social development. Examples and case studies are really informative. Some of the areas that can be elaborated more are speech-language and hearing development. Because these components contribute significantly in development of communication abilities and self-image.

Content covered is pretty accurate. I think the details impressive.

The content is relevant and is based on the established knowledge of the field.

Easy to read and follow.

The terminology used is consistent and appropriate.

I think of using various sections of this book in some of undergraduate and graduate classes.

The flow of the book is logical and easy to follow.

There are no interface issues. Images, charts and diagram are clear and easy to understand.

Well written

The text appropriate and do not use any culturally insensitive language.

I really like that this is a book with really good information which is available in open text book library.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Introduction to Child Development
• Chapter 2: Conception, Heredity, & Prenatal Development
• Chapter 3: Birth and the Newborn
• Chapter 4: Physical Development in Infancy & Toddlerhood
• Chapter 5: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
• Chapter 6: Social and Emotional Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
• Chapter 7: Physical Development in Early Childhood
• Chapter 8: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood
• Chapter 9: Social Emotional Development in Early Childhood
• Chapter 10: Middle Childhood - Physical Development
• Chapter 11: Middle Childhood – Cognitive Development
• Chapter 12: Middle Childhood - Social Emotional Development
• Chapter 13: Adolescence – Physical Development
• Chapter 14: Adolescence – Cognitive Development
• Chapter 15: Adolescence – Social Emotional Development

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn. We will look at how we change physically over time from conception through adolescence. We examine cognitive change, or how our ability to think and remember changes over the first 20 years or so of life. And we will look at how our emotions, psychological state, and social relationships change throughout childhood and adolescence.

About the Contributors

Contribute to this page.

Towards a Strong Foundation: Social and Emotional Development in Young Children

Nurturing relationships provide the context for human development and are an essential source of resilience for children and adults (e.g., Luthar, 2006; Rutter, 1987). Resilience refers to the capacity to weather and bounce back from both everyday challenges and significant adversity and trauma -- like that we’ve all experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is influenced by foundational social and emotional skills and competencies (e.g., Masten, 2009).

In this short essay we describe children’s early social and emotional skills, show how they are linked to early caregiving and are influenced by stress and vulnerability, and highlight some programs, practices, and strategies that foster them. 

Social and Emotional Development and Foundational Relationships

Social and emotional development refers to the processes whereby children learn to identify and express emotions, focus attention and manage impulses, successfully navigate relationships with peers and adults, develop a positive self-concept, make responsible decisions, and solve problems (e.g., Jones, McGarrah, & Kahn, 2019). 

Over many decades researchers from an array of disciplines, e.g. human development and psychology, neuroscience, education and economics, have described how these essential skills are deeply intertwined with other areas of development, such as cognitive and physical. These developments in the brain and in behavior all work together to influence school and life outcomes, including higher education, physical and mental health, economic well-being, and civic engagement (Jones & Kahn, 2018). 

During development, social and emotional skills grow and change like building blocks. Early skills lay the foundation for more complex skills that emerge later in life. For example, during early childhood, children learn and grow in the context of relationships with parents and other caregivers at home and in childcare and preschool settings. Through responsive, nurturing interactions these relationships shape the growth of basic executive functions, self-regulation and emotional competencies, which are the salient social and emotional skills of early childhood. 

These skills encompass young children’s emerging capacity to:

Understand their emotions, communicate about them, and read those of others around them. For example, use feeling words when frustrated, angry, or excited. 

Be aware of and begin to manage impulses and behavior. For example, wait for a snack or dinner when hungry or for the chance to share news in the classroom, or remember and follow the routines of bedtime. 

Focus and shift attention in explicit ways and imagine the perspectives of another person. For example, move from one activity to another in the classroom, or engage in basic social back and forth and play. 

Basic skills like these set the stage for more complex skills later in life such as planning and problem solving, critical thinking and decision making, forming and maintaining sophisticated friendships, and coping skills, among others (Bailey & Jones, 2019). 

The Role of Experience and Context Including Stress and Vulnerability

Importantly, these early skills are highly susceptible to stress and vulnerability. Research shows that the prefrontal cortex – which is responsible for executive function and self-regulation -- is closely linked to other brain regions that signal emotions like fear, anger, and anxiety. 

These brain regions are connected through the stress response system, which alerts the body to react in times of danger (e.g., Arnsten, 1998). But responding and adapting to stress can come at a cost. When stress is chronic or takes over, it can inhibit children’s early social and emotional skills, resulting in dysregulated, reactive, and sometimes withdrawn behavior, and this is true for young children and adults (e.g., Arnsten, Mazure & Sinha, 2012). 

Critical to this dynamic is that predictable, nurturing relationships are protective. They operate as a buffer between stress and strain on the one hand, and children’s healthy development on the other (Center on the Developing Child, 2014). 

Research on children’s wellbeing during the pandemic illustrates how these processes can play out. For example, Harvard education researcher Emily Hanno (2021) examined data about a sample of young children and families before and after COVID-19 shut down U.S. childcare centers and preschools in 2020. They found that as parents experienced more stress, households grew more chaotic, and parent-child conflict increased, children displayed more challenging behaviors and fewer adaptive ones. 

Another large-scale study, the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development–Early Childhood (RAPID)https://rapidsurveyproject.com/), documented that high levels of material hardship that families experienced in the first year of the pandemic, coupled with ongoing week-to-week unpredictability, had detrimental effects on both caregivers’ and children’s well-being (Liu, et al 2022). Studies on how poverty, disasters, bereavement, armed conflict, and displacement affect children and adults have produced similar findings.

Supporting Family Well-Being and Social and Emotional Development

Supporting children’s social and emotional development demands coordinated child, family, and education-based efforts. Some examples of these are described here.

As noted above, social and emotional development, indeed successful early childhood development more generally, requires nurturing care. This has been defined as health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving, and opportunities for early learning (Black, et al, 2016). 

Globally, this concept has been advanced through The Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development ( https://nurturing-care.org/ ) .

The Nurturing Care Framework was developed by WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Early Childhood Development Action Network and many other partners, and launched alongside the 71st World Health Assembly in May, 2018. It takes a comprehensive approach by outlining important strategies to address the integrated needs of the developing child.

The wellbeing of caregivers is the enabling environment for responsive care. The promotion of social emotional development depends on policies and practices that take a whole family approach, assuring that those who care for young children have the support they need to be successful as caregivers, including adequate housing, income, childcare, education, health, and mental health supports.

A relevant and recently launched innovation focused on parents is the Global Initiative to Support Parents ( https://ecdan.org/global-initiative-to-support-parents/ ) . This unique partnership launched by the Early Childhood Development Action Network, WHO, UNICEF, End Violence Against Children, and Parenting for Lifelong Health includes the ultimate vision that all families worldwide have universal access to evidence-based parenting support.

Early childhood services designed for parents and children have for decades been understood to play an important role in offsetting the impact of vulnerability and adversity on healthy growth and development and to be an important setting for cultivating emerging social and emotional skills. A hallmark of these efforts is that they provide families with information, resources, and support that enables those nurturing, connected interactions, and helps all parents navigate the stress that inevitably comes with raising young children (Jones, Bailey & Partee, 2017). 

In the early classroom context, there are a large number of curricular and strategy-based approaches that educators can embed in their instructional and caregiving routines. The most effective of these programs typically combine direct teaching of social and emotional skills with structures and routines that provide young children with lots of opportunities to practice emerging skills, as well as support for adult caregivers to proactively manage young children’s behavior (e.g., Jones, Bailey & Jacob, 2014).

As noted above, children across the world have been impacted by the uncertainty, isolation and stress caused by the pandemic. In response, The LEGO Foundation teamed up with HundredED, to identify education innovations from across the world focused on improving social and emotional learning. In 2021, they published Spotlight Social and Emotional Learning which presented 13 innovations from 10 countries. These inspiring examples provide promising solutions that can help respond to the needs of children and offer ideas about how to foster caring and nurturing relationships. Some of these innovations can be found here: https://hundred.org/en/collections/social-emotional-learning-sel .

In summary, research and practice focused on children’s early social and emotional development tells us that these skills: 

Develop in the context of primary relationships and interactions. 

Are foundational to early learning, as well as important developmental milestones throughout life. 

Are optimized when children feel safe, secure, and supported.

Are influenced and shaped by experience, culture, and beliefs. 

Effective approaches to fostering and supporting these important skills are situated in families, leverage nurturing relationships and interactions at home and in early learning settings, and are rooted in community and family support.

Stephanie Jones

Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Co-Director, Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative

Joan Lombardi

Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University

Senior Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford Center on Early Childhood

Arnsten, A. (1998). The biology of being frazzled. Science , 280 (5370), 1711-1712, DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5370.1711

Arnsten, A. Mazure. C.M. & Sinha, R. (2012). This Is Your Brain in Meltdown. Scientific American 306, 4, 48-53. DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0412-48

Bailey, R., & Jones, S. M. (2019). An Integrated Model of Regulation for Applied Settings. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review , 22 (1), 2–23. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-019-00288-y

Black, M. M. et al. (2016). for the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. Advancing Early Childhood Development: from science to scale 1 , Early Childhood development coming of age: Science through the life course . www.thelancet.com , published online October 4, 2016

Center on the Developing Child (2014). Building adult capacities to improve child outcomes: A theory of change. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Hanno, E.C., Cuartas, J., Miratrix, L.W., Jones, S.M., & Lesaux, N.K. (2021). Changes in children’s behavioral health and family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001010

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R. & Jacob, R. (2014). Social-emotional learning as a platform for effective classroom management. Phi Delta Kappan . https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714553405

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R., & Partee, A. (2017). SECURe Families: Interrupting Intergenerational Cycles of Stress and Poverty , The Aspen Journal of Ideas , Aspen Institute.

Jones, S. M., & Kahn, J. (2018). The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens: A Consensus on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. American Educator , 41 (4), 16-21.

Jones, S.M., McGarrah, M. & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist .

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1 Introduction to Child Development

Chapter Objectives

After this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the principles that underlie development.
• Differentiate periods of human development.
• Understand issues in development.
• Distinguish the different methods of research.
• Explain what a theory is and compare and contrast different theories of child development.

Introduction

“Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behaviour, and health” (Mustard, 2006).

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn from conception to adolescence. Registered early childhood educators (RECEs) draw from their professional knowledge of child development, learning theories, and pedagogical and curricular approaches to plan, implement, document and assess child-centered inquiry and play-based learning experiences for children (College of Early Childhood Educators, 2017, p. 10).  Understanding the patterns of development help early childhood educators build caring and responsive relationships (College of Early Childhood Educators, 2017) with the children in their care as well as design safe and accessible environments which support children’s play and learning (College of Early Childhood Educators, 2017), both of which contribute to a sense of belonging and overall well-being (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014b).

The content in this text is being shared with pre-service early childhood educators with an Ontario context, referring to foundational documents that support the early learning and care profession, including, but not exclusive of: The Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Early Childhood Educators in Ontario, How Does Learning Happen ? and Excerpts from ELECT .

Principles of Development

There are several underlying principles of development to keep in mind:

• Development is lifelong and change is apparent across the lifespan (although this text ends with adolescence). Early experiences affect later development.
• Development is multidirectional. We show gains in some areas of development while showing a loss in other areas.
• Development is multidimensional. We change across three general domains/dimensions: physical, cognitive, and social-emotional.

In Ontario, the Continuum of Development can be found in the Excerpts to ELECT.   It outlines the sequence of steps across the five domains of development (social, emotional, communication/language/literacy, cognition, physical) that are typical for the majority of children. It is not an assessment tool, rather it was designed to support RECEs as they observe and document children’s emerging skills (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014). It should be noted that all five domains are interrelated and no one domain is more important than another (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014a).

Research in child development tends to fall into one of the following four themes:

• Early Development is related to later development but not perfectly. Can you think of examples?
• Development is always jointly influenced by heredity and environment (nature/nurture).
• Children help to determine their own development. Can you think of examples?
• Development in different domains is connected.

The physical domain includes changes in height and weight, changes in gross and fine motor skills, sensory capabilities, the nervous system, as well as the propensity for disease and illness.

The cognitive domain encompasses the changes in intelligence, wisdom, perception, problem-solving, memory, and language.

The social and emotional domain (also referred to as psychosocial) focuses on changes in emotion, self-perception, and interpersonal relationships with families, peers, and friends.

All three domains influence each other. It is also important to note that a change in one domain may cascade and prompt changes in the other domains.

Development is characterized by plasticity, which is our ability to change, and that many of our characteristics are malleable. Early experiences are important, but children are remarkably resilient (able to overcome adversity).

Development is multicontextual (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). We are influenced by both nature (genetics) and nurture (the environment) – when and where we live and our actions, beliefs, and values are a response to circumstances surrounding us. The key here is to understand that behaviours, motivations, emotions, and choices are all part of a bigger picture (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Now let’s look at a framework for examining development.

Periods of development

Consider what periods of development you think a course on Child Development would address. How many stages are on your list? Perhaps you have three: infancy, childhood, and teenagers.

Developmentalists (those that study development) break this part of the life span into these five stages as follows:

• Prenatal Development (conception through birth)
• Infancy and Toddlerhood (birth through 30 months)
• Early Childhood  (2.5 to 5 years)
• Middle Childhood (6 to 12 years)
• Adolescence (13 years to adulthood)

The scope of practice of a registered early childhood educator in Ontario is to work with children twelve years old and younger (College of Early Childhood Educators, 2017), thus the first four stages in this list will be explored in this book. So, while both an 8-month-old and an 8-year-old are considered children, they have very different physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive skills and abilities.

prenatal development

Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery are primary concerns.

infancy and toddlerhood

The first two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a walking, talking toddler within a relatively short period of time. Caregivers are also transformed from someone who manages the feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child.

Early childhood

Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years and consists of the years which follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling (grade 1). As a three to five-year-old, the child is busy learning a language, is gaining a sense of self and greater independence and is beginning to learn the workings of the physical world. This knowledge does not come quickly, however, and preschoolers may initially have interesting conceptions of size, time, space, and distance such as fearing that they may go down the drain if they sit at the front of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long something will take by holding out their two index fingers several inches apart. A toddler’s fierce determination to do something may give way to a four-year-old’s sense of guilt for action that brings the disapproval of others.

middle childhood

The ages of six through twelve comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and of assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point in life. Children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students.

adolescence

Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider abstract concepts such as love, fear, and freedom. Ironically, adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them at greater risk of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted infections that can have lifelong consequences (Lumen Learning, 2019).

Issues in Development

There are some aspects of development that have been hotly debated. Let’s explore these in a bit more detail.

Nature   and   Nurture  

Why are people the way they are? Are features such as height, weight, personality, being diabetic, etc. the result of heredity or environmental factors-or both? For decades, scholars have carried on the “nature/nurture” debate. For any particular feature, those on the side of Nature would argue that heredity plays the most important role in bringing about that feature. Those on the side of Nurture would argue that one’s environment is most significant in shaping the way we are. This debate continues in all aspects of human development, and most scholars agree that there is a constant interplay between the two forces. It is difficult to isolate the root of any single behaviour as a result solely of nature or nurture. This said, research does consistently point to the fact that healthy child development depends on the relationships children have with parents and other important people in their lives (Bisnaire, Clinton & Ferguson, 2014).

Continuity versus Discontinuity 

Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process, or is it best viewed as one of more abrupt change? The answer to that question often depends on which developmental theorist you ask and what topic is being studied. The theories of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg are called stage theories. Stage theories or discontinuous development assume that developmental change often occurs in distinct stages that are qualitatively different from each other, and in a set, universal sequence. At each stage of development, children and adults have different qualities and characteristics. Thus, stage theorists assume development is more discontinuous. Others, such as the behaviourists, Vygotsky, and information processing theorists, assume development is a more slow and gradual process known as continuous development. For instance, they would see the adult as not possessing new skills, but more advanced skills that were already present in some form in the child. Brain development and environmental experiences contribute to the acquisition of more developed skills.

Active Vs Passive

How much do you play a role in your own developmental path? Are you at the whim of your genetic inheritance or the environment that surrounds you? Some theorists see humans as playing a much more active role in their own development. Piaget, for instance, believed that children actively explore their world and construct new ways of thinking to explain the things they experience. In contrast, many behaviourists view humans as being more passive in the developmental process (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019).

How do we know so much about how we grow, develop, and learn? Let’s look at how that data is gathered through research.

Research Methods

An important part of learning any science is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon. Some people are hesitant to trust academicians or researchers because they may seem to change their narratives. That, however, is exactly what science is all about; it involves continuously renewing our understanding of the subjects in question and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur. Science is a vehicle for going on a never-ending journey. In the area of development, we have seen changes in recommendations for nutrition, in explanations of psychological states as people age, and in parenting advice. So think of learning about human development as a lifelong endeavour.

Take a moment to write down two things that you know about childhood. Now, how do you know? Chances are you know these things based on your own history (experiential reality) or based on what others have told you or cultural ideas (agreement reality) (Seccombe and Warner, 2004, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). There are several problems with personal inquiry.

Read the following sentence aloud:

Paris in the the spring

…Are you sure that is what it said?

Read it again:

If you read it differently the second time (adding the second “the”) you just experienced one of the problems with personal inquiry; that is, the tendency to see what we believe. Our assumptions very often guide our perceptions, consequently, when we believe something, we tend to see it even if it is not there. This problem may just be a result of cognitive ‘blinders’ or it may be part of a more conscious attempt to support our own views. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for evidence that we are right and in so doing, we ignore contradictory evidence. Karl Popper was an Au strian-British philosopher ,  academic  and  social commentator .  One of the 20th century’s most influential  philosophers of science , Popper is known for his rejection of the classical  inductivist  views on the  scientific method  in favour of  empirical falsification . He suggests that the distinction between that which is scientific and that which is unscientific is that science is falsifiable; scientific inquiry involves attempts to reject or refute a theory or set of assumptions (Thornton, 2005, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Theory that cannot be falsified is not scientific. And much of what we do in personal inquiry involves drawing conclusions based on what we have personally experienced or validating our own experience by discussing what we think is true with others who share the same views. Science offers a more systematic way to make comparisons guard against bias.

Scientific Methods

One method of scientific investigation involves the following steps:

• Determining a research question
• Reviewing previous studies addressing the topic in question (known as a literature review)
• Determining a method of gathering information
• Conducting the study
• Interpreting results
• Drawing conclusions; stating limitations of the study and suggestions for future research
• Making your findings available to others (both to share information and to have your work scrutinized by others)

Your findings can then be used by others as they explore the area of interest and through this process, a literature or knowledge base is established. This model of scientific investigation presents research as a linear process guided by a specific research question. And it typically involves quantifying or using statistics to understand and report what has been studied. Many academic journals publish reports on studies conducted in this manner.

Another model of research referred to as qualitative research may involve steps such as these:

• Begin with a broad area of interest
• Gain entrance into a group to be researched
• Gather field notes about the setting, the people, the structure, the activities, or other areas of interest
• Ask open-ended, broad “grand tour” types of questions when interviewing subjects
• Modify research questions as the study continues
• Note patterns or consistencies
• Explore new areas deemed important by the people being observed
• Report findings

In this type of research, theoretical ideas are “grounded” in the experiences of the participants. The researcher is the student and the people in the setting are the teachers as they inform the researcher of their world (Glazer & Strauss, 1967, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Researchers are to be aware of their own biases and assumptions, acknowledge them, and bracket them in efforts to keep them from limiting accuracy in reporting. Sometimes qualitative studies are used initially to explore a topic and more quantitative studies are used to test or explain what was first described.

Let’s look more closely at some techniques, or research methods used to describe, explain, or evaluate. Each of these   designs   has   strengths   and   weaknesses   and   is   sometimes   used   in   combination   with   other   designs   within   a   single   study.  

Observational Studies

Observational studies  involve watching and recording the actions of participants. This may take place in the natural   setting,   such   as   observing   children   at   play   at   a   park,   or   behind   a   one-way   glass   while   children   are   at   play   in   a   laboratory   playroom. The researcher may follow a checklist and record the frequency and duration of events (perhaps how many   conflicts occur among 2-year-olds) or may observe and record as much as possible about an event (such as observing   children in a classroom and capturing the details about the room design and what the children and teachers are doing   and saying). In general, observational studies have the strength of allowing the researcher to see how people behave   rather   than   relying   on   self-report.   What   people   do   and   what   they   say   they   do   are   often   very   different.   A   major   weakness   of observational studies is that they do not allow the researcher to explain causal relationships. Yet, observational   studies   are   useful   and   widely   used   when   studying   children.   Children   tend   to   change   their   behaviour   when   they   know   they   are   being   watched   (known   as   the   Hawthorne   effect)   and   may   not   survey   well. 

Experiments

Experiments  are designed to test hypotheses (or specific statements about the relationship between variables) in a controlled setting in efforts to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes. A variable is anything that changes in value. Concepts are operationalized or transformed into variables in research, which means that the researcher must specify exactly what is going to be measured in the study.

Three conditions must be met in order to establish cause and effect. Experimental designs are useful in meeting these conditions. 1. The independent and dependent variables must be related. In other words, when one is altered, the other changes in response. (The independent variable is something altered or introduced by the researcher. The dependent variable is the outcome or the factor affected by the introduction of the independent variable. For example, if we are looking at the impact of exercise on stress levels, the independent variable would be exercise; the dependent variable would be stress.) 2. The cause must come before the effect. Experiments involve measuring subjects on the dependent variable before exposing them to the independent variable (establishing a baseline). So we would measure the subjects’ level of stress before introducing exercise and then again after the exercise to see if there has been a change in stress levels. (Observational and survey research does not always allow us to look at the timing of these events, which makes understanding causality problematic with these designs.) 3. The cause must be isolated. The researcher must ensure that no outside, perhaps unknown variables are actually causing the effect we see. The experimental design helps make this possible. In an experiment, we would make sure that our subjects’ diets were held constant throughout the exercise program. Otherwise, the diet might really be creating a change in stress level rather than exercise.

A basic experimental design involves beginning with a sample (or subset of a population) and randomly assigning subjects to one of two groups: the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group is the group that is going to be exposed to an independent variable or condition the researcher is introducing as a potential cause of an event. The control group is going to be used for comparison and is going to have the same experience as the experimental group but will not be exposed to the independent variable. After exposing the experimental group to the independent variable, the two groups are measured again to see if a change has occurred. If so, we are in a better position to suggest that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

The major advantage of the experimental design is that of helping to establish cause and effect relationships. A disadvantage of this design is the difficulty of translating much of what happens in a laboratory setting into real life.

Case Studies

Case studies  involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or children reared in isolation. And they are often used by clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal practice when gathering information about a client or patient coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail about situations or conditions. However, the findings from case studies cannot be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for comparison.

Surveys are familiar to most people because they are so widely used. Surveys enhance accessibility to subjects because  they can be conducted in person, over the phone, through the mail, or online. A survey involves asking a standard set of questions to a group of subjects. In a highly structured survey, subjects are forced to choose from a response set such as “strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree, strongly agree”; or “0, 1-5, 6-10, etc.” This is known as the Likert Scale. Surveys are commonly used by sociologists, marketing researchers, political scientists, therapists, and others to gather information on many independent and dependent variables in a relatively short period of time. Surveys typically yield surface information on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for an in-depth understanding of human behaviour.

Of course, surveys can be designed in a number of ways. They may include forced-choice questions and semi-structured questions in which the researcher allows the respondent to describe or give details about certain events. One of the most difficult aspects of designing a good survey is wording questions in an unbiased way and asking the right questions so that respondents can give a clear response rather than choosing “undecided” each time. Knowing that 30% of respondents are undecided is of little use! So a lot of time and effort should be placed on the construction of survey items. One of the benefits of having forced-choice items is that each response is coded so that the results can be quickly entered and analyzed using statistical software. The analysis takes much longer when respondents give lengthy responses that must be analyzed in a different way. Surveys are useful in examining stated values, attitudes, opinions, and reporting on practices. However, they are based on self-report or what people say they do rather than on observation and this can limit accuracy.

Developmental Designs

Developmental designs  are techniques used in developmental research (and other areas as well). These techniques   try   to examine how   age, cohort, gender, and   social class impact development.  

Longitudinal Research

Longitudinal research involves beginning with a group of people who may be of the same age and background, and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time. One of the benefits of this type of research is that people can be followed through time and be compared with them when they were younger.

A problem with this type of research is that it is very expensive and subjects may drop out over time.

In Canada, the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth which began in 1994 is an example of a longitudinal study that provided data on children’s development. Surveys were conducted every 2 years with the last survey conducted in 2008-2009. The sample size was roughly 26,000 children aged 0-23 years.

Cross-Sectional Research

Cross-sectional   research   involves   beginning   with   a   sample   that   represents   a   cross-section   of   the   population.   Respondents who vary in age, gender, ethnicity, and social class might be asked to complete a survey about television   program preferences or attitudes toward the use of the internet. The attitudes of males and females could then be compared, as could attitudes based   on   age.   In   cross-sectional   research,   respondents   are   measured   only   once.  

This method is much less expensive than longitudinal research but does not allow the researcher to distinguish between the impact of age and the cohort effect. Different attitudes about the use of technology, for example, might not be altered by a person’s biological age as much as their life experiences as members of a cohort.

Sequential Research

Sequential research  involves combining aspects of the previous two techniques; beginning with a cross-sectional sample and  measuring   them through   time.  

This is the perfect mode l for looking at age, gender, social class, and ethnicity. But the drawbacks of high costs and attrition are here as well (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Table 1.1: Advantages and disadvantages of different research designs, (Lukowski & Milojevich, 2021).

Qualitative Research in Early Childhood

Qualitative research involves describing and explaining an individual or group experience, a phenomenon or a situation. Such research is conducted with a focus on discovery and therefore open-ended. Information (data) collected and analyzed are in the form of narratives and images obtained from in-depth interviews, observations, documents, and physical artifacts. The following are some research methods used in qualitative research.

Table 1.2: Qualitative research methods, (Lukowski & Milojevich, 2021)

Canada’s Contribution to Child Development Research

Canada has a long history of contributing to child development research. 

In 1892, James Mark Baldwin was appointed the first social scientist at the University of Toronto where he set up Canada’s first psychological research laboratory. Baldwin proposed a social psychological perspective in studying child development and believed that development occurs in stages. He explained that development of physical movement proceeds from simple to complex and eventually leads to more sophisticated mental processes. Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) later advanced this idea further.

Dr. Jean Clinton of McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) is an internationally renowned advocate for children’s issues. Her research focus is in brain development and the role social relationships play in development.

Dr. Fraser Mustard (1927-2011) created the “Canadian Institute for Advanced Research”. Of particular interest to Dr. Mustard was the role of communities in early childhood. In 1999, along with Dr. Margaret McCain (1934- ), he prepared the influential report “The Early Years Study – Reversing the Real Brain Drain” for the Ontario government. The report emphasized promoting early child development centres for young children and parents by: boosting spending on early childhood education to the same levels as in K to 12, making programs available to all income levels, and encouraging local parent groups and businesses to set up these programs instead of the government, when possible.  In 2007, Dr. Mustard, Dr. McCain and Dr. Stuart Shanker wrote a follow-up report critical of Ontario’s progress and calling for national early childhood development programs.

Dr. Stuart Shanker (1952- ) is Canada’s leading expert in the psychosocial theory of self-regulation. Richard Tremblay (1944- ) holds the Canadian Research Chair in Child Development. His research focusses on the development of aggressive behaviour in children and whether early intervention programs can reduce chances of children turning to crime as adults. Dr. Mariana Brussoni of the University of British Columbia is currently active researching the developmental importance of risky play in childhood. Her focus is child injury prevention as well as the influence of culture on parenting in relationship to risky play and safety.

In 1925, Professor Edward Alexander Bott established the St. George’s School for Child Study at the University of Toronto, which would eventually come to be known as The Institute for Child Study. It has been and continues to be, highly influential in developing Ontario’s early childcare and education system.

Statistics Canada, in partnership with Human Resources Development Canada, undertook a major Canadian research initiative in 1994 titled “National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)”. Researchers tracked multiple variables affecting children’s emotional, social and behavioural development over a period of time, using both longitudinal and cross-sectional sampling. Families from all 10 provinces and territories were included with the exception of families living on First Nations reserves, in extremely remote areas of Canada and full-time members the Canadian Armed Forces. These exclusions should be kept in mind when extrapolating the data. 

This is just a small selection of Canadian researchers who have contributed, and continue to contribute, to our knowledge of how best to support the development of young children. 

Consent and Ethics in Research 

Research should, as much as possible, be based on participants’ freely volunteered informed consent. For minors, this also requires consent from their legal guardians. This implies a responsibility to explain fully and meaningfully to both the child and their guardians what the research is about and how it will be disseminated. Participants and their legal guardians should be aware of the research purpose and procedures, their right to refuse to participate; the extent to which confidentiality will be maintained; the potential uses to which the data might be put; the foreseeable risks and expected benefits; and that participants have the right to discontinue at any time.

But consent alone does not absolve the responsibility of researchers to anticipate and guard against potential harmful consequences for participa nts (Lumen Learning, n.d.). It is critical that researchers protect all rights of the participants including

Confidentiality.

The Canadian Psychological Association (2017) has published the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists, which sets out four ethical principles Canadian psychologists must consider when conducting research: In order of priority, the four principles are: 

• Principle I: Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples 
• Principle II: Responsible Caring
• Principle III: Integrity in Relationships
• Principle IV: Responsibility to Society

While all four principles should be taken into account, there may be times when there is a conflict between the principles. For example; what is best for society might not respect the dignity of persons and people. In this situation, more weight should be given to Principle 1 than Principle 4 in order to make an ethical decision. 

Child development is a fascinating field of study – but care must be taken to ensure that researchers use appropriate methods to examine infant and child behaviour, use the correct experimental design to answer their questions, and be aware of the special challenges that are part-and-parcel of developmental research. Hopefully, this information helped you develop an understanding of these various issues and to be ready to think more critically about research questions that interest you. There are so many interesting questions that remain to be examined by future generations of developmental scientists – maybe you will make one of the next big discoveries!  A nother really important framework to use when trying to understand children’s development are theories of development. 

Let’s explore what theories are and introduce you to some major theories in child development.

Developmental Theories

T he College of Early Childhood Educators (2017), clear ly articulates in a number of places in the Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice for Early Childhood Educators in Ontario, the expectation that RECEs are as knowledgeable about research and theories related to children’s development. Let’s explore what is m eant by a child development theory and why they are important to practice. 

What is a theory? 

In our attempts to make sense of the world and our human experience, it is in our nature to ask questions and develop theories, both formal and informal. This begins at an early age and as we move through this text, we will explore examples of children developing and testing their theories.   

While it is true that students sometimes feel intimidated by theory; even the phrase, “Now we are going to look at some theories…” is met with blank stares and other indications that the audience is now lost. But theories are valuable tools for understanding human behaviour and development. Indeed, they are proposed explanations for the “how” and “whys” of development. Have you ever wondered, “Why is my 3 year old so inquisitive?” or “Why are some fifth graders rejected by their classmates?” A theory is an organized way to make sense of information. Theories can help to make predictions and explain these and other occurrences. Theories can be further tested through research. Developmental theories offer explanations about how we develop, why we change over time, and the kinds of influences that impact development.

Further, a theory guides how information is collected, how it is interpreted, and how it is applied to real-life situations. It provides the researcher with a blueprint or model to be used to help piece together various studies. Think of theories as frameworks or guidelines much like directions that come with an appliance or other object that requires assembly. The instructions can help one piece together smaller parts more easily than if trial and error are used.

Theories can be developed using induction in which a number of single cases are observed and after patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples. Established theories are then tested through research; however, not all theories are equally suited to scientific investigation.  Some theories are difficult to test but are still useful in stimulating debate or providing concepts that have practical application. Keep in mind that theories are not facts; they are guidelines for investigation and practice, and they gain credibility through research that fails to disprove them (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Before we examine some foundational child development theories, let’s take a preliminary look at the theorists who have contributed to our current understanding of child development. Take a moment to scan the images of the theorists included in the next few pages.  Find some words to describe what you notice. Can you identify groups who are not represented in this group of theorists? If your answer included women, people of colour, visible minorities and/or Indigenous people as examples you are correct! 

Academics and researchers have, and do, develop theories and frameworks for thinking critically about human knowledge and systems. Critical theory is an example of a postmodern theory the aim of which is to unmask the ideology that falsely justifies some form of economic or social oppression and to see it for what it is…ideology! This can set in motion the task of ending the oppression. 

Today many nations are actively addressing the legacies of colonialism that brought with it such things as patriarchy, eurocentrism, and structuralism. It has been feminist theory, queer theory, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized groups who, over the past few years, have helped to draw attention to, and disrupt, what, in socio-cultural terms are often referred to as dominant discourses and grand narratives. These ways of describing the world and human experience tend to align with a Western ideology with embedded hierarchies and colonist world views. Historically, these narratives have served to advantage certain populations while pathologizing and further marginalizing others. The process of reconceptualizing is embraced as a way to move forward with social justice. 

For more information check out  Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education. 

Critical theory demands that we adopt a postmodern perspective of child development and encourages early educators to reexamine ideologies, beliefs, and assumptions and to question and look beyond the fixed views of children proposed by existing theories. In everyday practice, this may look like critically examining a storybook for any hidden political or social points of view ( e.g. gender, race, class) made through the stories and images. Posing questions such as whose story is this? Who gets to tell the story? Is it a true representation? Who has been left out? Educators are encouraged to engage in conversations with families and children about representations, a practice that lives into the four foundations of How Does Learning Happen? 

In sum, postmodernism denies the existence of one objective view of child development but rather encourages multiple perspectives of viewing how children develop and learn. 

Within the dominant discourse described above, the scientific method was lauded as the way to objectively quantify and describe the world, including human development and diversity.  We are reconceptualizing science as one of many ways to describe and make meaning of the world and human experience. We are only here today because our ancestors survived and flourished for millennia. They shared their experiences across generations through oral tradition and art as examples.

Indigenous Perspectives

In Indigenous cultures, children are viewed as sacred gifts from the Creator and therefore their growth is seen as a spiritual journey of development and learning. The Medicine Wheel that symbolizes stages of life is used to represent this sacred journey. First Nation, Inuit, and Metis families are interdependent and with each stage of life, each member brings special gifts as well as responsibilities to the family and community. Elders, who are considered knowledge keepers, bring teachings from ancestors to help children understand their sacred place in the universe. Indigenous communities view child development as a journey that is closely bound by the natural and spiritual world and therefore the developing child is shaped by unique ways of knowing and teachings.

For further reading:

A child becomes strong: Journeying through each stage of the life cycle.

We are now beginning to embrace these ways of living in the world. One way to begin to integrate these world views is through ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’.  This guiding principle refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing … and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all. Shared by Elder Albert Marshall in 2004 ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ is the gift of multiple perspective treasured by many Indigenous peoples (Institute for Integrative Science and Health, n.d.), and refers to shifting from the Western binary dualism of ‘either/or’ to embracing the positive in both of these world views as ‘both/and’.  

Please note that the above is not a critique of science. We do not have to look too far to see evidence of just how much science has contributed to global human health and well-being. It is about HOW science has been used to often deny rather than embrace human diversity.

Let’s   take   a   look   at   some   key   theories   in   Child   Development.  

  sigmund   freud’s   psychosexual   theory  .

We begin with the often controversial figure, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud has been a very influential figure in the area of development; his view of development and psychopathology dominated the field of psychiatry until the growth of behaviourism in the 1950s. His assumptions that personality forms during the first few years of life and that the ways in which parents or other caregivers interact with children have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional states have guided parents, educators, clinicians, and policy-makers for many years. We have only recently begun to recognize that early childhood experiences do not always result in certain personality traits or emotional states. There is a growing body of literature addressing resilience in children who experience trauma and yet develop without damaging emotional scars (O’Grady and Metz, 1987, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Freud has stimulated an enormous amount of research and generated many ideas. Agreeing with Freud’s theory in its entirety is hardly necessary for appreciating the contribution he has made to the field of development.

Freud’s theory of self suggests that there are three parts of the self.

• The  id is the part of the self that is inborn. It responds to biological urges without pause and is guided by the principle of pleasure: if it feels good, it is the thing to do. A newborn is all id. The newborn cries when hungry and defecates when the urge strikes.
• The  ego  develops through interaction with others and is guided by logic or the reality principle. It has the ability to delay gratification. It knows that urges have to be managed. It mediates between the id and superego using logic and reality to calm the other parts of the self.
• The  superego  represents society’s demands for its members. It is guided by a sense of guilt. Values, morals, and the conscience are all part of the superego.

The personality is thought to develop in response to the child’s ability to learn to manage biological urges. Parenting is important here. If the parent is either overly punitive or lax, the child may not progress to the next stage. Here is a brief introduction to Freud’s stages.

Table 1.3 Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very difficult to test scientifically. How can parenting in infancy be traced to personality in adulthood? Are there other variables that might better explain development? The theory is also considered to be sexist in suggesting that women who do not accept an inferior position in society are somehow psychologically flawed. Freud focuses on the darker side of human nature and suggests that much of what determines our actions is unknown to us. So why do we study Freud? As mentioned above, despite the criticisms, Freud’s assumptions about the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our psychological selves have found their way into child development, education, and parenting practices. Freud’s theory has heuristic value in providing a framework from which to elaborate and modify subsequent theories of development. Many later theories, particularly behaviourism and humanism, were challenges to Freud’s views (Overstreet, n.d., as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021).

Main Points to Note About Freud’s Psychosexual Theory

Freud believed that:

• Development in the early years has a lasting impact.
• There are three parts of the self: the id, the ego, and the superego
• People go through five stages of psychosexual development: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, latency, and the genital stage

We study Freud because the assumptions about the importance of early childhood experience provide a framework for later theories (they both elaborated and contradicted/challenged the work).

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Now, let’s turn to a less controversial theorist, Erik Erikson. Erikson (1902-1994) suggested that our relationships and society’s expectations motivate much of our behaviour in the theory of psychosocial development. Erikson was a student of Freud’s but emphasized the importance of the ego, or conscious thought, in determining our actions. In other words, he believed that we are not driven by unconscious urges. We know what motivates us and we consciously think about how to achieve our goals. He is considered the father of developmental psychology because this model gives us a guideline for the entire life span and suggests certain primary psychological and social concerns throughout life.

Erikson expanding on Freud’s theories by emphasizing the importance of culture in parenting practices and motivations and adding three stages of adult development (Erikson, 1950; 1968, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021).

He believed that we are aware of what motivates us throughout life and the ego has greater importance in guiding our actions than does the id. We make conscious choices in life and these choices focus on meeting certain social and cultural needs rather than purely biological ones. Humans are motivated, for instance, by the need to feel that the world is a trustworthy place, that we are capable individuals, that we can make a contribution to society, and that we have lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems.

Erikson divided the lifespan into eight stages. In each stage, we have a major psychosocial task to accomplish or a crisis to overcome. Erikson believed that our personality continues to take shape throughout our lifespan as we face these challenges in living. Here is a brief overview of the eight stages.

Table 1.4 Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

These eight stages form a foundation for discussions on emotional and social development during the life span. Keep in mind, however, that these stages or crises can occur more than once. For instance, a person may struggle with a lack of trust beyond infancy under certain circumstances. Erikson’s theory has been criticized for focusing so heavily on stages and assuming that the completion of one stage is a prerequisite for the next crisis of development. This theory also focuses on the social expectations that are found in certain cultures, but not in all. For instance, the idea that adolescence is a time of searching for identity might translate well in the middle-class culture of Canada, but not as well in cultures where the transition into adulthood coincides with puberty through rites of passage and where adult roles offer fewer c hoices (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Main Points to Note About Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Erikson was a student of Freud but focused on conscious thought.

• Stages of psychosocial development address the entire lifespan and suggest a primary psychosocial crisis in some cultures that adults can use to understand how to support children’s social and emotional development.
• The stages include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.

BehavioUrism

While Freud and Erikson looked at what was going on in the mind, behaviourism rejected any reference to mind and viewed overt and observable behaviour as the proper subject matter of psychology. Through the scientific study of behaviour, it was hoped that laws of learning could be derived that would promote the prediction and control of behaviour (Baker & Sperry, 2021).

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov (1880-1937) was a Russian physiologist interested in studying digestion. As he recorded the amount of salivation laboratory dogs produced as they ate, he noticed that they actually began to salivate before the food arrived as the researcher walked down the hall and toward the cage. “This,” he thought, “is not natural!” One would expect a dog to automatically salivate when the food hit their palate, but BEFORE the food comes? Of course, what had happened was . . . you tell me. That’s right! The dogs knew that the food was coming because they had learned to associate the footsteps with the food. The keyword here is “learned”. A learned response is called a “conditioned” response.

Pavlov began to experiment with this concept of  classical conditioning . Pavlov began to ring a bell, for instance, prior to introducing the food. Sure enough, after making this connection several times, the dogs could be made to salivate to the sound of a bell. Once the bell had become an event to which the dogs had learned to salivate, it was called a conditioned stimulus . The act of salivating to a bell was a response that had also been learned, now termed in Pavlov’s jargon, a conditioned response. Notice that the response, salivation, is the same whether it is conditioned or unconditioned (unlearned or natural). What changed is the stimulus to which the dog salivates. One is natural (unconditioned) and one is learned (conditioned).

Let’s think about how classical conditioning is used on us. One of the most widespread applications of classical conditioning principles was brought to us by the psychologist, John B. Watson.

John B. Watson

John B. Watson (1878-1958) believed that most of our fears and other emotional responses are classically conditioned. Watson gained a good deal of popularity in the 1920s when expert advice on parenting was offered to the public. However, this type of research is now known to be unethical and that this type of parenting is inappropriate.

Watson tried to demonstrate the power of classical conditioning with the famous experiment with an 18-month-old boy named “Little Albert”. Watson sat Albert down and introduced a variety of seemingly scary objects: a burning piece of newspaper, a white rat, etc. But Albert remained curious and reached for all of these things. Watson knew that one of our only inborn fears is the fear of loud noises so Watson proceeded to make a loud noise each time one of Albert’s favorites, a white rat, was introduced. After hearing the loud noise several times paired with the rat, Albert soon came to fear the rat and began to cry when it was introduced. Watson filmed this experiment for posterity and used it to demonstrate that he could help parents achieve any outcomes they desired, if they would only follow the advice. Watson wrote columns in newspapers and in magazines and gained a lot of popularity among parents eager to apply science to household order.

Operant conditioning, on the other hand, looks at the way the consequences of a behaviour increase or decrease the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again. So let’s look at this a bit more.

B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), who brought us the principles of operant conditioning, suggested that reinforcement is a more effective means of encouraging a behaviour than is criticism or punishment. By focusing on strengthening desirable behaviour, we have a greater impact than if we emphasize what is undesirable. Reinforcement is anything that an organism desires and is motivated to obtain.

A  reinforcer is something that encourages or promotes a behaviour. Some things are natural rewards. They are considered intrinsic or primary because their value is easily understood. Think of what kinds of things babies or animals such as puppies find rewarding.

Extrinsic or secondary reinforcers are things that have a value not immediately understood. Their value is indirect. They can be traded in for what is ultimately desired.

The use of  positive reinforcement involves adding something to a situation in order to encourage a behaviour. For example, if I give a child a high five for cleaning a room, or compliment the job they have done they are more likely to do it again. Think of ways in which you positively reinforce others.

Negative reinforcement occurs when taking something unpleasant away from a situation encourages behaviour. For example, I have an alarm clock that makes a very unpleasant, loud sound when it goes off in the morning. As a result, I get up and turn it off. By removing the noise, I am reinforced for getting up. How do you negatively reinforce others?

Punishment is an effort to stop a behaviour. It means to follow an action with something unpleasant or painful. Punishment is often less effective than reinforcement for several reasons. It doesn’t indicate the desired behaviour, it may result in suppressing rather than stopping a behaviour, (in other words, the person may not do what is being punished when you’re around, but may do it often when you leave), and a focus on punishment can result in not noticing when the person does well. Not all behaviours are learned through association or reinforcement. Many of the things we do are learned by watching others. This is addressed in social learning theory.

Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura (1925-) is a leading contributor to social learning theory. He calls our attention to the ways in which many of our actions are not learned through conditioning; rather, they are learned by watching others (1977). Young children frequently learn behaviours through imitation

Sometimes, particularly when we do not know what else to do, we learn by modeling or copying the behaviour of others. A kindergartner on their first day of school might eagerly look at how others are acting and try to act the same way to fit in more quickly. Adolescents struggling with their identity rely heavily on their peers to act as role-models. Sometimes we do things because we’ve seen it pay off for someone else. They were operantly conditioned, but we engage in the behaviour because we hope it will pay off for us as well. This is referred to as vicarious reinforcement (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021).

Bandura (1986, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) suggests that there is interplay between the environment and the individual. We are not just the product of our surroundings, rather we influence our surroundings. Parents not only influence their child’s environment, perhaps intentionally through the use of reinforcement, etc., but children influence parents as well. Parents may respond differently with their first child than with their fourth. Perhaps they try to be the perfect parents with their firstborn, but by the time their last child comes along they have very different expectations both of themselves and their child. Our environment creates us and we create our environment (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Bandura and the Bobo Doll Experiment & Today’s Children and the Media

Other social influences: TV or not TV? Bandura et al. (1963, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) began a series of studies to look at the impact of television, particularly commercials, on the behaviour of children. Are children more likely to act out aggressively when they see this behaviour modeled? What if they see it being reinforced? Bandura began by conducting an experiment in which he showed children a film of a person hitting an inflatable clown or “bobo” doll. Then the children were allowed in the room where they found the doll and immediately began to hit it. This was without any reinforcement whatsoever. Not only that, but they found new ways to behave aggressively. It’s as if they learned an aggressive role.

Children view far more television today than in the 1960s; so much, in fact, that they have been referred to as Generation M (media). The amount of screen time varies by age. As of 2017, children 0-8 spend an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes. Children 8-12 years of age spend almost 6 hours a day on screen media. And 13- to 18-year-olds spend an average of just under 9 hours a day in entertainment media use.

The prevalence of violence, sexual content, and messages promoting foods high in fat and sugar in the media are certainly cause for concern and the subjects of ongoing research and policy review. Many children spend even more time on the computer viewing content from the internet. The amount of time spent connected to the internet continues to increase with the use of smartphones that essentially serve as mini-computers. And the ways children and adolescents interact with the media continues to change. T he popularity of YouTube and the various social media platforms are examples of this. What might be the implications of this? (Rasmussen, 2017).

Main Points to Note About Behaviourism

Behaviourists look at observable behaviour and how it can be predicted and controlled.

• Pavlov experimented with classical conditioning, the process of conditioning response to stimulus (the dog’s salivating to the bell).
• Watson offered advice to parents to show them how classical conditioning can be used. The most famous experiment was conditioning Little Albert to fear a white rat.
• Skinner believed that reinforcing behaviour is the most effective way of increasing desirable behaviour. This is done through operant conditioning.
• Bandura noted that many behaviours are not learned through any type of conditioning, but rather through imitation. And he believed that people are not only influenced by their surroundings but that they also have an impact on their surroundings.

Theories also explore cognitive development and how mental processes change over time.

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is one of the most influential cognitive theorists. Piaget was inspired to explore children’s ability to think and reason by watching his own children’s development. He was one of the first to recognize and map out the ways in which children’s thought differs from that of adults. Piaget’s interest in this area began when he was asked to test the IQ of children and began to notice that there was a pattern in their wrong answers. Piaget believed that children’s intellectual skills change over time through maturation. Children of differing ages interpret the world differently.

A  schema  or schemes are categories of knowledge. They are like mental boxes of concepts. A child has to learn many concepts. They may have a scheme for “under” and “soft” or “running” and “sour”. All of these are schema. Our efforts to understand the world around us lead us to develop new schema and to modify old ones.

One way to make sense of new experiences is to focus on how they are similar to what we already know. This is  assimilation . So the person we meet who is very different may be understood as being “sort of like my sibling” or “that voice sounds a lot like yours.” Or a new food may be assimilated when we determine that it tastes like chicken!

Another way to make sense of the world is to change our mind. We can make a cognitive accommodation to this new experience by adding new schema. This food is unlike anything I’ve tasted before. I now have a new category of foods that are bitter-sweet in flavor, for instance. This is  accommodation . Do you accommodate or assimilate more frequently? Children accommodate more frequently as they build new schema. Adults tend to look for similarity in their experience and assimilate. They may be less inclined to think “outside the box.” Piaget suggested different ways of understanding that are associated with maturation. This was divided into four stages.

Table 1.5 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory

Piaget has been criticized for overemphasizing the role that physical maturation plays in cognitive development and underestimating the role that culture and interaction (or experience) plays in cognitive development. Looking across cultures reveals considerable variation in what children are able to do at various ages. Piaget may have underestimated what children are capable of given the right cir cumstances (Lumen Learning, n.d.). 

 Note About Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget, one of the most influential cognitive theorists, believed that

• Understanding is motivated by trying to balance what we sense in the world and what we know in our minds.
• Understanding is organized through creating categories of knowledge. When presented with new knowledge we may add new schema or modify existing ones.

Children’s understanding of how the world changes in their cognitive skills mature through four stages: sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage.

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who wrote in the early 1900s but whose work was discovered in the United States in the 1960s but became more widely known in the 1980s. Vygotsky differed with Piaget in that he believed that a person not only has a set of abilities, but also a set of potential abilities that can be realized if given the proper guidance from others. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the importance of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities. He believed that through guided participation known as scaffolding, with a teacher or capable peer, a child can learn cognitive skills within a certain range known as the zone of proximal development (Lumen Learning, n.d.).  This belief was that development occurred first through children’s immediate social interactions, and then moved to the individual level as they began to internalize their learning (Leon, n.d.)

Main Points to Note About Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky concentrated on the child’s interactions with peers and adults. He believed that the child was an apprentice, learning through sensitive social interactions with more skilled peers and adults.

Comparing Piaget and Vygotsky

Vygotsky concentrated more on the child’s immediate social and cultural environment and their interactions with adults and peers. While Piaget saw the child as actively discovering the world through individual interactions with it, Vygotsky saw the child as more of an apprentice, learning through a social environment of others who had more experience and were sensitive to the child’s needs and abilities (Leon, n.d.). 

Like Vygotsky, Bronfenbrenner looked at the social influences on learning and development.

Comparing Piaget and Vygotsky – both statements are right for indigenous culture, the child is seen as “actively discovering the world through individual interactions with it (children are encouraged to play outside) and,  as more of an apprentice, learning through a social environment of others who had more experience and were sensitive to the child’s needs and abilities.” (Leon, n.d) Boys were around their mothers until the age of 7; subsequently, they would go with the men to learn the skills of protection and hunting ( i.e. flint making, arrows, making nets, snowshoes, etc.)  Today, in some families who are keeping the traditional ways of life alive, boys go hunting, trapping and, fishing with their father, a community member or another male relative; some as early as 7 or 8 for small game. When they reach the age of 11 or 12 they are encouraged to kill big game which is celebrated. They are encouraged to share the game with elders and/or other community members. Girls were traditionally taught skills such as cooking, tanning hides, putting up the teepee (or other forms of habitats), rearing children, fetching wood and water, as well as other chores. Today, it is not uncommon for girls to do the same as the boys with their father or with the whole family. Both girls and boys help with younger siblings, especially if there are many. Some of these may defer from nation to nation.

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) offers us one of the most comprehensive theories of human development. Bronfenbrenner studied Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and learning theorists and believed that all of those theories could be enhanced by adding the dimension of context. What is being taught and how society interprets situations depends on who is involved in the life of a child and on when and where a child lives.

Table 1.6 Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model

For example, in order to understand a student in math, we can’t simply look at that individual and what challenges they face directly with the subject. We have to look at the interactions that occur between teacher and child. Perhaps the teacher needs to make modifications as well. The teacher may be responding to regulations made by the school, such as new expectations for students in math or constraints on time that interfere with the teacher’s ability to instruct. These new demands may be a response to national efforts to promote math and science deemed important by political leaders in response to relations with other countries at a particular time in history.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model challenges us to go beyond the individual if we want to understand human development and promot e improvements (Leon, n.d.).

Main Points to Note About Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model

After studying all of the prior theories, Bronfenbrenner added an important element of context to the discussion of influences on human development.

• He believed that the people involved in children’s lives and when and where they live are important considerations.
• He created a model of nested systems that influence the child (and are influenced by the child) that include: microsystems, mesosystems, the exosystem, macrosystems, and chronosystems.

Indigenous PerspectiveS

As for Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model: it seems the same as the saying: It takes a community to raise a child. In some indigenous communities, the aunts and uncles are the ones who “discipline” children to keep harmony in the family. Discipline in the sense that they talk to the children when they are not contributing to the household or when they are giving their parents a hard time. It is common for children to go live with either aunts and uncles, or grandparents for periods of time to learn different skills, knowledge and/or teachings as well as to go help out with child-rearing. There is a strong sense of sharing our gifts from the Creator, the children, with our extended family. They are considered to be lent to us by the Creator.  

In this chapter we looked at:

• underlying principles of development
• the five periods of development
• three issues in development
• various methods of research
• important theories that help us understand the development

Baker, D. B. & Sperry, H. (2021). History of psychology. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds),  Noba textbook series: Psychology.  Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from  http://noba.to/j8xkgcz5

Bisnaine, L., Clinton, J., & Ferguson, B. (2014). Understanding the whole child and youth; A key to learning. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/spring2014.pdf

Canadian Psychological Association. (2017). Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (4th Ed.). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://cpa.ca/docs/File/Ethics/CPA_Code_2017_4thEd.pdf

College of Early Childhood Educators. (2017). Code of ethics and standards of practice for early childhood educators in Ontario. Retrieved from https://www.college-ece.ca/en/documents/code_and_standards_2017.pdf

Institute for Integrative Science and Health (n.d.). Two-eyed seeing. Retrieved from http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/

Lally, M. & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective. Retrieved from http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf

Leon, A. (n.d.). Children’s development: Prenatal through adolescent development. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k1xtrXy6j9_NAqZdGv8nBn_I6-lDtEgEFf7skHjvE-Y/edit

Lukowski, A. & Milojevich, H. (2021). Research methods in developmental psychology . In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Dinner (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from https://nobaproject.com/modules/research-methods-in-developmental-psychology

Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Introduction to lifespan, growth and development. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/lifespandevelopment2/

Mustard, J. F. (2006). Early child development and experience-based brain development: The scientific underpinnings of the importance of early child development in a globalized world. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014a). Excerpts from ELECT: Foundational knowledge from the 2007 publication of “Early learning for every child today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings” . Retrieved from https://www.dufferincounty.ca/sites/default/files/rtb/Excerpts-from-Early-Learning-for-Every-Child-Today.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014b). How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years: A resource about learning through relationships for those who work with young children and their families. Retrieved from https://files.ontario.ca/edu-how-does-learning-happen-en-2021-03-23.pdf

Overstreet, L. (n.d.). Psyc 200 lifespan psychology. Retrieved from: http://opencourselibrary.org/econ-201/.

Rasmussen, E. (2017). Screen time and kids: Insights from a new report. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/screen-time-and-kids-insights-from-a-new-report

Child Growth and Development Canadian Ed Copyright © 2022 by Tanya Pye; Susan Scoffin; Janice Quade; and Jane Krieg is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform Practice

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NAEYC’s guidelines and recommendations for developmentally appropriate practice are based on the following nine principles and their implications for early childhood education professional practice. These principles reflect an extensive research base that is only partially referenced here. 13  Because these principles are interrelated, this linear list does not fully represent their overall complexity.

Development and learning are dynamic processes that reflect the complex interplay between a child’s biological characteristics and the environment, each shaping the other as well as future patterns of growth.

Advances in neuroscience over the last two decades have provided new insights regarding the processes of early brain development and their long-term implications for development and learning. The findings provide robust evidence supporting the importance of high-quality early learning experiences for young children for promoting children’s lifelong success.

Neural connections in the brain—which are the basis for all thought, communication, and learning—are established most rapidly in early childhood. 14  The processes of forming new neural connections and pruning the neural connections that are not used continue throughout a person’s lifespan but are most consequential in the first three years. 15  When adults are sensitive and respond to an infant’s babble, cry, or gesture, they directly support the development of neural connections that lay the foundation for children’s communication and social skills, including self-regulation. These “serve and return” interactions shape the brain’s architecture. 16  They also help educators and others “tune in” to the infant and better respond to the infant’s wants and needs.

The interplay of biology and environment, present at birth, continues through the preschool years and primary grades (kindergarten through grade 3). This has particular implications for children who experience adversity. In infancy, for example, a persistent lack of responsive care results in the infant experiencing chronic stress that may negatively impact brain development and may delay or impair the development of essential systems and abilities, including thinking, learning, and memory, as well as the immune system and the ability to cope with stress. 17  Living in persistent poverty can also generate chronic stress that negatively affects the development of brain areas associated with cognitive and self-regulatory functions. 18

No group is monolithic, and data specific to communities provides a deeper understanding of children’s experiences and outcomes. It is important to recognize that although children of all races and ethnicities experience poverty and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), Black and Latino/a children, as well as children in refugee and immigrant families, children in some Asian-American families, and children in Native American families, have been found to be more likely to experience ACEs than White non-Latino/a and other Asian-American populations of children, 19  reflecting a history of systemic inequities. 20  Moreover, racism itself must be recognized not only for its immediate and obvious impacts on children, but also for its long-term negative impacts, in which the repetitive trauma created by racism can predispose individuals to chronic disease. 21  It should be noted that these stressors and trauma affect adults as well as children, including family members and early childhood educators themselves, who, despite their skills and importance, often earn wages that place them into poverty.

Some children appear to be more susceptible than others to the effects of environmental influence—both positive and negative—reflecting individual differences at play. For children facing adverse circumstances, including trauma, the buffering effects of caring, consistent relationships—with family and other community members but also in high-quality early childhood programs—are also important to note. 22  This emerging science emphasizes the critical importance of early childhood educators in providing consistent, responsive, sensitive care and education to promote children’s development and learning across the full birth-through-8 age span. The negative impacts of chronic stress and other adverse experiences can be overcome. High-quality early childhood education contributes substantially to children’s resilience and healthy development.

All domains of child development—physical development, cognitive development, social and emotional development, and linguistic development (including bilingual or multilingual development), as well as approaches to learning—are important; each domain both supports and is supported by the others.

Early childhood educators are responsible for fostering children’s development and learning in all these domains as well as in general learning competencies and executive functioning, which include attention, working memory, self-regulation, reasoning, problem solving, and approaches to learning. There is considerable overlap and interaction across these domains and competencies. For example, sound nutrition, physical activity, and sufficient sleep all promote children’s abilities to engage in social interactions that, in turn, stimulate cognitive growth. Children who experience predictable, responsive relationships and responsive interactions with adults also tend to demonstrate improved general learning competencies and executive functioning. 23

Changes in one domain often impact other areas and highlight each area’s importance. For example, as children begin to crawl or walk, they gain new possibilities for exploring the world. This mobility in turn affects both their cognitive development and their ability to satisfy their curiosity, underscoring the importance of adaptations for children with disabilities that limit their mobility. Likewise, language development influences a child’s ability to participate in social interaction with adults and other children; such interactions, in turn, support further language development as well as further social, emotional, and cognitive development. Science is clear that children can learn multiple languages as easily as one, given adequate exposure and practice, and this process brings cognitive advantages. 24  In groups in which children speak different home languages, educators may not be able to speak each language, but they can value and support maintaining all languages. 25

A growing body of work demonstrates relationships between social, emotional, executive function, and cognitive competencies 26  as well as the importance of movement and physical activity. 27  These areas of learning are mutually reinforcing and all are critical in educating young children across birth through age 8. Intentional teaching strategies, including, and particularly, play (both self-directed and guided), address each domain. Kindergartens and grades 1-3 tend to be considered elementary or primary education, and, as such, may have increasingly prioritized cognitive learning at the expense of physical, social, emotional, and linguistic development. But integrating cognitive, emotional, social, interpersonal skills and self-regulatory competencies better prepares children for more challenging academic content and learning experiences. 28  In brief, the knowledge base documents the importance of a comprehensive curriculum and the interrelatedness of the developmental domains for all young children’s well-being and success.

Play promotes joyful learning that fosters self-regulation, language, cognitive and social competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all children, birth through age 8.

Play (e.g., self-directed, guided, solitary, parallel, social, cooperative, onlooker, object, fantasy, physical, constructive, and games with rules) is the central teaching practice that facilitates young children’s development and learning. Play develops young children’s symbolic and imaginative thinking, peer relationships, language (English and/or additional languages), physical development, and problem-solving skills. All young children need daily, sustained opportunities for play, both indoors and outdoors. Play helps children develop large-motor and fine-motor physical competence, explore and make sense of their world, interact with others, express and control their emotions, develop symbolic and problem-solving abilities, and practice emerging skills. Consistently, studies find clear links between play and foundational capacities such as working memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, social skills, and success in school. 29

Indeed, play embodies the characteristics of effective development and learning described in principles 4 and 5—active, meaningful engagement driven by children’s choices. Researchers studying the pedagogy of play have identified three key components: choice (the children’s decisions to engage in play, as well as decisions about its direction and its continuation), wonder (children’s continued engagement as they explore, gather information, test hypotheses, and make meaning), and delight (the joy and laughter associated with the pleasure of the activity, making discoveries, and achieving new things). 30  Play also typically involves social interaction with peers and/or adults.

Although adults can be play partners (for example, playing peekaboo with an infant) or play facilitators (by making a suggestion to extend the activity in a certain way), the more that the adult directs an activity or interaction, the less likely it will be perceived as play by the child. When planning learning environments and activities, educators may find it helpful to consider a continuum ranging from children’s self-directed play to direct instruction. 31  Neither end of the continuum is effective by itself in creating a high-quality early childhood program. Effective, developmentally-appropriate practice does not mean simply letting children play in the absence of a planned learning environment, nor does it mean predominantly offering direct instruction. In the middle of the continuum is guided play. Educators create learning environments that reflect children’s interests; they provide sustained time and opportunities for children to engage in self-directed play (individually and in small groups). Educators also strategically make comments and suggestions and ask questions to help move children toward a learning goal, even as children continue to lead the activity. 32

Guided play gives educators opportunities to use children’s interests and creations to introduce new vocabulary and concepts, model complex language, and provide children with multiple opportunities to use words in context in children’s home languages as well as in English. These meaningful and engaging experiences help children—including those in kindergarten and the primary grades—build knowledge and vocabulary across subject areas and in purposeful contexts (which is more effective than memorization of word lists). 33

Despite evidence that supports the value of play, not all children are afforded the opportunity to play, a reality which disproportionately affects Black and Latino/a children. 34  Play is often viewed as being at odds with the demands of formal schooling, especially for children growing up in under-resourced communities. 35  In fact, the highly didactic, highly controlling curriculum found in many kindergarten and primary grades, with its narrow focus on test-focused skill development, is unlikely to be engaging or meaningful for children; it is also unlikely to build the broad knowledge and vocabulary needed for reading comprehension in later grades. Instead, the lesson children are likely to learn is that they are not valued thinkers or successful learners in school. For example, studies suggest that students who are taught math primarily through memorization and rote learning are more than a year behind those who have been taught by relating math concepts to their existing knowledge and reflecting on their own understanding. 36

Even if not called play, cross-curricular and collaborative approaches such as project-based learning, inquiry learning, or making and tinkering share characteristics of playful learning. 37  Giving children autonomy and agency in how they approach problems, make hypotheses, and explore potential solutions with others promotes deeper learning and improves executive functioning. 38  In sum, self-directed play, guided play, and playful learning, skillfully supported by early childhood educators, build academic language, deepen conceptual development, and support reflective and intentional approaches to learning—all of which add up to effective strategies for long-term success.

Although general progressions of development and learning can be identified, variations due to cultural contexts, experiences, and individual differences must also be considered.

A pervasive characteristic of development is that children’s functioning, including their play, becomes increasingly complex—in language, cognition, social interaction, physical movement, problem solving, and virtually every other aspect. Increased organization and memory capacity of the developing brain make it possible for children to combine simple routines into more complex strategies with age. 39  Despite these predictable changes in all domains, the ways that these changes are demonstrated and the meanings attached to them will vary in different cultural and linguistic contexts. For example, in some cultures, children may be encouraged to satisfy their growing curiosity by moving independently to explore the environment; in other cultures, children may be socialized to seek answers to queries within structured activities created for them by adults. 40  In addition, all children learn language through their social interactions, but there are important distinctions in the process for monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual children. 41  Rather than assuming that the process typical of monolingual children is the norm against which others ought to be judged, it is important for educators to recognize the differences as variations in strengths (rather than deficits) and to support them appropriately. 42

Development and learning also occur at varying rates from child to child and at uneven rates across different areas for each child. Children’s demonstrated abilities and skills are often fluid and may vary from day to day based on individual or contextual factors. For example, because children are still developing the ability to direct their attention, a distraction in the environment may result in a child successfully completing a puzzle one day but not the next. In addition, some regression in observed skills is common before new developments are fully achieved. 43  For all of these reasons, the notion of “stages” of development has limited utility; a more helpful concept may be to think of waves of development that allow for considerable overlap without rigid boundaries. 44

Children are active learners from birth, constantly taking in and organizing information to create meaning through their relationships, their interactions with their environment, and their overall experiences.

Even as infants, children are capable of highly complex thinking. 45  Using information they gather through their interactions with people and things as well as their observations of the world around them, they quickly create sophisticated theories to build their conceptual understanding. They recognize patterns and make predictions that they then apply to new situations. Infants appear particularly attuned to adults as sources of information, underscoring the importance of consistent, responsive caregiving to support the formation of relationships. 46  Cultural variations can be seen in these interactions, with implications for later development and learning. For example, in some cultures, children are socialized to quietly observe members of the adult community and to learn by pitching in (often through mimicking the adults’ behaviors). 47  In other cultures, adults make a point of getting a child’s attention to encourage one-on-one interactions. Children socialized to learn through observing may quietly watch others without asking for help, while those socialized to expect direct interaction may find it difficult to maintain focus without frequent adult engagement.

Throughout the early childhood years, young children continue to construct knowledge and make meaning through their interactions with adults and peers, through active exploration and play, and through their observations of people and things in the world around them. Educators recognize the importance of their role in creating a rich, play-based learning environment that encourages the development of knowledge (including vocabulary) and skills across all domains. Educators understand that children’s current abilities are largely the result of the experiences—the opportunities to learn—that children have had. As such, children with disabilities (or with the potential for a disability) have capacity to learn; they need educators who do not label them or isolate them from their peers and who are prepared to work with them and their families to develop that potential.

In addition to learning language and concepts about the physical phenomena in the world around them, children learn powerful lessons about social dynamics as they observe the interactions that educators have with them and other children as well as peer interactions. Well before age 5, most young children have rudimentary definitions of their own and others’ social identities that can include awareness of and biases regarding gender and race. 48

Early childhood educators need to understand the importance of creating a learning environment that helps children develop social identities which do not privilege one group over another. They must also be aware of the potential for implicit bias that may prejudice their interactions with children of various social identities. 49  Educators must also recognize that their nonverbal signals may influence children’s attitudes toward their peers. For example, one recent study found that children will think a child who receives more positive nonverbal signals from a teacher is perceived as a “better” or “smarter” reader than a child who receives more negative nonverbal signals, regardless of that child’s actual reading performance. 50

Children’s motivation to learn is increased when their learning environment fosters their sense of belonging, purpose, and agency. Curricula and teaching methods build on each child’s assets by connecting their experiences in the school or learning environment to their home and community settings.

This principle is drawn from the influential report How People Learn II and is supported by a growing body of research that affirms principles espoused more than 100 years ago by John Dewey. 51  The sense of belonging requires both physical and psychological safety. Seeing connections with home and community can be a powerful signal for children’s establishing psychological safety; conversely, when there are few signs of connection for children, their psychological safety is jeopardized. It is important for children to see people who look like them across levels of authority, to hear and see their home language in the learning environment, and to have learning experiences that are both culturally and linguistically affirming and responsive. 52

Equally important is encouraging each child’s sense of agency. Opportunities for agency—that is, the ability to make and act upon choices about what activities one will engage in and how those activities will proceed—must be widely available for all children, not limited as a reward after completing other tasks or only offered to high-achieving students. Ultimately, motivation is a personal decision based on the learner’s determination of meaningfulness, interest, and engagement. 53  Educators can promote children’s agency and help them feel motivated by engaging them in challenging yet achievable tasks that build on their interests and that they recognize as meaningful and purposeful to their lives. Studies have found that some children are denied opportunities to exercise agency because they are mistakenly deemed unable to do so. 54  For educators, supporting a child’s agency can be especially challenging when they do not speak the same language as the child or are not able to understand a child’s attempts to express solutions or preferences. In these cases, nonverbal cues and/or technology-assistive tools may be helpful as the educator also works to address the communication barrier.

As noted earlier regarding brain development, children’s feelings of safety and security are essential for the development of higher-order thinking skills, so fostering that sense of belonging is essentially a brain-building activity. Beginning in infancy, educators who follow children’s lead in noticing their interests and responding with an appropriate action and conversation (including noting when interest wanes) are helping children develop self-confidence and an understanding that their actions make a difference. Educators can involve children in choosing or creating learning experiences that are meaningful to them, helping them establish and achieve challenging goals, and reflecting on their experiences and their learning. Educators can also intentionally build bridges between children’s interests and the subject matter knowledge that will serve as the foundation for learning in later grades.

Children learn in an integrated fashion that cuts across academic disciplines or subject areas. Because the foundations of subject area knowledge are established in early childhood, educators need subject-area knowledge, an understanding of the learning progressions within each subject area, and pedagogical knowledge about teaching each subject area’s content effectively.

Based on their knowledge of what is meaningful and engaging to each child, educators design the learning environment and its activities to promote subject area knowledge across all content areas as well as across all domains of development. Educators use their knowledge of learning progressions for different subjects, their understanding of common conceptions and misconceptions at different points on the progressions, and their pedagogical knowledge about each subject area to develop learning activities that offer challenging but achievable goals for children that are also meaningful and engaging. These activities will look very different for infants and toddlers than for second- and third-graders and from one community of learners to another, given variations in culture and context. Across all levels and settings, educators can help children observe and, over time, reflect about phenomena in the world around them, gain vocabulary, and build their conceptual understanding of the content of subjects across all disciplines.

Recognizing the value of the academic disciplines, an interdisciplinary approach that considers multiple areas together is typically more meaningful than teaching content areas separately. This requires going beyond superficial connections. It means “making rich connections among domain and subject areas, but allowing each to retain its core conceptual, procedural, and epistemological structures.” 55  It is, therefore, important that educators have a good understanding of the core structures (concepts and language) for all the academic subject areas so that they can communicate them in appropriate ways to children.

Educators shape children’s conceptual development through their use of language. For example, labeling objects helps young children form conceptual categories; statements conveyed as generic descriptions about a category are especially salient to young children and, once learned, can be resistant to change. 56  It is also important for educators to monitor their language for potential bias. For example, educators who frequently refer to “boys” and “girls” rather than “children” emphasize binary gender distinctions that exclude some children. Educators can also encourage children’s continued exploration and discovery through the words they use. For example, when given an object, children are more likely to engage in creative explorations of that object when they are provided with more open-ended guidance versus when they are given specific information about what the object was designed to do.

From infancy through age 8, proactively building children’s conceptual and factual knowledge, including academic vocabulary, is essential because knowledge is the primary driver of comprehension. The more children (and adults) know, the better their listening comprehension and, later, reading comprehension. By building knowledge of the world in early childhood, educators are laying the foundation that is critical for all future learning. 57  All subject matter can be taught in ways that are meaningful and engaging for each child. 58  The notion that young children are not ready for academic subject matter is a misunderstanding of developmentally appropriate practice.

Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond their current mastery and when they have many opportunities to reflect on and practice newly acquired skills.

Human beings, especially young children, are motivated to understand or do what is just beyond their current understanding or mastery. Drawing upon the strengths and resources each child and family brings, early childhood educators create a rich learning environment that stimulates that motivation and helps to extend each child’s current skills, abilities, and interests. They make use of strategies to promote children’s undertaking and mastering of new and progressively more advanced challenges. They also recognize the potential for implicit bias to lead to lowered expectations, especially for children of color, 59  and actively work to avoid such bias.

Educators contribute significantly to the child’s development by providing the support or assistance that allows the child to succeed at a task that is just beyond their current level of skill or understanding. This includes emotional support as well as strategies such as pointing out salient details or providing other cues that can help children make connections to previous knowledge and experiences. 60  As children make this stretch to a new level in a supportive context, they can go on to use the skill independently and in a variety of contexts, laying the foundation for the next challenge. Provision of such support, or scaffolding, is a key feature of effective teaching. Pairing children can be an effective way to support peer learning in which children with different abilities can scaffold each other. 61

Children need to feel successful in new tasks a significant proportion of the time to promote their motivation and persistence. 62  Confronted by repeated failure, most children will simply stop trying. Repeated opportunities to practice and consolidate new skills and concepts are also essential for children to reach the threshold of mastery at which they can go on to use this knowledge or skill, applying it in new situations. Play (especially in intentionally designed environments with carefully selected materials) provides young children with opportunities to engage in this type of practice.

Educators foster learning for a group of children by setting challenging, achievable goals for each child, building on the combined funds of knowledge and cultural assets of the children in the group. Providing the right amount and type of scaffolding requires general knowledge of child development and learning, including familiarity with the paths and sequences that children are known to follow in specific skills, concepts, and abilities. Also essential is deep knowledge of each child, based on what the teacher has learned from close observation and from the family about the individual child’s interests, skills, and abilities and about practices of importance to the family. Both sets of knowledge are critical to matching curriculum and teaching experiences to each child’s emerging competencies in ways that are challenging but not frustrating.

Encouraging children to reflect on their experiences and learning and to revisit concepts over time is also an important strategy for educators. The curriculum should provide both breadth and depth with multiple opportunities to revisit concepts and experiences, rather than rapidly progressing through a wide but shallow set of experiences. Picture books and other learning materials that depict communities and situations relevant to children’s lives can be useful starting points for such reflection. Group projects with documentation, including photos, videos, child artwork and representations, child dictations, and/or children’s writing, are also important tools for encouraging reflection and for revisiting concepts over time. 63

Tiered intervention approaches can be helpful in identifying children who might benefit from additional instruction or support. 64  These approaches, often in collaboration with early childhood special educators and early interventionists, are most effective when they are implemented in a way that is continuous, flexible, dynamic, and focused on the range of critical skills and proficiencies children need to develop and to enable their full participation in the classroom/group community.

Used responsibly and intentionally, technology and interactive media can be valuable tools for supporting children’s development and learning.

Young children live in a digital era in which technology and interactive media are pervasive. Given rapid changes in the types and uses of new media, the knowledge base of their effects on children’s development and learning continues to grow and shift. Emerging evidence suggests a number of cautions, including concerns about negative associations between excessive screen time and childhood obesity as well as negative impacts on toddlers’ performance on measures of fine motor, communication, and social skills. 65  There is no evidence that development is enhanced when children younger than age 2 independently use devices with screen media. 66  Keeping these cautions in mind, technology and interactive media can help to support developmentally appropriate practice. For example, technology and interactive media can facilitate communication between families, children, and teachers. It can also support learning, comprehension, and communication across language differences and provide adaptations that support inclusion of children with disabilities. The use of digital media can facilitate reflection through documentation and formative assessment by children, educators, and families. The use of media can also provide isolated children (for example, children with health problems that prevent them from participating in group settings or those with less well-developed social skills) with opportunities to engage effectively with peers. 67

Effective uses of technology and media by children are active, hands-on, engaging, and empowering; give children control; provide adaptive scaffolds to help each child progress in skills development at their individual pace; and are used as one of many options to support children’s learning. Technology and interactive media should expand children’s access to new content and new skills; they should not replace opportunities for real, hands-on experiences. 68  When truly integrated, uses of technology and media become normal and transparent—the child or the educator is focused on the activity or exploration itself, not the technology. Readers are encouraged to review the NAEYC/Fred Rogers Center  position statement on the use of technology  for more information on this topic.

View the full list of endnotes.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Position Statement

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Theories of Child Development and Their Impact on Early Childhood Education and Care

• Published: 29 October 2021
• Volume 51 , pages 15–30, ( 2023 )

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• Olivia N. Saracho   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4108-7790 1  

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Developmental theorists use their research to generate philosophies on children’s development. They organize and interpret data based on a scheme to develop their theory. A theory refers to a systematic statement of principles related to observed phenomena and their relationship to each other. A theory of child development looks at the children's growth and behavior and interprets it. It suggests elements in the child's genetic makeup and the environmental conditions that influence development and behavior and how these elements are related. Many developmental theories offer insights about how the performance of individuals is stimulated, sustained, directed, and encouraged. Psychologists have established several developmental theories. Many different competing theories exist, some dealing with only limited domains of development, and are continuously revised. This article describes the developmental theories and their founders who have had the greatest influence on the fields of child development, early childhood education, and care. The following sections discuss some influences on the individuals’ development, such as theories, theorists, theoretical conceptions, and specific principles. It focuses on five theories that have had the most impact: maturationist, constructivist, behavioral, psychoanalytic, and ecological. Each theory offers interpretations on the meaning of children's development and behavior. Although the theories are clustered collectively into schools of thought, they differ within each school.

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The author is grateful to Mary Jalongo for her expert editing and her keen eye for the smallest details.

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Saracho, O.N. Theories of Child Development and Their Impact on Early Childhood Education and Care. Early Childhood Educ J 51 , 15–30 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01271-5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01271-5

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7.1: The Whole Child – Developmental Domains/Areas

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• Cindy Stephens, Gina Peterson, Sharon Eyrich, & Jennifer Paris
• College of the Canyons via College of the Canyons

This chapter examines the child as a whole or what we commonly refer to in Early Childhood Education – “the whole child.” The whole child refers to and addresses all areas or domains of the child – physical, cognitive, language, social-emotional, and spiritual. These domains of development are both collective and individual. Children have similar characteristics at different developmental ages, but they also are individuals with their own – “meness” that is important for us to consider when supporting all children in our early learning programs.

When thinking about children, what comes to your mind? Is it the way they engage with you? Is it their sense of adventure? Is it watching them try to climb a ladder? Is it trying to figure out what they may be thinking about when they have a certain look on their faces that they are not yet able to articulate? Is it their obvious curiosity and imagination? This is how we begin to think of the child as a whole, complex being. An integrated, interrelated series of parts that become the “whole.”

Social-Emotional Development

Social-emotional development is the relationships that children have with themselves and others, the way they feel about themselves or their self-concept, the way they value themselves or their self-esteem, and he ability to express their feelings to themselves and others.

One of the important dispositions of being an early childhood professional is supporting children’s well-being. It is both a moral and ethical responsibility. By nature, children are trusting and look to the adults in their world to provide them with the necessary skills to be successful in their life’s journey. We can either elevate or diminish a child.

The first five years of a child's life are some of the most critical years for their development. It's during these years that a child's brain develops faster than at any other time in their life. Children reach several key milestones during these years, from the early stages of crawling, walking, and babbling to running, climbing, and speaking clearly. Each milestone refers to a specific "domain" or area of development.

There are several ways to break down the domains of development. However, this article will discuss the four main domains of child development and what teachers and families can do to help their child progress in each area.

What are developmental domains? 

Developmental domains are specific areas of a child's developmental progress and growth. Each child develops at their own pace, and many factors, including age, genetics, and the environment can affect how and when a child develops .

There are four main domains of a child's development: physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional. Let’s dive deeper into each one. 

Physical domain

The physical domain covers physical growth and changes , like increases in height, weight, and muscular strength. It also includes milestones such as walking, crawling, or grasping finger food. Additionally, the physical domain consists of the development of motor skills , including gross and fine motor skills, and the development of the five senses . Here's a deeper look at the difference between gross and fine motor skills. 

• Gross motor skills: Gross motor skills involve moving large muscles such as the arms, legs, torso, and back. Gross motor involves whole-body movements and allows us to do physical activities such as walking, running, jumping, balancing, and lifting. 
• Fine motor skills: Fine motor skills involve small body muscles, such as those in hands, wrists, and fingers. The development of these skills refers to coordinating these muscles with eyes to achieve daily activities such as grasping food, turning door knobs, opening zippers, and brushing teeth.

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the physical domain 

A child's physical development depends on their physical health and activities. Children must receive the proper food and care to grow in height and gain weight and strength to achieve their milestones. But nutrition is only one of the things needed to help a child's progress. Children also need to be active and engage with their environment. Here are some activities children can engage in to help their progress in the physical domain: 

• Outdoor play 
• Eating finger foods 
• Fastening their shoes 
• Playing at the park 
• Pushing toys

Cognitive domain

Watching a child play hide and seek or look for a toy you put behind your back are milestones that relate to their cognitive development. Cognitive development involves how children think, explore and figure things out as well as their problem-solving skills and acquisition of knowledge. The cognitive domain, also referred to as the intellectual domain, refers to the intellectual growth of a child, their brain development , and their capacity to learn and understand the world around them. When children develop cognitively, they are able to:

• Process thoughts
• Pay attention
• Develop memories
• Understand their surroundings
• Express creativity
• Create and develop plans

Psychologist Jean Piaget outlined the four stages of cognitive development :

Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

This is the first stage of child development. In this stage, infants and toddlers learn by interacting with their environment and depend on their senses to learn about the world. For example, they may throw things or put them in their mouth to understand how objects and the environment react to their actions. As their physical mobility increases, so does cognitive development. By the end of this stage, they learn object permanence , the idea that things continue to exist even when they cannot be seen. Here are some examples of characteristics in the sensorimotor stage: 

• Sucking and grasping
• Shaking a rattle
• Moving an object that is in the way of an object they want
• Recognizing objects and people

Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7) 

During this stage, children learn how to think about things more symbolically. Symbolic thought is the phenomenon where children imagine fake events, objects, places, and people as if they were real. They may use them to represent something similar, such as play dough representing food or creating an imaginary pet or a make-believe superhero. During this stage, language skills also become more substantial, and they can communicate more clearly. Their memory and imagination also develop, allowing them to engage in make-believe. 

Although they can understand a little more about their world, they still cannot fully understand logic and reasoning. Some examples of characteristics of the preoperational stage include:

• Engaging in pretend play
• Thinking symbolically or mentally representing objects that aren’t present
• Understanding conservation, the concept that a quantity stays the same even if you change the size, shape, or container it’s in
• Playing alongside other children

Concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11)

Children begin to think more logically and abstractly during this stage and show concrete reasoning. They understand that they have thoughts and feelings and that others may not feel like they do. However, they still struggle to think about abstract ideas or hypothetical situations. The concrete operational stage is also the beginning of a child's ability to see the world from another person's perspective. Some additional developmental changes that take place in the concrete operational stage include:

• Understanding that other people have their own thoughts
• Classifying objects and using categorical information to solve problems
• Concentrating on many aspects of a situation at a time
• Following instructions with multiple steps
• Mentally arranging a group of items into a sequence

Formal operational stage (age 12 and up)

The final stage of cognitive development is where a child develops increased logical thinking and the ability to understand abstract ideas. Children in this stage systematically think about things and consider all possibilities. Some examples include: 

• Developing solutions to problems using logic
• Considering possible outcomes 
• Thinking about hypotheticals and forming various solutions to solve them

How teachers and families can help a child’s progress in the cognitive domain 

Children in early education programs are in the sensorimotor and preoperational stages of cognitive development. Educators and families can support infants and young toddlers in the sensorimotor stage by incorporating cognitive activities that engage children’s senses and help them develop object permanence. You can guide children through the preoperational stage by including activities that encourage parallel play and engage the imagination.

Language domain 

The language or communication domain includes a child’s ability to both understand what is being communicated to them and to express themselves verbally. Language development starts in infancy with sounds and gestures and eventually develops into words and complete sentences as children get older. Developing language skills is the first step in literacy as it forms the foundations for early reading and writing.

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the language domain

Language development strengthens the development of other early childhood domains. For example, language development helps children’s social-emotional development as they begin to express and regulate their emotions, and develop and maintain relationships with those around them. 

One of the most important things you can do with a child in their early years is read, sing, and talk to them. These activities will have a huge impact on a child’s early language and literacy skills . Other activities include:

• Singing songs and saying simple rhymes
• Teaching new vocabulary words
• Talking in complete sentences 
• Taking the time to listen and answer their questions 
• Asking open-ended questions 
• Pointing out objects and describing them

Social-emotional domain

The social-emotional domain focuses on how children begin to interact and form relationships with others and how they experience, express, and manage their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Children start to gain an understanding of who they are, what they’re feeling, and how they interact with other people. Some examples of social-emotional development include:

• Taking turns
• Regulating emotions
• Sharing 
• Apologizing
• Developing friendships 
• Having empathy toward others

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the social-emotional domain 

Healthy development of a child's social-emotional milestones begins at home with their parents and caregivers and continues in the classroom where children gain more experience in a social setting. Here are some ways to promote positive social-emotional development: 

• Practice sharing and taking turns
• Implement partner and group activities
• Have discussions about managing emotions
• Model kindness, positive self-talk, and empathy
• Read books focused on social-emotional topics

Domain progression

It’s natural for children to progress in different domains at various times and stages. Children may experience significant progress in one domain while developing more slowly in another.

For example, a child focusing on learning to walk, which is in the physical domain, may not experience as much progress in the language domain. This is completely normal as children will all reach developmental milestones at their own unique pace.

Why are developmental domains important and how can teachers use them to assess development? 

It’s important to understand each developmental domain because it can be instrumental in identifying any potential developmental delays or areas where a child may need extra support. By learning this information, you can provide the child with the resources to encourage growth in each of the developmental areas. 

Childcare providers and teachers regularly observe and monitor children’s overall growth and progress in each of the developmental domains. Resources like the Ages and Stages Questionnaire® (ASQ) or a milestone checklist can be used by teachers to track children’s behaviors and detect any delays or concerns early.

With a tool like brightwheel's progress report feature , you can easily monitor and track children's progress. Capture children's achievements and milestones as they happen and create structured child portfolios to share with families. 

Conclusion 

It’s important for educators and families to understand child development across various domains: physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and language. While each child progresses at their own pace, it is still possible to offer age-appropriate activities and closely monitor their advancement, providing support tailored to their specific stage of growth.

Brightwheel is the complete solution for early education providers, enabling you to streamline your center’s operations and build a stand-out reputation. Brightwheel connects the most critical aspects of running your center—including sign in and out, parent communications, tuition billing, and licensing and compliance—in one easy-to-use tool, along with providing best-in-class customer support and coaching. Brightwheel is trusted by thousands of early education centers and millions of parents. Learn more at   mybrightwheel.com.

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Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8: Deepening and Broadening the Foundation for Success; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Allen LR, Kelly BB, editors. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 23.

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4 Child Development and Early Learning

The domains of child development and early learning are discussed in different terms and categorized in different ways in the various fields and disciplines that are involved in research, practice, and policy related to children from birth through age 8. To organize the discussion in this report, the committee elected to use the approach and overarching terms depicted in Figure 4-1 . The committee does not intend to present this as a single best set of terms or a single best categorical organization. Indeed, it is essential to recognize that the domains shown in Figure 4-1 are not easily separable and that a case can be made for multiple different categorizations. For example, different disciplines and researchers have categorized different general cognitive processes under the categorical term “executive function.” General cognitive processes also relate to learning competencies such as persistence and engagement. Similarly, self-regulation has both cognitive and emotional dimensions. It is sometimes categorized as a part of executive function, as a part of socioemotional competence, or as a part of learning competencies. Attention and memory could be considered a part of general cognitive processes, as embedded within executive function, or linked to learning competencies related to persistence. Mental health is closely linked to socioemotional competence, but is also inseparable from health.

Report's organizational approach for the domains of child development and early learning.

The challenge of cleanly separating these concepts highlights a key attribute of all of these domains, which is that they do not develop or operate in isolation. Each enables and mutually supports learning and development in the others. Therefore, the importance of the interactions among the domains is emphasized throughout this chapter. For example, socioemotional competence is important for self-regulation, as are certain cognitive skills, and both emotional and cognitive self-regulation are important for children to be able to exercise learning competencies. Similarly, although certain skills and concept knowledge are distinct to developing proficiency in particular subject areas, learning in these subject areas also both requires and supports general cognitive skills such as reasoning and attention, as well as learning competencies and socioemotional competence. In an overarching example of interactions, a child's security both physically and in relationships creates the context in which learning is most achievable across all of the domains.

It is less important that all fields of research, practice, and policy adhere to the exact same categorizations, and more important that all conduct their work in a way that is cognizant and inclusive of all the elements that contribute to child development and early learning, and that all fields recognize that they are interactive and mutually reinforcing rather than hierarchical. This point foreshadows a theme that is addressed more fully in subsequent chapters. Because different fields and sectors may not use the same categorizations and vocabulary for these domains and skills, developing practices and policies that support more consistent and continuous development and early learning across birth through age 8 will require a concerted effort to communicate clearly and come to a mutual understanding of the goals for children. To communicate across fields and between research and practice communities requires being aware of the different categorical frameworks and terms that are used and being able to discuss the various concepts and content—and their implications—with clarity across those different frameworks. Practitioners and policy makers will be aided in achieving greater precision and clarity in their actions and decisions if those conducting and communicating future research keep this challenge in mind across domains, especially in those cases in which the taxonomy is most variable (e.g., self-regulation, executive function, general learning competencies).

With these caveats in mind, the remainder of this chapter addresses in turn the domains of child development and early learning depicted in Figure 4-1 : cognitive development, including learning of specific subjects; general learning competencies; socioemotional development; and physical development and health. The final section examines a key overarching issue: the effects on child development and early learning of the stress and adversity that is also an important theme in the discussion of the interaction between biology and environment in Chapter 3 .

• COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

This section highlights what is known about cognitive development in young children. It begins with key concepts from research viewpoints that have contributed to recent advances in understanding of the developing mind, and then presents the implications of this knowledge for early care and education settings. The following section addresses the learning of specific subjects, with a focus on language and mathematics.

Studies of early cognitive development have led researchers to understand the developing mind as astonishingly competent, active, and insightful from a very early age. For example, infants engage in an intuitive analysis of the statistical regularities in the speech sounds they hear en route to constructing language ( Saffran, 2003 ). Infants and toddlers derive implicit theories to explain the actions of objects and the behavior of people; these theories form the foundation for causal learning and more sophisticated understanding of the physical and social worlds. Infants and young children also are keenly responsive to what they can learn from the actions and words directed to them by other people. This capacity for joint attention may be the foundation that enables humans to benefit from culturally transmitted knowledge ( Tomasello et al., 2005 ). Infants respond to cues conveying the communicative intentions of an adult (such as eye contact and infant-directed speech) and tune in to what the adult is referring to and what can be learned about it. This “natural pedagogy” ( Csibra, 2010 ; Csibra and Gergely, 2009 ) becomes more sophisticated in the sensitivity of preschoolers to implicit pedagogical guides in adult speech directed to them ( Butler and Markman, 2012a , b , 2014 ). Young children rely so much on what they learn from others that they become astute, by the preschool years, in distinguishing adult speakers who are likely to provide them with reliable information from those who are not ( Harris, 2012 ; Jaswal, 2010 ; Koenig and Doebel, 2013 ). This connection of relationships and social interactions to cognitive development is consistent with how the brain develops and how the mind grows, and is a theme throughout this chapter.

Much of what current research shows is going on in young children's minds is not transparent in their behavior. Infants and young children may not show what they know because of competing demands on their attention, limitations in what they can do, and immature self-regulation. This is one of the reasons why developmental scientists use carefully designed experiments for elucidating what young children know and understand about the world. By designing research procedures that eliminate competing distractions and rely on simple responses (such as looking time and expressions of surprise), researchers seek to uncover cognitive processes that might otherwise be more difficult to see. Evidence derived in this experimental manner, such as the examples in the sections that follow, can be helpful in explaining young children's rapid growth in language learning, imitation, problem solving, and other skills.

Implicit Theories

One of the most important discoveries about the developing mind is how early and significantly very young children, even starting in infancy, are uniting disparate observations or discrete facts into coherent conceptual systems ( Carey, 2009 ; Gopnik and Wellman, 2012 ; Spelke and Kinzler, 2007 ). From very early on, children are not simply passive observers, registering the superficial appearance of things. Rather, they are building explanatory systems—implicit theories—that organize their knowledge. Such implicit theories contain causal principles and causal relations; these theories enable children to predict, explain, and reason about relevant phenomena and, in some cases, intervene to change them. As early as the first year of life, babies are developing incipient theories about how the world of people, other living things, objects, and numbers operates. It is important to point out that these foundational theories are not simply isolated forms of knowledge, but play a profound role in children's everyday lives and subsequent education.

One major example of an implicit theory that is already developing as early as infancy is “theory of mind,” which refers to the conceptual framework people use to reason about the mental lives of others as well as themselves. This example is discussed in detail below. Some additional illustrative examples of the development of implicit theories are provided in Box 4-1 .

Examples of the Development of Implicit Theories. Even babies hold some fundamental principles about how objects move about in space and time (Baillargeon et al., 2009). For example, babies are surprised (as measured by their increased looking time) if (more...)

Theory of Mind

People intuitively understand others' actions as motivated by desires, goals, feelings, intentions, thoughts, and other mental states, and we understand how these mental states affect one another (for example, an unfulfilled desire can evoke negative feelings and a motivation to continue trying to achieve the goal). One remarkable discovery of research on young children is that they are developing their own intuitive “map” of mental processes like these from very early in life ( Baillargeon et al., 2010 ; Saxe, 2013 ; Wellman and Woolley, 1990 ). Children's developing theory of mind transforms how they respond to people and what they learn from them. Infants and young children are beginning to understand what goes on in people's minds, and how others' feelings and thoughts are similar to and different from their own.

Infants first have a relatively simple theory of mind. They are aware of some basic characteristics: what people are looking at is a sign of what they are paying attention to; people act intentionally and are goal directed; people have positive and negative feelings in response to things around them; and people have different perceptions, goals, and feelings. Children add to this mental map as their awareness grows. From infancy on, developing theory of mind permeates everyday social interactions—affecting what and how children learn, how they react to and interact with other people, how they assess the fairness of an action, and how they evaluate themselves.

One-year-olds, for example, will look in their mother's direction when faced with someone or something unfamiliar to “read” mother's expression and determine whether this is a dangerous or benign unfamiliarity. Infants also detect when an adult makes eye contact, speaks in an infant-directed manner (such as using higher pitch and melodic intonations), and responds contingently to the infant's behavior. Under these circumstances, infants are especially attentive to what the adult says and does, thus devoting special attention to social situations in which the adult's intentions are likely to represent learning opportunities.

Other examples also illustrate how a developing theory of mind underlies children's emerging understanding of the intentions of others. Take imitation, for example. It is well established that babies and young children imitate the actions of others. Children as young as 14 to 18 months are often imitating not the literal observed action but the action they thought the actor intended—the goal or the rationale behind the action ( Gergely et al., 2002 ; Meltzoff, 1995 ). Word learning is another example in which babies' reasoning based on theory of mind plays a crucial role. By at least 15 months old, when babies hear an adult label an object, they take the speaker's intent into account by checking the speaker's focus of attention and deciding whether they think the adult indicated the object intentionally. Only when babies have evidence that the speaker intended to refer to a particular object with a label will they learn that word ( Baldwin, 1991 ; Baldwin and Moses, 2001 ; Baldwin and Tomasello, 1998 ).

Babies also can perceive the unfulfilled goals of others and intervene to help them; this is called “shared intentionality.” Babies as young as 14 months old who witness an adult struggling to reach for an object will interrupt their play to crawl over and hand the object to the adult ( Warneken and Tomasello, 2007 ). By the time they are 18 months old, shared intentionality enables toddlers to act helpfully in a variety of situations; for example, they pick up dropped objects for adults who indicate that they need assistance (but not for adults who dropped the object intentionally) ( Warneken and Tomasello, 2006 ). Developing an understanding of others' goals and preferences and how to facilitate them affects how young children interpret the behavior of people they observe and provides a basis for developing a sense of helpful versus undesirable human activity that is a foundation for later development of moral understanding (cf. Bloom, 2013 ; Hamlin et al., 2007 ; Thompson, 2012 , 2015 ).

Developing Implicit Theories: Implications for Adults

The research on the development of implicit theories in children has important implications for how adults work with and educate young children. Failure to recognize the extent to which they are construing information in terms of their lay theories can result in educational strategies that oversimplify material for children. Educational materials guided by the assumption that young children are “concrete” thinkers—that they cannot deal with abstraction or reason hypothetically—leads educators to focus on simple, descriptive activities that can deprive children of opportunities to advance their conceptual frameworks. Designing effective materials in a given domain or subject matter requires knowing what implicit theories children hold, what core causal principles they use, and what misconceptions and gaps in knowledge they have, and then using empirically validated steps to help lead them to a more accurate, more advanced conceptual framework.

Statistical Learning

Statistical learning refers to the range of ways in which children, even babies, are implicitly sensitive to the statistical regularities in their environment, although they are not explicitly learning or applying statistics. Like the development of implicit theories, this concept of statistical learning counters the possible misconception of babies as passive learners and bears on the vital importance of their having opportunities to observe and interact with the environment. Several examples of statistical learning are provided in Box 4-2 .

Examples of Statistical Learning. Infants can use information about the statistics of syllables in the speech they hear to help them parse words. How do we know from hearing prettybaby that baby is more likely to be a word than tyba ? One way is that the (more...)

Understanding Causal Inference

Children's intuitive understanding of causal inference has long been recognized as a fundamental component of conceptual development. Young children, although not explicitly or consciously experimenting with causality, can experience observations and learning that allow them to conclude that a particular variable X causes (or prevents) an effect Y. Recent advances in the field have documented the ways young children can implicitly use the statistics of how events covary to infer causal relations, make predictions, generate explanations, guide their exploration, and enable them to intervene in the environment. The understanding of causal inference also provides an example of how different cognitive abilities—such as a sensitivity to statistical regularities and the development of implicit theories based on observation and learning (discussed in the two preceding sections and Box 4-2 )—interact with and can mutually support each other. There is now a substantial literature on young children's implicit ability to use what they observe in different conditions to understand the relations between variables. Several examples of young children developing the ability to understand causal inference are provided in Box 4-3 .

Examples of Understanding Causal Inference. One of the first studies of children's understanding of causal inference showed that children can rule out one variable and isolate another (Gopnik et al., 2001). Preschool children were presented with a machine (more...)

Sensitivity to Teaching Cues

Csibra and Gergely (2009) argue that humans are equipped with a capacity to realize when someone is communicating something for their benefit and that they construe that information differently than when they merely witness it. As noted previously in the discussion of developing theory of mind, children as early as infancy devote special attention to social situations that are likely to represent learning opportunities because adults communicate that intention. Information learned in such communicative contexts is treated as more generalizable and robust than that learned in a noncommunicative context.

In one study, for example, 9-month-old babies saw an adult either reach for an object (a noncommunicative act) or point to an object (a communicative act). The entire display was then screened from view, and after a brief delay, the curtains were opened, and babies saw either the same object in a new location or a new object in the same location. The short delay imposed a memory requirement, and for babies this young, encoding both the location and the identity of the object taxes their memory. The location of the object will typically be more salient and memorable to babies than the object's properties, but the prediction of this study was that babies who saw the adult point to the object would construe the pointing as a communicative act—“this adult is showing me something”—and would thus be more likely to encode the properties as opposed to the location of the object. Babies' looking times served as a measure of their surprise at or interest in an unexpected event. As predicted, babies appeared to encode different aspects of the event in the different conditions. When they had previously witnessed the adult reaching for the object, they were surprised when the object was in a new location but showed no renewed interest when there was a different object in the old location. In contrast, when babies first saw an adult point to the object, they were surprised when a new object appeared in the old location but not when the old object had changed locations ( Yoon et al., 2008 ).

Infants' Sensitivity to Teaching Cues: Implications for Adults

Babies have the capacity to realize when someone is communicating something for their benefit and therefore to construe information differently than when they merely witness it. When adults use face-to-face contact, call a baby's name, and point for the baby's benefit, these signals lead babies to recognize that someone is teaching them something, and this awareness can affect how and what they learn.

The significance of eye contact and other communication cues also is evident in research on whether, how, and when young children learn from video and other forms of digital media. Experiments conducted with 24-month-olds, for example, revealed that they can learn from a person on a video screen if that person is communicating with them through a webcam-like environment, but they showed no evidence of learning from a prerecorded video of that person. The webcam environment included social cues, such as back-and-forth conversation and other forms of social contact that are not possible in prerecorded video. Other studies found that toddlers learned verbs better during Skype video chats than during prerecorded video chats that did not allow for authentic eye contact or back-and-forth interaction ( Roseberry et al., 2014 ; Troseth et al., 2006 ). (See also Chapter 6 for more on technology and learning.)

The benefits of communicative pedagogical contexts for the conceptual development of preschool children also have been investigated. In one set of studies, 4-year-old children were exposed to a novel object's function either by seeing an adult deliberately use the object or by seeing the adult deliberately use the object after maintaining eye contact with the child and saying “watch this.” In both conditions, children noticed the object's property and attempted to elicit it from other similar objects. But when those objects were doctored to be nonfunctional, the children in the nonpedagogical condition quickly abandoned their attempts to elicit the property and played with the objects in some other way. Children who saw the same evidence but with direct communication for their benefit persisted in trying to elicit the property from other objects ( Butler and Markman, 2012a , b ). In other words, children's conviction that other similar objects should have the same unforeseen property was bolstered by their belief that the adult was performing the function for their benefit. Moreover the intentional (but nonpedagogical) condition versus the pedagogical condition produced strikingly different conceptions of the function ( Butler and Markman, 2014 ). Four- and 5-year-old children witnessed an object's function and were then given a set of objects to play with. Some objects were identical in appearance to the first object, while some differed in color (in one study) or shape (in another). Half of the objects of each color (or shape) had the unforeseen property, and half did not. Children were told they could play with the objects for a while and then should put them away in their appropriate boxes when done. The goal was to see whether children would sort the objects by the salient perceptual property (color or shape) or by function. Children in the pedagogical condition viewed the function as definitive and classified the objects by systematically testing each to see whether it had the function, while children in the nonpedagogical condition sorted by the salient color or shape. Thus, identical evidence is construed differently when children believe it has been produced for their benefit.

Effects of Adult Language on Cognition

Understanding the power of language is important for people who interact with children. Simple labels can help children unify disparate-looking things into coherent categories; thus labeling is a powerful way to foster conceptual development. Labels also can reify categories or concepts in ways that may or may not be intended. For example, frequently hearing “boys and girls” line up for recess, quiet down, etc. implicitly reinforces gender as an important dimension, compared with saying “children.” Box 4-4 presents examples of linguistic distinctions that affect children's construction of conceptual systems.

Examples of the Effects of Adult Language on Cognition. Some kinds of categories—two round balls, for example—are fairly easy to form, such that even babies treat the objects as similar. But many objects that adults view as members of (more...)

Effects of Language Used by Adults on Children's Cognitive Development: Implications for Adults

Awareness of the benefits and pitfalls of the language used by adults is important for people who interact with children. The language used by adults affects cognitive growth and learning in children in many subtle ways. Labeling is a powerful way to foster conceptual development. Simple labels can help children unify disparate things into coherent categories, but can also have the unintended consequence of reinforcing categories or concepts that are not desirable.

Conclusions About Cognitive Development and Early Learning Learning begins prenatally, and children are not only “ready to learn” but already actively learning from the time they are born. From birth, children's minds are active and inquisitive, and early thinking is insightful and complex. Many of the foundations of sophisticated forms of learning, including those important to academic success, are established in the earliest years of life. Development and early learning can be supported continuously as a child develops, and early knowledge and skills inform and influence future learning. When adults understand how the mind develops, what progress children make in their cognitive abilities, and how active inquiry and learning are children's natural inclination, they can foster cognitive growth by supporting children's active engagement with new experiences and providing developmentally appropriate stimulation of new learning through responsive, secure, and sustained caregiving relationships.

Implications for Care and Education Settings and Practitioners

The research findings on cognitive development in young children summarized above reflect an evolving understanding of how the mind develops during the early years and should be part of the core knowledge that influences how care and education professionals support young children's learning, as discussed in Chapter 7 . Many of these concepts describe cognitive processes that are implicit. By contrast with the explicit knowledge that older children and adults can put into words, implicit knowledge is tacit or nonconscious understanding that cannot readily be consciously described (see, e.g., Mandler, 2004 ). Examples of implicit knowledge in very young children include many of the early achievements discussed above, such as their implicit theories of living things and of the human mind and their nonconscious awareness of the statistical frequency of the associations among speech sounds in the language they are hearing. Infants' and young children's “statistical learning” does not mean that they can count, nor are their “implicit theories” consciously worked out. Not all early learning is implicit, of course. Very young children are taking significant strides in their explicit knowledge of language, the functioning of objects, and the characteristics of people and animals in the world around them. Thus early learning occurs on two levels: the growth of knowledge that is visible and apparent, and the growth of implicit understanding that is sometimes more difficult to observe.

This distinction between implicit and explicit learning can be confusing to early childhood practitioners (and parents), who often do not observe or recognize evidence for the sophisticated implicit learning—or even the explicit learning—taking place in the young children in their care. Many of the astonishingly competent, active, and insightful things that research on early cognitive development shows are going on in young children's minds are not transparent in their behavior. Instead, toddlers and young children seem highly distractable, emotional, and not very capable of managing their impulses. All of these observations about young children are true, but at the same time, their astonishing growth in language skills, their very different ways of interacting with objects and living things, and their efforts to share attention (such as through pointing) or goals (such as through helping) with an adult suggest that the cognitive achievements demonstrated in experimental settings have relevance to their everyday behavior.

This point is especially important because the cognitive abilities of young children are so easily underestimated. In the past, for example, the prevalent belief that infants lack conceptual knowledge meant that parents and practitioners missed opportunities to explore with them cause and effect, number, or symbolic play. Similarly, the view that young children are egocentric caused many adults to conclude that there was little benefit to talking about people's feelings until children were older—this despite the fact that most people could see how attentive young children were to others' emotions and how curious about their causes.

In light of these observations, how do early educators contribute to the cognitive growth of children in their first 3 years? One way is by providing appropriate support for the learning that is occurring in these very young children (see, e.g., Copple et al., 2013 ). Using an abundance of child-directed language during social interaction, playing counting games (e.g., while stacking blocks), putting into words what a classroom pet can do or why somebody looks sad, exploring together what happens when objects collide, engaging in imitative play and categorization (sorting) games—these and other shared activities can be cognitively provocative as long as they remain within the young child's capacities for interest and attention. They also build on understandings that young children are implicitly developing related to language; number; object characteristics; and implicit theories of animate and inanimate objects, physical causality, and people's minds. The purpose of these and other activities is not just to provide young children with cognitive stimulation, but also to embed that stimulation in social interaction that provokes young children's interest, elicits their curiosity, and provides an emotional context that enables them to focus their thinking on new discoveries. The central and consistent feature of all these activities is the young child's shared activity with an adult who thoughtfully capitalizes on his or her interests to provoke cognitive growth. The implications for instructional practices and curricula for educators working with infants and toddlers are discussed further in Chapter 6 .

Another way that educators contribute to the cognitive growth of infants and toddlers is through the emotional support they provide ( Jamison et al., 2014 ). Emotional support is afforded by the educator's responsiveness to young children's interests and needs (including each child's individual temperament), the educator's development of warm relationships with children, and the educator's accessibility to help when young children are exploring on their own or interacting with other children ( Thompson, 2006 ). Emotional support of this kind is important not only as a positive accompaniment to the task of learning but also as an essential prerequisite to the cognitive and attentional engagement necessary for young children to benefit from learning opportunities. Because early capacities to self-regulate emotion are so limited, a young child's frustration or distress can easily derail cognitive engagement in new discoveries, and children can lose focus because their attentional self-regulatory skills are comparably limited. An educator's emotional support can help keep young children focused and persistent, and can also increase the likelihood that early learning experiences will yield successful outcomes. Moreover, the secure attachments that young children develop with educators contribute to an expectation of adult support that enables young children to approach learning opportunities more positively and confidently. Emotional support and socioemotional development are discussed further later in this chapter.

The characteristics of early learning call for specific curricular approaches and thoughtful professional learning for educators, but it is also true that less formal opportunities to stimulate early cognitive growth emerge naturally in children's everyday interactions with a responsive adult. Consider, for example, a parent or other caregiver interacting with a 1-year-old over a shape-sorting toy. As they together are choosing shapes of different colors and the child is placing them in the appropriate (or inappropriate) cutout in the bin, the adult can accompany this task with language that describes what they are doing and why, and narrates the child's experiences of puzzlement, experimentation, and accomplishment. The adult may also be using number words to count the blocks as they are deposited. The baby's attention is focused by the constellation of adult behavior—infant-directed language, eye contact, and responsiveness—that signals the adult's teaching, and this “pedagogical orientation” helps focus the young child's attention and involvement. The back-and-forth interaction of child and adult activity provides stimulus for the baby's developing awareness of the adult's thinking (e.g., she looks at each block before commenting on it or acting intentionally on it) and use of language (e.g., colors are identified for each block, and generic language is used to describe blocks in general). In this interaction, moreover, the baby is developing both expectations for what this adult is like—safe, positive, responsive—and skills for social interaction (such as turn taking). Although these qualities and the learning derived from them are natural accompaniments to child-focused responsive social interaction with an adult caregiver, the caregiver's awareness of the child's cognitive growth at this time contributes significantly to the adult's ability to intentionally support new discovery and learning.

As children further develop cognitively as preschoolers, their growth calls for both similar and different behavior by the adults who work with them. While the educator's emotional support and responsiveness remain important, children from age 3 to 5 years become different kinds of thinkers than they were as infants and toddlers ( NRC, 2001 ). First, they are more consciously aware of their knowledge—much more of their understanding is now explicit. This means they are more capable of deliberately enlisting what they know into new learning situations, although they are not yet as competent or strategic in doing so as they will be in the primary grades. When faced with a problem or asked a question, they are more capable of offering an answer based on what they know, even when their knowledge is limited. Second, preschoolers are more competent in learning from their deliberate efforts to do so, such as trial-and-error or informal experimentation. While their success in this regard pales by comparison with the more strategic efforts of a grade-schooler, their “let's find out” approach to new challenges reflects their greater behavioral and mental competence in figuring things out. Third, preschoolers also are intuitive and experiential, learning by doing rather than figuring things out “in the head.” This makes shared activities with educators and peers potent opportunities for cognitive growth.

Nonetheless, the potential to underestimate the cognitive abilities of young children persists in the preschool and kindergarten years. In one study, for example, children's actual performance was six to eight times what was estimated by their own preschool teachers and other experts in consulting, teacher education, educational research, and educational development ( Claessens et al., 2014 ; Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, 1996 ). Such underestimation represents a lost opportunity that can hinder children's progress. A study in kindergarten revealed that teachers spent most of their time in basic content that children already knew, yet the children benefited more from advanced reading and mathematics content ( Claessens et al., 2014 )—an issue discussed in depth in Chapter 6 . Unfortunately, when care and education professionals underestimate children's abilities to understand and learn subject-matter content, the negative impact is greatest on those with the fewest prior learning experiences ( Bennett et al., 1984 ; Clements and Sarama, 2014 ).

Conversely, when educators practice in a way that is cognizant of the cognitive progress of children at this age, they can more deliberately enlist the preschool child's existing knowledge and skills into new learning situations. One example is interactive storybook reading, in which children describe the pictures and label their elements while the adult and child ask and answer questions of each other about the narrative. Language and literacy skills also are fostered at this age by the adult's use of varied vocabulary in interaction with the child, as well as by extending conversation on a single topic (rather than frequently switching topics), asking open-ended questions of the child, and initiating conversation related to the child's experiences and interests ( Dickinson, 2003 ; Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ; Dickinson and Tabors, 2001 ). In each case, dialogic conversation about text or experience draws on while also extending children's prior knowledge and language skills. Language and literacy skills are discussed further in a subsequent section of this chapter, as well as in Chapter 6 .

Another implication of these cognitive changes is that educators can engage preschool children's intentional activity in new learning opportunities. Children's interest in learning by doing is naturally suited to experimental inquiry related to science or other kinds of inquiry-based learning involving hypothesis and testing, especially in light of the implicit theories of living things and physical causality that children bring to such inquiry ( Samarapungavan et al., 2011 ). In a similar manner, board games can provide a basis for learning and extending number concepts. In several experimental demonstrations, when preschool children played number board games specifically designed to foster their mental representations of numerical quantities, they showed improvements in number line estimates, count-on skill, numerical identification, and other important quantitative concepts ( Laski and Siegler, 2014 ).

Other research has shown that instructional strategies that promote higher-level thinking, creativity, and even abstract understanding, such as talking about ideas or about future events, is associated with greater cognitive achievement by preschool-age children (e.g., Diamond et al., 2013 ; Mashburn et al., 2008 ). For example, when educators point out how cardinal numbers can be used to describe diverse sets of elements (four blocks, four children, 4 o'clock), it helps them generalize an abstract concept (“fourness”) that describes a set rather than the characteristics of each element alone. These activities also can be integrated into other instructional practices during a typical day.

Another implication of the changes in young children's thinking during the preschool years concerns the motivational features of early learning. Preschool-age children are developing a sense of themselves and their competencies, including their academic skills ( Marsh et al., 1998 , 2002 ). Their beliefs about their abilities in reading, counting, vocabulary, number games, and other academic competencies derive from several sources, including spontaneous social comparison with other children and feedback from teachers (and parents) concerning their achievement and the reasons they have done well or poorly. These beliefs influence, in turn, children's self-confidence, persistence, intrinsic motivation to succeed, and other characteristics that may be described as learning skills (and are discussed more extensively later in this chapter). Consequently, how teachers provide performance feedback to young children and support for their self-confidence in learning situations also is an important predictor of children's academic success ( Hamre, 2014 ).

In the early elementary years, children's cognitive processes develop further, which accordingly influences the strategies for educators in early elementary classrooms. Primary grade children are using more complex vocabulary and grammar. They are growing in their ability to make mental representations, but they still have difficulty grasping abstract concepts without the aid of real-life references and materials ( Tomlinson, 2014 ). This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life. Children at this age show more independence from parents and family, while friendship, being liked and accepted by peers, becomes more important. Being in school most of the day means greater contact with a larger world, and children begin to develop a greater understanding of their place in that world ( CDC, 2014 ).

Children's growing ability to self-regulate their emotions also is evident in this period (discussed more extensively later in this chapter). Children understand their own feelings more and more, and learn better ways to describe experiences and express thoughts and feelings. They better understand the consequences of their actions, and their focus on concern for others grows. They are very observant, are willing to play cooperatively and work in teams, and can resolve some conflicts without seeking adult intervention ( CDC, 2014 ). Children also come to understand that they can affect others' perception of their emotions by changing their affective displays ( Aloise-Young, 1993 ). Children who are unable to self-regulate have emotional difficulties that may interfere with their learning. Just as with younger children, significant adults in a child's life can help the child learn to self-regulate ( Tomlinson, 2014 ).

Children's increasing self-regulation means they have a greater ability to follow instructions independently in a manner that would not be true of preschool or younger children. Educators can rely on the growing cognitive abilities in elementary school children in using instructional approaches that depend more independently on children's own discoveries, their use of alternative inquiry strategies, and their greater persistence in problem solving. Educators in these settings are scaffolding the skills that began to develop earlier, so that children are able to gradually apply those skills with less and less external support. This serves as a bridge to succeeding in upper primary grades, so if students lack necessary knowledge and skills in any domain of development and learning, their experience during the early elementary grades is crucial in helping them gain those competencies.

Building on many of the themes that have emerged from this discussion, the following sections continue by looking in more depth at cognitive development with respect to learning specific subjects and then at other major elements of development, including general learning competencies, socioemotional development, and physical development and health.

• LEARNING SPECIFIC SUBJECTS

Interrelationships among different kinds of skills and abilities contribute to young children's acquisition of content knowledge and competencies, which form a foundation for later academic success. These skills and abilities include the general cognitive development discussed above, the general learning competencies that allow children to control their own attention and thinking; and the emotion regulation that allows children to control their own emotions and participate in classroom activities in a productive way (the latter two are discussed in sections later in this chapter). Still another important category of skills and abilities, the focus of this section, is subject-matter content knowledge and skills, such as competencies needed specifically for learning language and literacy or mathematics.

Content knowledge and skills are acquired through a developmental process. As children learn about a topic, they progress through increasingly sophisticated levels of thinking with accompanying cognitive components. These developmental learning paths can be used as the core of a learning trajectory through which students can be supported by educators who understand both the content and those levels of thinking. Each learning trajectory has three parts: a goal (to develop a certain competence in a topic), a developmental progression (children constructing each level of thinking in turn), and instructional activities (tasks and teaching practices designed to enable thinking at each higher level). Learning trajectories also promote the learning of skills and concepts together—an effective approach that leads to both mastery and more fluent, flexible use of skills, as well as to superior conceptual understanding ( Fuson and Kwon, 1992 ; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008 ). See Chapter 6 for additional discussion of using learning trajectories and other instructional practices.

Every subject area requires specific content knowledge and skills that are acquired through developmental learning processes. It is not possible to cover the specifics here for every subject area a young child learns. To maintain a feasible scope, this chapter covers two core subject areas: (1) language and literacy and (2) mathematics. This scope is not meant to imply that learning in other areas, such as science, engineering, social studies, or the arts, is unimportant or less subject specific. Rather, these two were selected because they are foundational for other subject areas and for later academic achievement, and because how they are learned has been well studied in young children compared with many other subject areas.

Language and Literacy

Children's language development and literacy development are central to each other. The development of language and literacy includes knowledge and skills in such areas as vocabulary, syntax, grammar, phonological awareness, writing, reading, comprehension, and discourse skills. The following sections address the development of language and literacy skills, including the relationship between the two; the role of the language-learning environment; socioeconomic disparities in early language environments; and language and literacy development in dual language learners.

Development of Oral Language Skills

Language skills build in a developmental progression over time as children increase their vocabulary, average sentence length, complexity and sophistication of sentence structure and grammar, and ability to express new ideas through words ( Kipping et al., 2012 ). Catts and Kamhi (1999) define five features of language that both work independently and interact as children develop language skills: phonology (speech sounds of language), semantics (meanings of words and phrases), morphology (meaningful parts of words and word tenses), syntax (rules for combining and ordering words in phrases), and pragmatics (appropriate use of language in context). The first three parameters combined (phonology, semantics, and morphology) enable listening and speaking vocabulary to develop, and they also contribute to the ability to read individual words. All five features of language contribute to the ability to understand sentences, whether heard or read (O' Connor, 2014 ). Thus, while children's development of listening and speaking abilities are important in their own right, oral language development also contributes to reading skills.

Developing oral communication skills are closely linked to the interactions and social bonds between adults and children. As discussed earlier in this chapter, parents' and caregivers' talk with infants stimulates—and affects—language comprehension long before children utter their first words. This comprehension begins with pragmatics—the social aspects of language that include facial and body language as well as words, such that infants recognize positive (and negative) interactions. Semantics (understanding meanings of words and clusters of words that are related) soon follows, in which toddlers link objects and their attributes to words. Between the ages of 2 and 4, most children show dramatic growth in language, particularly in understanding the meanings of words, their interrelationships, and grammatical forms ( Scarborough, 2001 ).

Karmiloff and Karmiloff-Smith (2001) suggest that children build webs among words with similar semantics, which leads to broader generalizations among classes of related words. When adults are responsive to children's questions and new experiences, children expand their knowledge of words and the relationships among them. Then, as new words arise from conversation, storytelling, and book reading, these words are linked to existing webs to further expand the store of words children understand through receptive language and use in their own conversation. The more often adults use particular words in conversation with young children, the sooner children will use those words in their own speech ( Karmiloff and Karmiloff-Smith, 2001 ). Research has linked the size of vocabulary of 2-year-olds to their reading comprehension through fifth grade ( Lee, 2011 ).

One of the best-documented methods for improving children's vocabularies is interactive storybook reading between children and their caregivers (O' Connor, 2014 ). Conversations as stories are read improve children's vocabulary ( Hindman et al., 2008 ; Weizman and Snow, 2001 ), especially when children are encouraged to build on the possibilities of storybooks by following their interests ( Whitehurst et al., 1988 ; Zucker et al., 2013 ). Book reading stimulates conversation outside the immediate context—for example, children ask questions about the illustrations that may or may not be central to the story. This introduces new words, which children attach to the features of the illustrations they point out and incorporate into book-centered conversations. This type of language, removed from the here and now, is decontextualized language. Children exposed to experiences not occurring in their immediate environment are more likely to understand and use decontextualized language ( Hindman et al., 2008 ). Repeated routines also contribute to language development. As books are read repeatedly, children become familiar with the vocabulary of the story and their conversations can be elaborated. Routines help children with developmental delays acquire language and use it more intelligibly ( van Kleek, 2004 ).

Conversation around a story's content and emphasis on specific words in the text (i.e., the phonological and print features of words alongside their meanings) have long-term effects ( Zucker et al., 2013 ). The quality of adult readers' interactions with children appears to be especially important to children's vocabulary growth (see also Coyne et al., 2009 ; Justice et al., 2005 ). In a study with preschool children, Zucker and colleagues (2013) found that teachers' intentional talk during reading had a longer-lasting effect on the children's language skills than the frequency of the teachers' reading to the children. Moreover, the effect of the teachers' talk during reading was not moderated by the children's initial vocabulary or literacy abilities. The long-term effect of high-quality teacher–child book-centered interactions in preschool lasted through the end of first grade.

New research shows that the effects of interactive reading also hold when adapted to the use of digital media as a platform for decontextualized language and other forms of language development. A study of videobooks showed that when adults were trained to use dialogic questioning techniques with the videos, 3-year-olds learned new words and recalled the books' storylines ( Strouse et al., 2013 ). However, a few studies of e-books also have shown that the bells and whistles of the devices can get in the way of those back-and-forth conversations if the readers and the e-book designers are not intentional about using the e-books to develop content knowledge and language skills ( Parish-Morris et al., 2013 ). (See also the discussion of effective use of technology in instruction in Chapter 6 .)

Alongside developing depth of vocabulary (including the meaning of words and phrases and their appropriate use in context), other important parameters of language development are syntax (rules for combining and ordering words in phrases, as in rules of grammar) and morphology (meaningful parts of words and word tenses). Even before the age of 2, toddlers parse a speech stream into grammatical units ( Hawthorne and Gerken, 2014 ). Long before preschool, most children join words together into sentences and begin to use the rules of grammar (i.e., syntax) to change the forms of words (e.g., adding s for plurals or ed for past tense). Along with these morphemic changes to words, understanding syntax helps children order the words and phrases in their sentences to convey and to change meaning. Before children learn to read, the rules of syntax help them derive meaning from what they hear and convey meaning through speech. Cunningham and Zibulsky (2014 , p. 45) describe syntactic development as “the ability to understand the structure of a sentence, including its tense, subject, and object.”

Although syntactic understanding develops for most children through conversation with adults and older children, children also use these rules of syntax to extract meaning from printed words. This becomes an important reading skill after first grade, when text meaning is less likely to be supported with pictures. Construction of sentences with passive voice and other complex, decontextualized word forms are more likely to be found in books and stories than in directive conversations with young children. An experimental study illustrates the role of exposure to syntactic structures in the development of language comprehension ( Vasilyeva et al., 2006 ). Four-year-olds listened to stories in active or passive voice. After listening to ten stories, their understanding of passages containing these syntactic structures was assessed. Although students in both groups understood and could use active voice (similar to routine conversation), those who listened to stories with passive voice scored higher on comprehension of this structure.

Children's understanding of morphology—the meaningful parts of words—begins in preschool for most children, as they recognize and use inflected endings to represent verb tense (e.g., -ing, -ed, -s) and plurals, and continues in the primary grades as children understand and use prefixes and suffixes. By second and third grade, children's use of morphemes predicts their reading comprehension ( Nagy et al., 2006 ; Nunes et al., 2012 ).

Development of Literacy Skills

Literacy skills follow a developmental trajectory such that early skills and stages lead into more complex and integrated skills and stages ( Adams, 1990 ). For example, phonemic awareness is necessary for decoding printed words ( Ball and Blachman, 1991 ; Bradley and Bryant, 1983 ; O'Connor et al., 1995 ), but it is not sufficient. Students need to understand the alphabetic principle (that speech sounds can be represented by letters of the alphabet, which is how speech is captured in print) before they can use their phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken words) to independently decode words they have never seen before ( Byrne and Fielding-Barnsley, 1989 ; O'Connor and >Jenkins, 1995 ). Thus, instruction that combines skill development for 4- to 6-year-old children in phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and conceptual understanding and use of these skills is more effective than teaching the skills in isolation ( Byrne and Fielding-Barnsley, 1989 ; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995 ).

Seminal theories and studies of reading describe an inextricable link between language development and reading achievement (e.g., Byrne and Fielding-Barnsley, 1995 ; Gough and Tunmer, 1986 ; Hoover and Gough, 1990 ; Johnston and Kirby, 2006 ; Joshi and Aaron, 2000 ; Tunmer and Hoover, 1993 ; Vellutino et al., 2007 ). Early oral language competencies predict later literacy ( Pearson and Hiebert, 2010 ). Not only do young children with stronger oral language competencies acquire new language skills faster than students with poorly developed oral language competencies ( Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ), but they also learn key literacy skills faster, such as phonemic awareness and understanding of the alphabetic principle ( Cooper et al., 2002 ). Both of these literacy skills in turn facilitate learning to read in kindergarten and first grade. By preschool and kindergarten listening and speaking abilities have long-term impacts on children's reading and writing abilities in third through fifth grade ( Lee, 2011 ; Nation and Snowling, 1999 ; Sénéchal et al., 2006 ).

Vocabulary development (a complex and integrative feature of language that grows continuously) and reading words (a skill that most children master by third or fourth grade) ( Ehri, 2005 ) are reciprocally related, and both reading words accurately and understanding what words mean contribute to reading comprehension ( Gough et al., 1996 ). Because comprehending and learning from text depend largely upon a deep understanding of the language used to communicate the ideas and concepts expressed, oral language skills (i.e., vocabulary, syntax, listening comprehension) are at the core of this relationship between language and reading ( NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005 ; Perfetti, 1985 ; Perfetti and Hart, 2002 ). For example, children with larger speaking vocabularies in preschool may have an easier time with phoneme awareness and the alphabetic principle because they can draw on more words to explore the similarities among the sounds they hear in spoken words and the letters that form the words ( Metsala and Walley, 1998 ). Each word a child knows can influence how well she or he understands a sentence that uses that word, which in turn can influence the acquisition of knowledge and the ability to learn new words. A stronger speaking and listening vocabulary provides a deeper and wider field of words students can attempt to match to printed words. Being bogged down by figuring out what a given word means slows the rate of information processing and limits what is learned from a sentence. Thus, differences in early vocabulary can have cascading, cumulative effects ( Fernald et al., 2013 ; Huttenlocher, 1998 ). The transition from speaking and listening to reading and writing is not a smooth one for many children. Although a well-developed vocabulary can make that transition easier, many children also have difficulty learning the production and meanings of words. Longitudinal studies of reading disability have found that 70 percent of poor readers had a history of language difficulties ( Catts et al., 1999 ).

Conclusion About the Development of Language and Literacy Skills The oral language and vocabulary children learn through interactions with parents, siblings, and caregivers and through high-quality interactions with educators provide the foundation for later literacy and for learning across all subject areas, as well as for their socioemotional well-being. The language interactions children experience at home and in school influence their developing minds and their understanding of concepts and ideas.

Role of the Language-Learning Environment

Today's science of reading development focuses more broadly than on teaching children to read the actual words on a page. As stressed throughout this report, young children's development entails a back-and-forth process of social interactions with knowledgeable others in their environment ( Bruner, 1978 ; NRC and IOM, 2000 ; Vygotsky, 1978 , 1986 ), and research has focused on the language of these interactions, examining how children's linguistic experiences influence aspects of their development over time, including their literacy development. The daily talk to which children are exposed and in which they participate is essential for developing their minds—a key ingredient for building their knowledge of the world and their understanding of concepts and ideas. In turn, this conceptual knowledge is a cornerstone of reading success.

The bulk of the research on early linguistic experiences has investigated language input in the home environment, demonstrating the features of caregivers' (usually the mother's) speech that promote language development among young children. The evidence accumulated emphasizes the importance of the quantity of communicative input (i.e., the number of words and sentences spoken) as well as the quality of that input, as measured by the variety of words and syntactic structures used (for relevant reviews, see Rowe, 2012 ; Vasilyeva and Waterfall, 2011 ). Because children's language development is sensitive to these inputs, variability in children's language-based interactions in the home environment explains some of the variance in their language development.

A smaller but growing and compelling research base is focused on how children's literacy skills are influenced by language use in early care and education settings and schools—for example, linguistic features of these settings or elementary school teachers' speech and its relationship to children's reading outcomes ( Greenwood et al., 2011 ). This research has particularly relevant implications for educational practices (discussed further in Chapter 6 ).

The language environment of the classroom can function as a support for developing the kind of language that is characteristic of the school curriculum—for example, giving children opportunities to develop the sophisticated vocabulary and complex syntax found in texts, beginning at a very early age ( Schleppegrell, 2003 ; Snow and Uccelli, 2009 ). Moreover, advances in cognitive science suggest that it is not enough to be immersed in environments that offer multiple opportunities for exposure to varied and rich language experiences. Rather, the process also needs to be socially mediated through more knowledgeable persons who can impart their knowledge to the learner; again, social interaction is a critical component of cognitive development and learning. Early childhood settings and elementary classrooms thus not only present opportunities for exposure to varied language- and literacy-rich activities (whether written or spoken), but also provide a person who is expert in mediating the learning process—the educator.

Research demonstrates that teachers' use of high-quality language is linked to individual differences in language and literacy skills; this work likewise shows the substantial variation in the quality of teacher talk in early childhood classrooms (e.g., Bowers and Vasilyeva, 2011 ; Gámez and Levine, 2013 ; Greenwood et al., 2011 ; Huttenlocher et al., 2002 ). For example, Huttenlocher and colleagues (2002) found greater syntactic skills in preschoolers exposed to teachers who used more syntactically complex utterances. Another study found for monolingual English-speaking children that fourth-grade reading comprehension levels were predicted by exposure to sophisticated vocabulary in preschool. These effects were mediated by children's vocabulary and literacy skills in kindergarten ( Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ).

In classroom studies focused on the linguistic environment, the level of analysis has involved broad measures of language use, such as amount of talk (i.e., teacher–student interactions by minute: Connor et al., 2006 ), amount of instruction (i.e., in teacher-managed versus child-managed instruction: Connor et al., 2007 ), type of interaction style (i.e., didactic versus cognitively demanding talk or the amount of extended discourse: Dickinson and Smith, 1991 ; Jacoby and Lesaux, 2014 ; Smith and Dickinson, 1994 ), or instructional moves made by the teacher (e.g., modeling: see review in Lawrence and Snow, 2011 ). A commonly included measurement that has been linked to children's literacy development is extended discourse, defined as talk that “requires participants to develop understandings beyond the here and now and that requires the use of several utterances or turns to build a linguistic structure, such as in explanations, narratives, or pretend” ( Snow et al., 2001 , p. 2). Children are better prepared to comprehend narrative texts they encounter in school if their early language environments provide more exposure to and opportunities to participate in extended discourse. This is because extended discourse and narrative texts share similar patterns for communicating ideas ( Uccelli et al., 2006 ).

Engaging groups of children in effective extended discourse involves asking and discussing open-ended questions and encouraging turn taking, as well as monitoring the group to involve nonparticipating children ( Girolametto and Weitzman, 2002 ). In addition to using interactive storybook and text reading as a platform for back-and-forth conversations (often referred to as interactive or dialogic reading, as described in the preceding section) ( Mol et al., 2009 ; Zucker et al., 2013 ), engaging children in extended discourse throughout classroom activities (e.g., small-group learning activities, transitions and routines [ van Kleek, 2004 ], dramatic play [ Mages, 2008 ; Morrow and Schickedanz, 2006 ]) is fundamental to providing a high-quality language-learning environment ( Jacoby and Lesaux, 2014 ).

In an example of the influence of the quantity and quality of teachers' language input in linguistically diverse classrooms, Bowers and Vasilyeva (2011) found that the total number of words produced by teachers and the diversity of their speech (which was entirely in English) were related to vocabulary gains for children from both English-only households and households in which English was not the primary language, respectively. Thus, they found that preschool dual language learners benefited only from increased quantities of language exposure and showed a negative relationship between vocabulary growth and teachers' syntactic complexity. By contrast, the English-only children—who presumably had more developed English language proficiency skills—benefited from the diversity of teachers' vocabulary and syntactic complexity. These findings are consistent with the notion that to promote language learning, different inputs are needed at different developmental stages ( Dickinson and Freiberg, 2009 ; Gámez and Lesaux, 2012 ). Children benefit from hearing simplified speech during very early word learning ( Furrow et al., 1979 ). With more exposure to language and more advanced vocabulary development, they benefit from speech input that is more complex (i.e., Hoff and Naigles, 2002 ). Hoff (2006) suggests that if input is too complex, children filter it out without negative consequences—as long as sufficient beneficial input is available to them. On the other hand, “children have no way to make up for input that is too simple” ( Hoff, 2006 , p. 75).

An important consideration in light of these findings is that recent research in early childhood classrooms serving children from low-income backgrounds suggests that daily high-quality language-building experiences may be rare for these children. For example, in a Head Start organization serving large numbers of Latino children a recent observational study found a preschool environment lacking in the frequent and high-quality teacher–child language interactions that are needed to support language and literacy development ( Jacoby and Lesaux, 2014 ). Literacy instruction was highly routine based and with low-level language structures. Extended discourse was infrequently used; only 22 percent of observed literacy-based lessons included at least one instance of extended discourse between a teacher and a child or group of children. Instead, teachers asked questions that yielded short answers or linked only to the here and now (e.g., What day is it today? What is the weather today? ). These features of infrequent extended discourse and predominantly routine-based literacy instruction were remarkably stable across teachers and classrooms. Other research investigating teacher talk in Head Start preschool classrooms has produced similar findings (e.g., Dickinson et al., 2008 ).

This is consistent with findings that there are sizable cultural and socioeconomic differences in high-quality language-promoting experiences in the home and in the classroom environment in early childhood ( Dickinson, 2003 ; Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ; Dickinson and Tabors, 2001 ; Raikes et al., 2006 ), just as such differences have been found in the number of words children hear by the time they enter school ( Bradley and Corwyn, 2002 ; Fernald et al., 2013 ; Hart and Risley, 1995 ; Schneidman et al., 2013 ; Weisleder and Fernald, 2013 ). At the same time, for children from low-resource backgrounds oral language skills show an even stronger connection to later academic outcomes than for children from high-resource backgrounds. Given these findings, rich linguistic experiences at early ages may therefore be especially important for these children. Even small improvements in the literacy environment can have especially strong effects for children who are raised in low-income households ( Dearing et al., 2001 ; Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ).

In sum, the language environment has important effects on children's learning, and children benefit from extensive opportunities to listen to and use complex spoken language ( National Early Literacy Panel, 2008 ). Teachers' use of high-quality language is linked to individual differences in language and literacy skills, and there is considerable variation in the quantity and quality of teachers' language use across classrooms. The quality of the classroom language environment is a lever for lasting improvements in children's language and literacy development, and it is important to tailor classroom talk to match the developmental stage of children's language acquisition.

Creating a Rich Language Environment: Implications for Adults

Improving language environments for young children requires daily learning opportunities that focus on the diversity and complexity of language used with young children. Practically speaking, this can be achieved through extended discourse, with multiple exchanges or turns that go beyond the immediate “here and now” using explanations, narratives, or pretend. Extended discourse can take place throughout all activities and in specific interactions, especially using book reading as a platform for back-and-forth conversations.

Further research is needed to advance understanding of language-based classroom processes and how dynamic and ongoing interactions facilitate or impede children's literacy. Such studies could advance existing research in at least two ways. In particular, it could further elucidate how language-based social processes in the classroom affect literacy development for the many students who enter schools and other care and education settings with limited proficiency in English. The majority of published studies focused on language-based interactions are focused on English-only learners, despite the fact that social processes can be experienced differently by different groups, even within the same setting ( Rogoff and Angelillo, 2002 ; Tseng and Seidman, 2007 ). Gámez and Levine (2013) suggest that future research examine the influence of dual-language input on dual language learners' language development; the nature of teacher talk during different parts of the instructional day, including joint book reading, and how these language experiences predict dual language learners' language skills; and the impact of classroom talk interventions—those that aim to manipulate the frequency and complexity of teachers' language—on both the language environment and dual language learners' language development.

In addition, prior research has measured a two-way process in a largely unidirectional manner—measuring speech only from parent to child or educator to student. It would be more valuable going forward if research were guided by the notion that the language-based interactions between students and educators mediate instruction, and were therefore to explore how communicative feedback loops, both adult–child and child–peer interactions, influence children's learning and development. Taking into account the student's contribution to the classroom language environment is particularly important in light of evidence that teachers modify their speech to conform to their students' limited language proficiency levels, potentially leading to a lower-quality language environment that impedes students' language growth ( Ellis, 2008 ; see Huttenlocher et al., 2010 ; Justice et al., 2013 ). More specifically, Justice and colleagues (2013) suggest that future research examine teacher–child language interactions in a multidimensional way to explore how syntactic complexity, cognitive demand, and even linguistic form (e.g., questions, comments) relate to each other; the links between children's use of complex syntax in classroom-based interactions and their future general language ability; and interventions designed to enhance classroom language interactions, focusing on both proximal and distal outcomes for children. Finally, greater understanding is needed of the ways in which the classroom language processes described in this section might act as a foundational mediator of the efficacy of interventions focused on learning outcomes in other domains and subject areas.

Alongside student–educator interactions, studies show that peer-to-peer interactions in the classroom may also have positive impacts on children's vocabulary and expressive language abilities. Children spend a significant amount of time interacting with other children in classroom settings, and a 2009 study examining the language growth and abilities of 4-year-olds in prekindergarten classrooms found that peers who have higher language abilities positively affect other children's language development. This study also found that children with advanced language skills will receive greater benefits from interacting with peers who also have advanced language skills ( Mashburn et al., 2009 ). These findings are similar to another study showing that peer interactions in the classroom, along with the ability level of the peers, have positive effects on the child's cognitive, prereading, expressive language skills ( Henry and Rickman, 2007 ). In order to achieve these benefits, however, the preschool classrooms need to be designed so that peers can interact with one another, and include activities such as reading books and engaging in play together. Children with teachers who organize the day with optimal amounts of time for peer-to-peer interactions may achieve greater language growth ( Mashburn et al., 2009 ).

Language and Literacy Development in Dual Language Learners 1

For children whose home language is not the predominant language of their school, educators and schools need to ensure the development of English proficiency. Both parents and preschool teachers can be particularly useful in improving these children's depth of vocabulary ( Aukrust, 2007 ; Roberts, 2008 ). At the same time, children can be helped to both build and maintain their first language while adding language and literacy skills in English ( Espinosa, 2005 ). In support of this as a long-term goal are the potential advantages of being bilingual, including maintaining a cultural and linguistic heritage and conferring an advantage in the ability to communicate with a broader population in future social, educational, and work environments. Additionally, an emerging field of research, albeit with mixed results to date, explores potential advantages of being bilingual that are linked more directly to cognitive development, starting in early childhood and extending to preserving cognitive function and delaying the symptoms of dementia in the elderly ( Bialystok, 2011 ; de Bruin et al., 2015 ).

Bilingual or multilingual children are faced with more communicative challenges than their monolingual peers. A child who frequently experiences failure to be understood or to understand may be driven to pay more attention to context, paralinguistic cues, and gestures in order to interpret an utterance, and thus become better at reading such cues. The result may be improved development of theory of mind and understanding of pragmatics ( Yow and Markman, 2011a , b ). In addition, the need to continually suppress one language for another affords ongoing practice in inhibitory or executive control, which could confer advantages on a range of inhibitory control tasks in children and helps preserve this fundamental ability in aging adults ( Bialystok, 2011 ; Bialystok and Craik, 2010 ; Bialystok et al., 2009 ).

One challenge in the education of dual language learners is that they sometimes are classified along with children with special needs. One reason for this is the lack of good assessment tools to help distinguish the nature of the difficulties experienced by dual language learners—whether due to a learning disability or to the fact that learning a second language is difficult, takes time, and develops differently in different children ( Hamayan et al., 2013 ).

Mathematics

Children's early knowledge of mathematics is surprisingly important, and it strongly predicts later success in mathematics ( Denton and West, 2002 ; Koponen et al., 2013 ; Passolunghi et al., 2007 ). Mathematics knowledge in preschool predicts mathematics achievement even into high school ( National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008 ; NRC, 2009 ; Stevenson and Newman, 1986 ). Mathematics ability and language ability also are interrelated as mutually reinforcing skills ( Duncan et al., 2007 ; Farran et al., 2005 ; Lerkkanen et al., 2005 ; O'Neill et al., 2004 ; Praet et al., 2013 ; Purpura et al., 2011 ). Indeed, mathematical thinking reaches beyond competence with numbers and shapes to form a foundation for general cognition and learning ( Clements and Sarama, 2009 ; Sarama et al., 2012 ), and problems with mathematics are the best predictor of failure to graduate high school. Mathematics therefore appears to be a core subject and a core component of thinking and learning ( Duncan and Magnuson, 2011 ; Duncan et al., 2007 ).

Given its general importance to academic success ( Sadler and Tai, 2007 ), children need a robust foundation in mathematics knowledge in their earliest years. Multiple analyses suggest that mathematics learning should begin early, especially for children at risk for later difficulties in school ( Byrnes and Wasik, 2009 ; Clements and Sarama, 2014 ). Well before first grade, children can learn the skills and concepts that support more complex mathematics understanding later. Particularly important areas of mathematics for young children to learn include number, which includes whole number, operations, and relations; geometry; spatial thinking; and measurement. Children also need to develop proficiency in processes for both general and specific mathematical reasoning ( NRC, 2009 ).

If given opportunities to learn, young children possess a remarkably broad, complex, and sophisticated—albeit informal—knowledge of mathematics ( Baroody, 2004 ; Clarke et al., 2006 ; Clements et al., 1999 ; Fuson, 2004 ; Geary, 1994 ; Thomson et al., 2005 ). In their free play, almost all preschoolers engage in substantial amounts of premathematical activity. They count objects; compare magnitudes; and explore patterns, shapes, and spatial relations. Importantly, this is true regardless of a child's income level or gender ( Seo and Ginsburg, 2004 ). Preschoolers can also, for example, learn to invent solutions to simple arithmetic problems ( Sarama and Clements, 2009 ).

High-quality mathematics education can help children realize their potential in mathematics achievement ( Doig et al., 2003 ; Thomson et al., 2005 ). However, without such education starting, and continuing throughout, the early years, many children will be on a trajectory in which they will have great difficulty catching up to their peers ( Rouse et al., 2005 ). As discussed further in Chapter 6 , early childhood classrooms typically are ill suited to helping children learn mathematics and underestimate their ability to do so. In some cases, children can even experience a regression on some mathematics skills during prekindergarten and kindergarten ( Farran et al., 2007 ; Wright, 1994 ). Mathematics needs to be conceptualized as more than skills, and its content as more than counting and simple shapes. Without building a robust understanding of mathematics in the early years, children too often come to believe that math is a guessing game and a system of rules without reason ( Munn, 2006 ).

Both education and experience can make a difference, as evidenced by data from the latest international Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which added data collection on early mathematics education ( Mullis et al., 2012 ). Students with higher mathematics achievement at fourth and sixth grades had parents who reported that they often engaged their children in early numeracy activities and that their children had attended preprimary education and started school able to do early numeracy tasks (e.g., simple addition and subtraction). Those children who had attended preschool or kindergarten had higher achievement, while the 13 percent who had attended no preprimary school had much lower average mathematics achievement ( Mullis et al., 2012 ).

Developmental Progression of Learning Mathematics

Children move through a developmental progression in specific mathematical domains, which informs learning trajectories as important tools for supporting learning and teaching. Recent work based on empirical research and emphasizing a cognitive science perspective conceptualizes learning trajectories for mathematics as “descriptions of children's thinking and learning in a specific mathematical domain, and a related, conjectured route through a set of instructional tasks designed to engender those mental processes or actions hypothesized to move children through a developmental progression of levels of thinking, created with the intent of supporting children's achievement of specific goals in that mathematical domain” ( Clements and Sarama, 2004 , p. 83).

Box 4-5 illustrates the concept of a developmental progression through the example of subitizing , an oft-neglected mathematical goal for young children. Research shows that subitizing, the rapid and accurate recognition of the number in a small group, is one of the main abilities very young children should develop ( Palmer and Baroody, 2011 ; Reigosa-Crespo et al., 2013 ). Through subitizing, children can discover critical properties of number, such as conservation and compensation ( Clements and Sarama, 2014 ; Maclellan, 2012 ) and develop such capabilities as unitizing and arithmetic. Subitizing is not the only way children think and learn about number. Counting is the other method of quantification. It is the first and most basic mathematical algorithm and one of the more critical early mathematics competencies ( Aunola et al., 2004 ; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008 ). Chapter 6 includes examples from a complete learning trajectory—goal, developmental progression, and instructional activities—for counting ( Clements and Sarama, 2014 ).

Subitizing: A Developmental Progression. A quantitative, or numerical, “sense” is innate or develops early. For example, very young children possess approximate number systems (ANSs) that allow them to discriminate large and small sets, (more...)

Children with Special Needs

Children with special needs in learning mathematics fall into two categories. Those with mathematical difficulties struggle to learn mathematics for any reason; this category may apply to as many as 35-40 percent of students ( Berch and Mazzocco, 2007 ). Those with specific mathematics learning disabilities are more severe cases; these students have a memory or cognitive deficit that interferes with their ability to learn math ( Geary, 2004 ). This category may apply to about 6-7 percent ( Berch and Mazzocco, 2007 ; Mazzocco and Myers, 2003 ). In one study, this classification persisted in third grade for 63 percent of those classified as having mathematics learning disabilities in kindergarten ( Mazzocco and Myers, 2003 ).

Mathematics learning disabilities, while assumed to have a genetic basis, currently are defined by students' behaviors—yet with ongoing debate among experts about what those behaviors are. One consistent finding is that students with mathematics learning disabilities have difficulty retrieving basic arithmetic facts quickly. This has been hypothesized to be the result of an inability to store or retrieve facts and impairments in visual-spatial representation. As early as kindergarten, limited working memory and speed of cognitive processing may be problems for these children ( Geary et al., 2007 ). Many young children with learning disabilities in reading show a similar rapid-naming deficit for letters and words ( Siegel and Mazabel, 2013 ; Steacy et al., 2014 ). Another possibility is that a lack of higher-order, or executive, control of verbal material causes difficulty learning basic arithmetic facts or combinations. For example, students with mathematics learning disabilities may have difficulty inhibiting irrelevant associations. An illustration of this would be hearing “5 + 4” and saying “6” because it follows 5.

One explanation for the difficulty students with mathematics learning disabilities have learning basic arithmetic combinations might be delays in understanding counting. These students may not fully understand counting nor recognize errors in counting as late as second grade. They persist in using immature counting strategies, such as counting “one-by-one” on their fingers, throughout elementary school ( Geary et al., 1992 ; Ostad, 1998 ). Other experts, however, claim that a lack of specific competencies, such as subitizing, is more important ( Berch and Mazzocco, 2007 ).

Some evidence suggests that it is possible to predict which kindergartners are at risk for mathematics learning disabilities based on skill including reading numerals, number constancy, magnitude judgments of one-digit numbers, or mental addition of one-digit numbers ( Mazzocco and Thompson, 2005 ). However, until more is known, students should be classified as having mathematics learning disabilities only with great caution and after good mathematics instruction has been provided. Such labeling in the earliest years could do more harm than good ( Clements and Sarama, 2012 ).

Interrelationships Between Mathematics and Language

It can appear that language is less of a concern in mathematics compared to other subjects because it is assumed to be based on numbers or symbols, but this is not the case ( Clements et al., 2013a ). In fact, children learn math mainly from oral language, rather than from mathematical symbolism or textbooks ( Janzen, 2008 ). In addition, “talking math” is more than just using mathematics terms ( Clements and Sarama, 2014 ). Therefore, both oral language and literacy in general, as well as the “language of mathematics,” are important for learning ( Vukovic and Lesaux, 2013 ). Vocabulary and knowledge of print are both predictors of later numeracy ( Purpura et al., 2011 ). Similarly, growth in mathematics from kindergarten to third grade is related to both early numerical skills and phonological processing ( Vukovic, 2012 ). In one study of linguistically and ethnically diverse children aged 6-9 years, language ability predicted gains in geometry, probability, and data analysis but not in arithmetic or algebra (controlling for reading ability, visual–spatial working memory, and gender) ( Vukovic and Lesaux, 2013 ). Thus, language may affect how children make meaning of mathematics but not its complex arithmetic procedures.

Moreover, there is an important bidirectional relationship between learning in mathematics and language ( Sarama et al., 2012 ). Each has related developmental milestones. Children learn number words at the same time as other linguistic labels. Most children recognize by the age of 2 which words are for numbers and use them only in appropriate contexts ( Fuson, 1988 ). Each also has related developmental patterns, with learning progressing along similar paths. In both, children recognize the whole before its parts. In learning language, this is word before syllable, syllable before rime-onset, and rime-onset before phoneme (see also Anthony et al., 2003 ; Ziegler and Goswami, 2005 ). Similarly in mathematics, numbers are first conceptualized as unbreakable categories and then later as composites (e.g., 5 is composed of 3 and 2) ( Butterworth, 2005 ; Sarama and Clements, 2009 ). By 6 years old in most cultures, children have been exposed to symbol representations that are both alphabetic and numerical, and they begin to be able to segment words into phonemes and numbers into singletons (e.g., understanding that 3 is 1 and 1 and 1) ( Butterworth, 2005 ; Sarama and Clements, 2009 ; Wagner et al., 1993 ). The ability to identify the component nature of words and numbers predicts the ability to read ( Adams, 1990 ; Stanovich and Siegel, 1994 ) and to compute ( Geary, 1990 , 1993 ). In addition to these similarities in typical developmental pathways, many children with learning disabilities experience deficits in competencies related to both language/literacy and numeracy ( Geary, 1993 ; Hecht et al., 2001 ; NRC, 1998 ).

Furthermore, there appear to be shared competencies between the two subject areas. For example, preschoolers' narrative abilities (i.e., their abilities to convey all the main events of a story and offer a perspective on its events) have been shown to predict mathematics achievement 2 years later ( O'Neill et al., 2004 ). Beginning mathematics scores have been shown to be highly predictive of subsequent achievement in both reading and mathematics although beginning reading skills (such as letter recognition, word identification, and word sounds) were shown to be highly predictive of later reading (advanced competencies such as evaluation) but not mathematics learning ( Duncan et al., 2007 ).

A causal relationship between rich mathematics learning and developing language and literacy skills is supported by a randomized study of the effects of a math curriculum called Building Blocks on prekindergarten children's letter recognition and oral language skills. Building Blocks children performed the same as the children in the control group on letter recognition and on three oral language subscales but outperformed them on four subscales: ability to recall key words, use of complex utterances, willingness to reproduce narratives independently, and inference ( Sarama et al., 2012 ). These skills had no explicit relation to the math curriculum. Similarly, a study of 5- to 7-year-olds showed that an early mathematics and logical-mathematical intervention increased later scores in English by 14 percentile points ( Shayer and Adhami, 2010 ).

Time on task (or time on instruction) does affect learning, which naturally leads to consideration of potential conflicts or tradeoffs between time spent on different subjects (e.g., Bodovski and Farkas, 2007 ). Indeed, a frequent concern is that introducing a mathematics curriculum may decrease the time devoted to language and literacy, impeding children's development in those areas, which are heavily emphasized in early learning goals (see Clements and Sarama, 2009 ; Farran et al., 2007 ; Lee and Ginsburg, 2007 ; Sarama and Clements, 2009 ). However, this assumes that mathematics activities will not have a positive effect on language and literacy. Yet as described here, evidence from both educational and psychological research suggests the potential for high-quality instruction in each to have mutual benefits for learning in both subjects. Rich mathematical activities, such as discussing multiple solutions and solving narrative story problems, can help lay the groundwork for literacy through language development, while rich literacy activities can help lay the groundwork for mathematics development ( Sarama et al., 2012 ).

Children Who Are Dual Language Learners

For mathematics learning in children who are dual language learners, the language, not just the vocabulary, of mathematics need to be addressed ( Clements and Sarama, 2014 ). Challenges for dual language learners include both technical vocabulary, which can range in how similar or distinct terms are from everyday language, and the use of complex noun phrases. On the other hand, bilingual children often can understand a mathematical idea more readily because, after using different terms for it in different languages, they comprehend that the mathematical idea is abstract, and not tied to a specific term (see Secada, 1992 ).

There is evidence that the best approach is to teach these young children in their first language ( Celedón-Pattichis et al., 2010 ; Espada, 2012 ). At a minimum, their teachers need to connect everyday language with the language of math ( Janzen, 2008 ). It is also essential to build on the resources that bilingual children bring to learning mathematics—all cultures have “funds of knowledge” (culturally developed and historically accumulated bodies of knowledge and skills) that can be used to develop mathematical contexts and understandings ( Moll et al., 1992 ). Instructional practices for teaching mathematics with dual language learners are discussed further in Chapter 6 .

Conclusions About Learning Specific Subjects For subject-matter content knowledge and proficiency, children learn best when supported along a trajectory with three components: (1) their understanding of the subject-matter content itself, (2) their progress through predictable developmental levels and patterns of thinking related to their understanding of the content, and (3) instructional tasks and strategies that adults who work with children can employ to promote that learning at each level. For example: Almost all topics in mathematics follow predictable learning trajectories that include number counting and subitizing, number relationships and magnitude comparison, arithmetic operations, geometry and spatial sense, and measurement. Learning trajectories in literacy include specific developmental sequences in children's learning of phonological awareness and phonics (letter-sound correspondences), which together contribute to children's understanding of how spoken words are captured in reading and writing and thus to their advancement through broader levels of early literacy. Some principles of how children learn along a trajectory hold across subject-matter domains, but there are also substantive differences among subjects in the specific skills children need and in the learning trajectories. Both generalizable principles and subject-specific distinctions have implications for the knowledge and competencies needed to work with children. An important factor in children's learning of subject-matter content is how each of the components of learning trajectories both requires and develops aspects of learning that are not content specific, such as critical reasoning, executive function, self-regulation, learning skills, positive dispositions toward learning, and relationships.

• GENERAL LEARNING COMPETENCIES

Educators, developmental scientists, and economists have long known that academic achievement is a result of both the growth of specific knowledge and the development of general learning competencies that regulate how children enlist cognitive resources when they encounter learning challenges, motivate advances in learning, and strengthen children's self-confidence as learners.

These general learning competencies have been labeled and categorized in various ways. Considerable recent research on some of these learning competencies has been conducted using the concept of “executive function,” which generally refers to a set of supervisory functions that regulate and control cognitive activity that affects learning ( Vitiello et al., 2011 ) and allow children to persevere with tasks, including learning tasks, even when facing fatigue, distraction, or decreased motivation. In the field of human development “mastery motivation” in infancy typically is indexed by the baby's persistence, focus, and curiosity in exploration and problem solving ( Morgan et al., 1990 ; Wang and Barrett, 2013 ). In preschool-age children, these skills often are conceptualized as the quality of the child's “approaches to learning,” which include motivation, engagement, and interest in learning activities. Heckman (2007) has used the term “noncognitive skills” to refer to many of these learning competencies, including self-control, persistence, self-discipline, motivation, and self-esteem, as well as future orientedness (i.e., the capacity to substitute long-term goals for immediate satisfactions). This label is used in contrast to the “cognitive skills” that are more often measured to predict children's later success, although there is considerable research that the “noncognitive skills” also support learning and achievement (see, e.g., Cunha and Heckman, 2010 ; Heckman, 2007 ), and they are highly relevant to cognitive skills in such areas as language, mathematics, science, and other traditional academic fields.

Here the alternative conceptualizations for these important aspects of child development and early learning are grouped as “learning competencies” to reflect their importance for early learning. Individual differences in these competencies are important determinants of learning and academic motivation, and children's experiences at home and in the classroom contribute to some of these differences. This section examines these competencies as well as their interrelationships with the previously discussed subject-matter domains of language and literacy and mathematics.

General Cognitive Skills

Several cognitive control processes are important for planning and executing goal-directed activity, which is needed for successful learning (e.g., Blair, 2002 ; Lyon and Krasnegor, 1996 ). These processes include, for example, short-term and working memory, attention control and shifting, cognitive flexibility (changing thinking between different concepts and thinking about multiple concepts simultaneously), inhibitory control (suppressing unproductive responses or strategies), and cognitive self-regulation. These processes also are closely related to emotion regulation, which is discussed later in the section on socioemotional development, and which also contributes to children's classroom success.

As noted previously, many general cognitive processes often are referred to collectively as “executive function,” although not everyone defines this construct in the same way (e.g., Miyake et al., 2000 ; Raver, 2013 ), and different disciplines and researchers differ as to which cognitive skills it includes. Other theoretical frameworks exist as well. For example, cognitive control and complexity theory postulates that executive function is an outcome, not an explanatory construct, and is the result of children's creation and application of rules (driven perhaps by an increase in reflection afforded by experience-dependent maturation of the prefrontal cortex) ( Müller et al., 2008 ; Zelazo and Carlson, 2012 ; Zelazo and Lyons, 2012 ). As with the overall domains of development displayed earlier in Figure 4-1 , the committee did not attempt to reconcile those different perspectives.

This variation in perspectives makes it difficult to parse the literature produced by different fields of research and practice. In general, however, executive function appears to improve most rapidly in young children ( Best et al., 2011 ; Blair, 2002 ; Hughes and Ensor, 2011 ; Romine and Reynolds, 2005 ; Schoemaker et al., 2014 ; Zelazo and Carlson, 2012 ). Executive function processes appear to be partially dependent on the development of the prefrontal cortex (the site of higher-order cognitive processes), notably through the preschool and kindergarten age range ( Bassett et al., 2012 ; Blair, 2002 ).

Short-Term and Working Memory

Short-term memory is the ability for short-term recall, such as of a sentence or important details from conversation and reading. Working memory allows children to hold in their memory information from multiple sources, whether heard or read, so they can use and link that information. Updating working memory is the ability to keep and use relevant information while engaging in another cognitively demanding task ( Conway et al., 2003 ; DeYoung, 2011 ).

Attention Control and Shifting

Attention control is the ability to focus attention and disregard distracting stimuli (e.g., a continuous performance task that requires a child to identify when some familiar object appears onscreen and ignore other objects that appear, or a task that requires ignoring extraneous information in a mathematics word problem). Attention shifting is a related process of switching a “mental set” while simultaneously ignoring distractions (e.g., counting by different units—tens and ones). Attention shifting and cognitive flexibility are often grouped.

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility capacities develop gradually throughout early childhood and have significant influences on children's social and academic competence. Cognitive flexibility is important, for example, for reading ( Duke and Block, 2012 ). Children who are better able to consider, at the same time, both letter-sound and semantic (meaning) information about words have better reading comprehension ( Cartwright, 2002 ; Cartwright et al., 2010 ). Reading comprehension also appears to improve when children are taught about words with multiple meanings (e.g., spell or plane ), and sentences with multiple meanings (e.g., “The woman chased the man on a motorcycle.”) ( Yuill, 1996 ; Zipke et al., 2009 ). In addition, interventions in young children that focus on cognitive flexibility have shown significant benefits for reading comprehension ( Cartwright, 2008 ).

Inhibitory Control

Inhibitory control involves controlling a dominant response (e.g., the first answer that comes to mind) so as to think about better strategies or ideas. The skill of simple response inhibition (withholding an initial, sometimes impulsive, response) develops during infancy through toddlerhood. Infants also develop some control of cognitive conflict in tasks in which an item of interest to them is first hidden in one location and then another, and the child must resist the response of searching in the first location ( Diamond, 1991 ; Müller et al., 2008 ; Rothbart and Rueda, 2005 ) (see Marcovitch and Zelazo, 2009 , for a model of possible mechanisms). Later in their first year, children can resolve conflict between their line of sight and their line of reaching ( Diamond, 1991 ). By about 30 months, they can successfully complete a spatial conflict task ( Rothbart and Rueda, 2005 ). From 3 to 5 years of age, complex response inhibition and response shifting develop, with attention shifting developing at about age 4 ( Bassett et al., 2012 ). The most rapid increase in inhibitory control is between 5 and 8 years of age, although moderate improvements are seen up to young adulthood ( Best et al., 2011 ).

Inhibitory control supports children's learning across subject-matter areas. As one example of its importance for mathematics, when the initial reading of a problem is not the correct one, children need to inhibit their impulse to answer (incorrectly) and carefully examine the problem. Consider the following problem: “There were six birds in a tree. Three birds already flew away. How many birds were there from the start?” Children have to inhibit the immediate desire to subtract prompted by the words “flew away” and perform addition instead.

Cognitive Self-Regulation

Cognitive self-regulation is what helps children plan ahead, focus attention, and remember past experiences. The construct of self-regulation and related concepts have a long history in psychology (e.g., Glaser, 1991 ; Markman, 1977 , 1981 ; Piaget and Szeminska, 1952 ; Sternberg, 1985 ; Vygotsky, 1978 ; Zelazo et al., 2003 ) and education (e.g., McGillicuddy-De Lisi, 1982 ; Steffe and Tzur, 1994 ). Most recently, researchers and educators have used the broad term self-regulation to refer to the processes involved in intentionally controlling attention, thinking, impulses, emotions, and behavior. In this way, self-regulation can be thought of in relation to several aspects of development, including the cognitive processes discussed here and the social and emotional processes discussed later in this chapter. Developmental psychobiological research and neuroimaging indicate that these subclasses are both neurally and behaviorally distinct while also being related and correlated ( Bassett et al., 2012 ; Hofmann et al., 2012 ; Hongwanishkul et al., 2005 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ; Willoughby et al., 2011 ). Together, these types of self-regulation allow children to persevere with tasks even when facing difficulties in problem solving or learning, fatigue, distraction, or decreased motivation ( Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ). It is thus unsurprising that kindergarten teachers believe self-regulation is as important as academics ( Bassok and Rorem, 2014 ).

Both cognitive self-regulation and emotional self-regulation (discussed later in this chapter) contribute to socioemotional development and also play a role in learning. Although the relationship between various features of cognitive self-regulation and academic achievement has been well documented for older students (e.g., Bielaczyc et al., 1995 ; Zimmerman, 2002 ), less was known until recently about how self-regulation developed in the early years contributes to the later development of cognitive and emotional self-regulation and academic achievement ( NRC and IOM, 2000 ).

Children's self-regulation and their ability to successfully function in school settings are related in two ways. First, emotional self-regulation enables children to benefit from learning in various social contexts, including their capacities to manage emotions in interactions with educators as well as peers (e.g., one-on-one, in cooperative pairs, in large and small groups). It also assists them in conforming to classroom rules and routines. Second, cognitive self-regulation enables children to develop and make use of cognitive processes that are necessary for academic learning ( Anghel, 2010 ).

Although most studies have focused on specific effects of either cognitive or emotional self-regulation, evidence suggests that the two are interconnected. This link is probably due to the commonality of the neurological mechanisms governing both emotional and cognitive self-regulation. For example, children lacking emotion regulation are likely also to have problems with regulating cognitive processes, such as attention ( Derryberry and Reed, 1996 ; LeDoux, 1996 ). Moreover, earlier patterns in the development of emotion control have been shown to be predictive of children's later ability to exercise control over their cognitive functioning ( Blair, 2002 ).

Several studies have shown positive correlations between self-regulation and achievement in young children (e.g., Bierman et al., 2008b ; Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Blair et al., 2010 ; Bull et al., 1999 ; Cameron et al., 2012 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ; Roebers et al., 2012 ; Welsh et al., 2010 ), although there are exceptions ( Edens and Potter, 2013 ). Preschoolers' cognitive self-regulation, including inhibitory control and attention shifting, were found to be related to measures of literacy and mathematics ability in kindergarten ( Blair and Razza, 2007 ). In another study, children with higher self-regulation, including attention, working memory, and inhibitory control, achieved at higher levels in literacy, language, and mathematics ( McClelland et al., 2007 ). Interventions in the area of self-regulation have shown positive effects for reading achievement ( Best et al., 2011 ; Bierman et al., 2008a ; Blair and Diamond, 2008 ; Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Diamond and Lee, 2011 ). Among struggling first graders in an effective reading intervention, those who were retained in grade showed significantly weaker self-regulation skills ( Dombek and Connor, 2012 ). Cognitive self-regulation appears to be strongly associated with academic learning ( Willoughby et al., 2011 ), but emotional self-regulation also contributes through children's adjustment to school and attitudes toward learning. In addition, both cognitive and emotional self-regulation contribute to variance in attention, competence motivation, and persistence ( Bassett et al., 2012 ; Willoughby et al., 2011 ).

In addition, differences in self-regulation competencies raise important issues related to disparities in educational achievement. Children in poverty can have lower self-regulation competencies (e.g., Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Blair et al., 2010 ; Bull and Scerif, 2001 ; Hackman and Farah, 2009 ; Jenks et al., 2012 ; Kishiyama et al., 2009 ; Masten et al., 2012 ; Mazzocco and Hanich, 2010 ; McLean and Hitch, 1999 ; Raver, 2013 ). One reason is the effect of chronic stress on behavioral and biological capacities for self-control (see discussion of chronic stress and adversity later in this chapter). This risk is exacerbated for children who are also dual language learners ( Wanless et al., 2011 ). Students with special needs are another population who may require focused interventions to develop self-regulation competencies ( Harris et al., 2005 ; Jenks et al., 2012 ; Lyon and Krasnegor, 1996 ; Mazzocco and Hanich, 2010 ; McLean and Hitch, 1999 ; Raches and Mazzocco, 2012 ; Toll et al., 2010 ; Zelazo et al., 2002 ). Students who are gifted and talented may also have exceptional needs in this domain (e.g., Mooji, 2010 ).

Adults who work with children have the opportunity to provide environments, experiences, and curricula that can help develop the competencies needed, including for children whose skills were not optimally developed in the earliest years. Importantly, the goal of such interventions is not to “train” children to suppress behaviors and follow rules. Rather, effective educators and programs provide learning activities and environments that increase children's capacity and disposition to set a goal (e.g., join a pretend play activity, complete a puzzle); develop a plan or strategy; and muster their social, emotional, and cognitive faculties to execute that plan. The science of how children develop and learn indicates that integrating academic learning and self-regulation is a sound approach.

Executive Functions and Learning in Specific Subjects

As already noted and shown in several examples, executive function processes are closely related to achievement in both language and literacy and mathematics ( Best et al., 2011 ; Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Blair et al., 2010 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ), and this has also been shown in science ( Nayfeld et al., 2013 ). In some research, executive function has been correlated similarly with both reading and mathematics achievement across a wide age span (5 to 17 years), suggesting its significant role in academic learning ( Best et al., 2011 ; Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ). In contrast, some studies have found that executive function is more strongly associated with mathematics than with literacy or language ( Barata, 2010 ; Blair et al., 2010 ; Ponitz et al., 2009 ; von Suchodoletz and Gunzenhauser, 2013 ). A strong relationship between executive function and mathematics may reflect that mathematics relies heavily on working memory and attention control, requiring the ability to inhibit an automatic response to a single aspect of a problem, to hold relevant information in mind, and to operate on it while shifting attention appropriately among different elements of a problem ( Welsh et al., 2010 ). This relationship is especially important given that mathematics curricula increasingly require higher-order skills, which executive function competencies provides ( Baker et al., 2010 ).

Some research indicates that most executive function competencies correlate significantly with mathematics achievement ( Bull and Scerif, 2001 ), while other studies suggest a greater role for particular executive function competencies in the learning of mathematics for young children—especially inhibitory control ( Blair and Razza, 2007 ) or working memory ( Bull et al., 2008 ; Geary, 2011 ; see also, Geary et al., 2012 ; cf. Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ; Szűcs et al., 2014 ; Van der Ven et al., 2012 ). These latter two competencies have been shown to predict success in mathematics in primary school students ( Toll et al., 2010 ). Working memory tasks have also been shown to predict mathematics learning disabilities, even more so than early mathematical abilities ( Toll et al., 2010 ). Several studies have identified lack of inhibition and working memory as specific deficits for children of lower mathematical ability, resulting in difficulty with switching to and evaluating new strategies for dealing with a particular task ( Bull and Scerif [2001] and Lan and colleagues [2011] found similar results). Persistence, another learning skill that is interrelated with cognitive processes, also has been linked to mathematics achievement for both 3- and 4-year-olds ( Maier and Greenfield, 2008 ).

Executive function competencies may be differentially associated with distinct areas of mathematics. For example, executive function was found to be correlated more with solving word problems than with calculation ( Best et al., 2011 ), and appears to play a role in acquiring new mathematics procedures and developing automatic access to arithmetic facts ( LeFevre et al., 2013 ). Different aspects of working memory also may be related to different mathematical areas ( Simmons et al., 2012 ). Parallel observations have been made for executive function and reading, with executive function playing a larger role in reading comprehension than in decoding.

In addition to the role of executive function in learning mathematics, mathematics activities also contribute to developing executive function. Some mathematics activities may require children to suppress prepotent responses, manipulate abstract information, and remain cognitively flexible. Importantly, neuroimaging studies suggest that executive function may be developed through learning mathematics in challenging activities but not in exercising mathematics once learned ( Ansari et al., 2005 ; Butterworth et al., 2011 ).

Cognitive Skills and Executive Function in Children with Special Needs

Some students with special needs may have a specific lack of certain executive function competencies ( Harris et al., 2005 ; Jenks et al., 2012 ; Lyon and Krasnegor, 1996 ; McLean and Hitch, 1999 ; Raches and Mazzocco, 2012 ; Schoemaker et al., 2014 ; Toll et al., 2010 ; Zelazo et al., 2002 ). Most of the research on executive function deficits in relation to disabilities that affect young children has focused on specific disorders, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). An early theory posited that ADHD is a lack of the behavioral inhibition required for proficiency with executive functions such as self-regulation of affect, motivation, and arousal; working memory; and synthesis analysis of internally represented information ( Barkley, 1997 ). Research has found that children diagnosed with ADHD are more likely than children without ADHD to have two or more deficits in executive function ( Biederman et al., 2004 ; cf. Shuai et al., 2011 ). A meta-analysis of studies of one measure of executive function, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, suggests that the performance of individuals with ADHD is fairly consistently poorer than that of individuals without clinical diagnoses ( Romine et al., 2004 ). In another study, children with ADHD were found not to have learning problems but rather problems in a measure of inhibitory control, which affected arithmetic calculation (as well as written language) ( Semrud-Clikeman, 2012 ). Other evidence suggests that children diagnosed with ADHD may have deficits not in executive processes themselves but in motivation or response to contingencies, that is, the regulation of effort allocation ( Huang-Pollock et al., 2012 ).

Having ADHD with deficits in executive function, compared to ADHD alone, is associated with an increased risk for grade retention and a decrease in academic achievement ( Biederman et al., 2004 ). The relationship between ADHD and executive functions may also depend on subtype. One study found that children with an inattention ADHD subtype showed deficits in several executive function competencies ( Tymms and Merrell, 2011 ), whereas children with the hyperactive-impulsive ADHD subtype may have fewer executive function deficits ( Shuai et al., 2011 ) and may even have strengths that could be developed in appropriate educational environments.

Deficits in executive function have been studied in other developmental disorders as well, albeit often in less detail. They include autism ( Bühler et al., 2011 ; Hill, 2004 ; Zelazo et al., 2002 ); attention and disruptive behavior problems ( Fahie and Symons, 2003 ; Hughes and Ensor, 2011 ); intellectual disabilities ( Nader-Grosbois and Lefèvre, 2011 ; Neece et al., 2011 ; Vieillevoye and Nader-Grosbois, 2008 ); cerebral palsy ( Jenks et al., 2012 ); Turner syndrome ( Mazzocco and Hanich, 2010 ); developmental dyslexia ( Brosnan et al., 2002 ; cf. Romine and Reynolds, 2005 ); and mathematics learning disabilities ( Toll et al., 2010 ).

Other Learning Skills and Dispositions

Other learning skills that are important to early academic achievement include persistence, curiosity, self-confidence, intrinsic motivation, time perspective (e.g., the willingness to prioritize long-term goals over immediate gratifications), and self-control. The growth of emotional and cognitive self-regulation is also fundamentally related to many of these developing learning skills. In addition, social experiences, discussed later in this chapter, are important for the growth of these learning skills. Note also that although these skills are referred to sometimes as dispositions, they are fostered through early experience and can be supported through intentional caregiving and instructional practices; they are not simply intrinsic traits in the child.

A capacity for focused engagement in learning is apparent from very early in life, although it is also true that these learning competencies develop significantly throughout early childhood as processes of neurobiological development interact with children's social experiences to enable greater persistence, focused attention, delayed gratification, and other components of effective learning and problem solving. As a consequence, very young children are likely to approach new learning situations with enthusiasm and self-confidence but at young ages may not necessarily bring persistence or creativity in confronting and solving challenging problems. Older preschoolers, by contrast, are more self-regulated learners. They approach new learning opportunities with initiative and involvement, and they are more persistent and more likely to solve problems creatively, by proposing their own ideas ( NRC, 2001 ).

Considerable research confirms the importance of these skills to early learning. Individual differences in infants' “mastery motivation” skills—persistence, focus, and curiosity in exploration and problem solving—predict later cognitive abilities and achievement motivation ( Busch-Rossnagel, 2005 ; Morgan et al., 1990 ; Wang and Barrett, 2013 ). In preschool-age children, learning skills that include motivation, engagement, and interest in learning activities have been found in longitudinal studies to predict children's cognitive skills at school entry ( Duncan et al., 2005 , 2007 ). Similarly, these characteristics continue to be associated with reading and mathematics achievement in the early elementary grades ( Alexander et al., 1993 ). Differences in these learning skills are especially associated with academic achievement for children in circumstances of economic disadvantage who face various kinds of self-regulatory challenges ( Blair and Raver, 2012 ; Howse et al., 2003a ).

Much of school success requires that children prioritize longer-term rewards requiring current effort over immediate satisfactions. The classic demonstration of this skill comes from a series of studies led by Walter Mischel beginning in the 1960s. Young children were offered the option of choosing an immediate, smaller reward or a larger reward if they waited to receive it later. For several years developmental outcomes for these children were tracked, which revealed that children who were better able to delay gratification at age 4 scored higher on measures of language skills, academic achievement, planful behaviors, self-reliance, capacity to cope with stress and frustration, and social competence measured in adolescence and adulthood ( Mischel et al., 1988 ). Other studies have reported consistent findings. Early development in the ability to prioritize future, long-term goals over short-term lesser gains improves children's chances of academic achievement and securing and maintaining employment ( Rachlin, 2000 ). Conversely, the inability to delay gratification is associated with young children's aggressive behavior, conduct problems, poorer peer relationships, and academic difficulty during preschool and the transition to elementary school ( Olson and Hoza, 1993 ) as well as later outcomes, including academic failure, delinquency, and substance abuse in adolescence ( Lynam et al., 1993 ; Wulfert et al., 2002 ).

The ways that children view themselves as learners are also important. Young children's self-perceived capability to master learning challenges develops early and exerts a continuing influence on their academic success. Early self-evaluations of competence are based on the positive and negative evaluations of children's behavior and competence by parents ( Stipek et al., 1992 ). Parent and educator expectations for children's success remain important. High parent expectations for children's school achievement are associated with children's later academic performance, and this is also true of educator expectations. In one longitudinal study, teacher expectations for children's math achievement in grades 1 and 3 directly predicted children's scores on standardized achievement tests 2 years later, and expectations for reading achievement had indirect associations with later reading scores. There was also evidence in this study that expectations were especially influential for academically at-risk students ( Hinnant et al., 2009 ).

Messages from parents and educators are also important in shaping how children attribute their own success and failure which, in turn, predicts their future effort and expectations of success. Children develop implicit theories in the early years about who they are as a person and what it means to be intelligent. Some children come to view intelligence as a fixed trait (i.e., one is either smart or not), whereas others see it as a more malleable trait that can be changed through effort and persistence. Educators and parents who approach learning goals by promoting and rewarding effort, persistence, and willingness to take on challenging problems increase children's motivation and their endorsement of effort as a path to success. In contrast, children receiving messages that intelligence is stable and cannot be improved through hard work are discouraged from pursuing difficult tasks, particularly if they view their abilities as low ( Heyman and Dweck, 1992 ). These patterns of “helpless” versus “mastery-oriented” motivation are learned in the preschool years and remain stable over time ( Smiley and Dweck, 1994 ).

These perceptions and patterns of motivation can be especially significant as children learn academic subjects, such as mathematics ( Clements and Sarama, 2012 ). People in the United States have many negative beliefs and attitudes about mathematics ( Ashcraft, 2006 ). One deeply embedded cultural belief is that achievement in mathematics depends mainly on native aptitude or ability rather than effort. Research shows that the belief in the primacy of native ability hurts students and, further, it is simply untrue.

Throughout their school careers, students who believe—or are helped to understand—that they can learn if they try working longer on tasks have better achievement than those who believe that either one “has it” (or “gets it”) or does not ( McLeod and Adams, 1989 ; Weiner, 1986 ). Researchers have estimated that students should be successful about 70 percent of the time to maximize motivation ( Middleton and Spanias, 1999 ). If students are directly assured that working hard to figure out problems, including making errors and being frustrated, are part of the learning process it can diminish feelings of embarrassment and other negative emotions at being incorrect. In contrast, students' learning can be impeded if educators define success only as rapid, correct responses and accuracy only as following the educator's example ( Middleton and Spanias, 1999 ). In addition, students will build positive feelings about mathematics if they experience it as a sense-making activity. Most young students are motivated to explore numbers and shapes and have positive feelings about mathematics ( Middleton and Spanias, 1999 ). However, after only a couple of years in typical schools, they begin to believe that only some people have the ability to do math.

A related pattern relating perceptions and emotions to learning is seen with students who experience mathematics anxiety. Primary grade students who have strong math anxiety, even alongside strong working memory, have been found to have lower mathematics achievement because working memory capacity is co-opted by math anxiety ( Beilock, 2001 ; Ramirez et al., 2013 ). Research has shown that primary grade students who “feel panicky” about math have increased activity in brain regions that are associated with fear, which decreases activity in brain regions associated with problem solving ( Young et al., 2012 ). Early identification and treatment of math anxiety may prevent children with high potential from avoiding mathematics and mathematics courses ( Ramirez et al., 2013 ).

• SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The development of social and emotional competence is an important part of child development and early learning. Socioemotional competence has been described as a multidimensional construct that contributes to the ability to understand and manage emotions and behavior; to make decisions and achieve goals; and to establish and maintain positive relationships, including feeling and showing empathy for others. Although their importance is widely recognized, universal agreement is lacking on how to categorize and define these areas of development. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning offers a summary construct with five interrelated groups of competencies that together encompass the areas typically considered to be part of socioemotional competence (see Figure 4-2 ).

Elements of socioemotional competence. SOURCE: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning/core-competencies, accessed March 24, 2015).

Socioemotional competence increasingly is viewed as important for a child's early school adjustment and for academic success at both the preschool and K-12 levels ( Bierman et al., 2008a , b ; Denham and Brown, 2010 ; Heckman et al., 2013 ; La Paro and Pianta, 2000 ; Leerkes et al., 2008 ). A growing body of research addresses the relationship between dimensions of socioemotional competence and cognitive and other skills related to early learning and later academic achievement ( Bierman et al., 2008a , b ; Graziano et al., 2007 ; Howse et al., 2003b ; Miller et al., 2006 ). Socioemotional development early in life also increasingly is understood to be critically important for later mental well-being, and for contributing to subsequent mental health problems when there are enduring disturbances in socioemotional functions ( IOM and NRC, 2009 ; Leckman and March, 2011 ).

There are several reasons why socioemotional development is important to early learning and academic success. As discussed in detail later in this section, early learning is a social activity in which these skills are important to the interactions through which learning occurs and is collaboratively shared. Socioemotional competence gives children the capacity to engage in academic tasks by increasing their ability to interact constructively with teachers, work collaboratively with and learn from peers, and dedicate sustained attention to learning ( Denham and Brown, 2010 ). Further, behavioral and emotional problems not only impede early learning but also pose other risks to long-term success. Substantial research has examined the relationship between delays and deficits in children's social skills and challenging behavior, such as serious problems getting along with peers or cooperating with educators ( Zins et al., 2007 ). When challenging behavior is not resolved during the early years, children with persistent early socioemotional difficulties experience problems in socialization, school adjustment, school success, and educational and vocational adaptation in adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Dunlap et al., 2006 ; Lane et al., 2008 ; Nelson et al., 2004 ). Thus attention to socioemotional competence also is important from the perspective of addressing early emerging behavior problems before they become more serious.

A variety of evidence-based approaches can be implemented to strengthen socioemotional competence for young children ( Domitrovich et al., 2012 ; IOM and NRC, 2009 ). These approaches typically entail strategies designed to improve children's emotion identification and understanding combined with the development of social problem-solving skills; practice in simple emotion regulation strategies; and coaching in prosocial behavior through strategies that can involve role playing, modeling, and reinforcement of socially competent behavior. Importantly, as discussed further in Chapter 6 , these strategies can be incorporated into daily classroom practice to provide children with everyday socioemotional learning.

Relational Security and Emotional Well-Being

As noted earlier in the discussion of self-regulation, socioemotional competencies contribute to the development of relationships with parents, educators, and peers. The development of positive relationships enables young children to participate constructively in learning experiences that are inherently social. The emotional support and security provided by positive relationships contributes in multifaceted ways to young children's learning success. Research on the security of attachment between young children and their parents illustrates this point, and provides a basis for considering the nature of children's relationships with educators and peers.

A secure parent–child attachment is widely recognized as foundational for healthy development, and the evolving understanding of the importance of attachment encompasses research in developmental psychology and developmental neuroscience (as discussed in Chapter 3 ) ( Schore and Schore, 2008 ; Thompson, 2013 ). Research has shown that securely attached children receive more sensitively responsive parental care, and in turn develop greater social skills with adults and peers and greater social and emotional understanding of others, show more advanced moral development, and have a more positive self-concept (see Thompson, 2013 , for a review). Securely attached children also have been found to be more advanced in cognitive and language development and to show greater achievement in school ( de Ruiter and van IJzendoorn, 1993 ; van Ijzendoorn et al., 1995 ; West et al., 2013 ). This association has been found for infants, preschool-age children, and older children, suggesting that it is fairly robust.

Most researchers believe that the association between attachment security and cognitive competence derives not from a direct link between the two, but from a number of processes mediating a secure attachment and the development of cognitive and language skills ( O'Connor and McCartney, 2007 ). The mediators that have been studied include the following:

• Early confidence and competence at exploration—One of the functions of a secure attachment is to enable infants and young children to better explore the environment, confident in the caregiver's support and responsiveness if things go awry. An extensive research literature, focused primarily on young children, confirms this expectation ( van Ijzendoorn et al., 1995 ). Early in life, exploratory interest is likely to lead to new discoveries and learning.
• Maternal instruction and guidance—Consistent with the sensitivity that initially contributes to a secure attachment, considerable research has shown that the mothers of securely attached children continue to respond supportively in ways that promote the child's social and cognitive achievements ( Thompson, in press) . In particular, these mothers talk more elaboratively with their children in ways that foster the children's deeper understanding and in so doing help support the children's cognitive growth ( Fivush et al., 2006 ). Furthermore, increased mother–child conversation is likely to foster the child's linguistic skills.
• Children's social competence with adults and peers—Securely attached children develop enhanced social skills and social understanding that enhance their competence in interactions with peers and adults in learning environments. In this light, their greater cognitive and language competencies may derive, at least in part, from more successful interactions with social partners in learning contexts. (See the detailed discussion of social interaction as a forum for cognitive growth later in this section.)
• Self-regulatory competence—Several studies suggest that securely attached children are more skilled in the preschool and early grade school years at self-regulation, especially as it is manifested in greater social competence and emotion regulation. Self-regulatory competence also may extend to children's greater attentional focus, cognitive self-control, and persistence in learning situations. In one recent report, the association of attachment security with measures of school engagement in the early primary grades was mediated by differences in children's social self-control; attentional impulsivity also varied with the security of attachment ( Drake et al., 2014 ; Thompson, 2013 ).
• Stress management—One of the functions of a secure attachment is that it supports the social buffering of stress by providing children with an adult who regularly assists them in challenging circumstances. The social buffering of stress may be an especially important aspect of how a secure attachment contributes to cognitive competence for children in disadvantaged circumstances when stress is likely to be chronic and potentially overwhelming (see Gunnar and Donzella, 2002 , for a review; Nachmias et al., 1996 ) (see also the discussion of chronic stress and adversity later in this chapter).

In addition to the substantial research on parent–child attachment and the development of cognitive competence, a smaller but significant research literature focuses on the development of attachments between children and educators and how those attachments contribute to children's success in structured learning environments (e.g., Ahnert et al., 2006 ; Birch and Ladd, 1998 ; Howes and Hamilton, 1992 ; Howes et al., 1998 ; Ladd et al., 1999 ; Mitchell-Copeland et al., 1997 ; Pianta and Stuhlman, 2004a , b ). In some respects, the processes connecting children's learning achievement with the supportive, secure relationships they develop with educators are similar to those observed with parent–child attachments. As with their parents and other caregivers, children develop attachments to their educators, and the quality of those relationships has a significant and potentially enduring influence on their classroom success ( Hamre and Pianta, 2001 ). Secure, warm relationships with educators facilitate young children's self-confidence when learning and assist in their self-regulatory competence, and there is evidence that children with such relationships in the classroom learn more than those who have more difficult relationships with educators ( NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2003 ; Pianta and Stuhlman, 2004b ).

In one study, preschoolers identified as academically at risk based on demographic characteristics and reports of problems by their kindergarten teachers were followed to the end of first grade ( Hamre and Pianta, 2005 ). The children with first-grade teachers who provided high amounts of instructional and emotional support had achievement scores comparable to those of their low-risk peers. Support was measured by teacher behaviors such as verbal comments promoting effort, persistence, and mastery; conversations using open-ended questions; encouragement of child responsibility; sensitivity; and a positive classroom climate. O'Connor and McCartney (2007) likewise found that positive educator–child relationships from preschool through third grade were associated with higher third-grade achievement, and that much of this achievement derived from how positive relationships promoted children's classroom engagement.

Positive educator–child relationships are especially important during the transition to school, when children's initial expectations about school and adjustment to its social demands take shape ( Ladd et al., 1999 ; Silver et al., 2005 ). Children who develop more positive relationships with their teachers in kindergarten are more positive about attending school, more excited about learning, and more self-confident. In the classroom they achieve more compared with children who experience more conflicted or troubled relationships with their teachers ( Birch and Ladd, 1997 ; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2003 ; Pianta and Stuhlman, 2004b ). A positive relationship with educators may be especially important for children who are at risk of academic difficulty because such a relationship can provide support for self-confidence and classroom involvement ( Pianta et al., 1995 ).

A similar association is seen for peer relationships. Children who experience greater friendship and peer acceptance tend to feel more positive about coming to school, participate more in activities in the classroom, and achieve more in kindergarten ( Ladd et al., 1996 , 1997 ). Peer rejection is associated with less classroom participation, poorer academic performance, and a desire to avoid school ( Buhs and Ladd, 2001 ).

Taken together, research documenting the association between the security of attachment and the development of cognitive and language competence, as well as the stronger academic performance of securely attached children, highlights the multiple ways in which supportive relationships contribute to early learning. In particular, such relationships with parents, educators, and even peers provide immediate support that helps children focus their energies on learning opportunities, and they also foster the development of social and cognitive skills that children enlist in learning.

Emotion Regulation and Self-Management

Another element of socioemotional competence, touched on earlier in the section on general learning competencies, is self-regulation of emotion, or emotion regulation, which can affect learning behaviors and relationships with adults and peers. As noted in that earlier discussion, emotion regulation is closely intertwined with cognitive self-regulation and executive function. Emotion regulation processes include emotional and motivational responses to situations involving risk and reward (e.g., Kerr and Zelazo, 2004 ). They are frequently inhibitory; that is, they include the ability to suppress one response (e.g., grabbing a toy from another) so as to respond in a better way (asking for or sharing the toy). The development of emotion regulation and other forms of self-management in the early years is based on slowly maturing regions of the prefrontal cortex that continue to develop throughout adolescence and even early adulthood. Thus, early learners are maturationally challenged to manage their attention, emotions, and behavioral impulses effectively in a care setting or classroom.

Because they have difficulty cooperating or resolving conflicts successfully, children who lack effective self-regulation do not participate in a productive way in classroom activities—including learning activities ( Broidy et al., 2003 ; Ladd et al., 1999 ; Saarni et al., 1998 ). Children with poor emotion regulation skills may act disruptively and aggressively; they then receive less support from their peers, which in turn may undermine their learning ( Valiente et al., 2011 ). Poor emotion regulation also diminishes positive educator–child interactions, which, as discussed in the previous section, has been shown to predict poor academic performance and behavior problems ( Hamre and Pianta, 2001 ; Neuenschwander et al., 2012 ; Raver and Knitzer, 2002 ).

Coupled with joint attention and delay of gratification, self-regulation skills are linked to social competence and ease the transition to kindergarten ( Huffman et al., 2000 ; McIntyre et al., 2006 ). Children with difficulty regulating emotion in preschool and kindergarten often display inappropriate behavior, fail to pay attention (affecting whether they recall and process information), and have difficulty following instructions, all of which contribute to learning problems ( Eisenberg et al., 2010 ). Unfortunately, these difficulties tend to be common in preschool and kindergarten. They are an important determinant of whether educators and parents regard young children as “ready for school” ( Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2000 ).

Some researchers also suggest that emotion regulation in preschool and kindergarten serves as an early indicator of later academic success ( Graziano et al., 2007 ; Howse et al., 2003b ; Trentacosta and Izard, 2007 ). In preschool, McClelland and colleagues (2007) found not only that emotion regulation predicted early skills in literacy and mathematics but also that growth in emotion regulation in 4-year-olds over a 1-year period was linked to greater gains in literacy, vocabulary, and math compared with children showing less growth. Reading disability and problem behavior may be a “chicken or egg” problem: students who have behavior problems in first grade are more likely to have reading difficulties in third grade and students who have reading difficulties in first grade are more likely to exhibit behavior problems in third grade ( Morgan et al., 2008 ). Thus a particularly effective learning environment may be one that provides both effective reading instruction and support for behavioral self-regulation ( Connor et al., 2014 ).

Young children are better enabled to exercise self-regulation in the company of educators who have developmentally appropriate expectations for their self-control, provide predictable routines, and offer guidance that scaffolds their developing skills of self-management, especially in the context of carefully designed daily practices in a well-organized setting ( Bodrova and Leong, 2012 ). Indeed, in an intervention for academically at-risk young children, the Chicago School Readiness Project gave Head Start teachers specialized training at the beginning of the year in classroom management strategies to help lower-income preschoolers better regulate their own behavior. At the end of the school year, these children showed less impulsiveness, fewer disruptive behaviors, and better academic performance compared with children in classrooms with teachers who received a different training regimen ( Raver et al., 2009 , 2011 ).

Conclusion About the Ability to Self-Regulate The ability to self-regulate both emotion and cognitive processes is important for learning and academic achievement, affecting children's thinking, motivation, self-control, and social interactions. Children's progress in this ability from birth through age 8 is influenced by the extent to which relationships with adults, learning environments, and learning experiences support this set of skills, and their progress can be impaired by stressful and adverse circumstances.

Social and Emotional Understanding

As described earlier in this chapter, even infants and toddlers have an implicit theory of mind for understanding how certain mental states are associated with people's behavior. From their simple and straightforward awareness that people act intentionally and are goal directed; that people have positive and negative feelings in response to things around them; and that people have different perceptions, goals, and feelings, young children develop increasingly sophisticated understanding of the mental experiences that cause people to act as they do ( Wellman, 2011 ). They realize, for example, that people's beliefs about reality can be accurate or may be mistaken, and this realization leads to their understanding that people can be deceived, that the child's own thoughts and feelings need not be disclosed, and that not everybody can be believed ( Lee, 2013 ; Mills, 2013 ). They appreciate that people's thinking may be biased by expectations, prior experiences, and desires that cause them to interpret the same situation in very different ways ( Lalonde and Chandler, 2002 ). They also begin to appreciate how personality differences among people can cause different individuals to act in the same situation in very different ways ( Heyman and Gelman, 1999 ).

These remarkable advances in social understanding are important to children's developing socioemotional skills for interacting with educators and peers. These advances also are fostered by children's classroom experiences. Children learn about how people think and feel from directly observing; asking questions; and conversing about people's mental states with trusted informants, such as parents ( Bartsch and Wellman, 1995 ; Dunn, 2002 ; Thompson et al., 2003 ). Similarly, interactions with educators and peers provide young children with apt lessons in mutual understanding and perspective taking, cooperation, conflict management, personality differences and similarities, and emotional understanding in an environment where these skills are developing. This is especially so when educators can use children's experiences as forums for developing social and emotional understanding, such as when they explain why peers are feeling the way they do, suggest strategies for resolving conflict over resources or a point of view, or involve children in collective decision making involving different opinions.

Self-Awareness and Early Learning

How young children think of themselves as learners, and in particular their self-perceived efficacy in mastering new understanding, is an early developing and continuously important influence on their academic success. Young children become increasingly sensitive to the positive and negative evaluations of their behavior by parents, which serve as the basis for their self-evaluations ( Stipek et al., 1992 ). In one study, mothers who provided positive evaluations, gentle guidance, and corrective feedback during teaching tasks with their 2-year-olds had children who, 1 year later, were more persistent and less likely to avoid difficult challenges. By contrast, mothers who were intrusively controlling of their toddlers had children who, 1 year later, responded with shame when they had difficulty ( Kelley et al., 2000 ). Gunderson and colleagues (2013) found that 14- to 38-month-old children whose parents praised their efforts during unstructured home observations were more likely, as third graders, to believe that abilities are malleable and can be improved.

An extensive research literature documents the effects of parents' and educators' performance feedback on children's self-concept and motivation to succeed. Most of this research was conducted with older children and adolescents because of their more sophisticated understanding of differences in ability (see Wigfield et al., 2006 , for a review); however, preschoolers and early primary grade students are also sensitive to success and failure and to their imputed causes. In a study by Cimpian and colleagues (2007) , for example, 4-year-old children were represented by puppets whose performance was praised by a teacher using either generic feedback (“You are a good drawer.”) to imply trait-based (ability-centered) success or nongeneric feedback (“You did a good job drawing.”) to imply situation-based (effort-centered) success. The children did not differ in their self-evaluations after hearing praise of either kind, but when their puppet subsequently made a mistake and was criticized for it, the 4-year-olds who had heard generic feedback evaluated their performance and the situation more negatively than did children hearing nongeneric feedback, suggesting that they interpreted criticism as reflecting deficits in their ability. Similar results have been reported with kindergarteners by Kamins and Dweck (1999) and by Zentall and Morris (2010) , with the latter indicating that task persistence as well as self-evaluation were strengthened by the use of nongeneric performance feedback.

Parent and educator expectations for children's academic success also are important influences. High parental expectations for children's school achievement are associated with children's later academic performance, and this association often is mediated by the greater involvement of parents in the preschool or school program and other practices that support children's school success ( Baroody and Dobbs-Oates, 2009 ; Englund et al., 2004 ; Mantzicopoulos, 1997 ). The role of educator expectations in children's success is illustrated by a longitudinal study in which teacher expectations for children's math achievement in grades 1 and 3 directly predicted children's scores on standardized achievement tests 2 years later; teacher expectations for reading achievement had indirect associations with later reading scores. The results of this study also suggest that teacher expectations were especially influential for academically at-risk students ( Hinnant et al., 2009 ).

Social Interaction as a Forum for Cognitive Growth

A wider perspective on the importance of socioemotional skills for academic success is gained by considering the importance of social experiences for early learning. Contemporary research has led developmental scientists to understand the mind's development as deriving jointly from the child's naturally inquisitive activity and the catalysts of social experience. Sometimes these social experiences are in formal teaching and other pedagogical experiences, but often they take the form of adults and children sharing in activities that provide the basis for early learning, in a kind of “guided participation” (e.g., Rogoff, 1991 ). These activities can be as simple as the one-sided “conversation” parents have with their infant or toddler from which language skills develop, or the shared sorting of laundry into piles of similar color, or labeling of another child's feelings during an episode of peer conflict. In short, considerable early learning occurs in the course of a young child's ordinary interactions with a responsive adult.

Social experiences provide emotional security and support that enables learning and can also contribute to the development of language, number skills, problem solving, and other cognitive and learning skills that are foundational for school readiness and academic achievement. Through their interactions with children, adults provide essential stimulation that provides rapidly developing mental processes with catalysts that provoke further learning. Conversely, the lack of these catalysts contributes to learning disparities by the time that children become preschoolers. These processes are well illustrated by considering the growth of language and literacy skills and of mathematical understanding.

It is difficult to think of any child developing language apart from social interactions with others. As discussed earlier in this chapter, variability in these experiences, beginning in infancy, helps account for socioeconomic disparities in language and mathematical skills that are apparent by the time children enter school. In a widely cited study, Hart and Risley (1995) recorded 1 hour of naturally occurring speech in the homes of 42 families at monthly intervals beginning when children were 7-9 months old and continuing until they turned 3 years. They found that by age 3, children living in the most socioeconomically advantaged families had a working vocabulary that was more than twice the size of that of children growing up in the most disadvantaged families. The latter group of children also was adding words more slowly than their advantaged counterparts. The differences in children's vocabulary size were associated, in part, with how many words were spoken to them during the home observations, with a much richer linguistic environment being characteristic of the most advantaged homes. In addition, words were used in functionally different ways, with a much higher ratio of affirmative-to-prohibitive language being used in the most advantaged homes and a much lower ratio (i.e., below 1) being characteristic of the most disadvantaged homes. Differences in the language environment in which children grew up were, in other words, qualitative as well as quantitative in nature. Further research with a subset of 29 families in this sample showed that 3-year-olds' vocabulary size significantly predicted their scores on standardized tests of language skill in third grade ( Hart and Risley, 1995 ).

A later study by Fernald and colleagues (2013) confirms and extends these findings. A sample of 48 English-learning infants from families varying in socioeconomic status was followed from 18 to 24 months. At 18 months, significant differences between infants from higher- and lower-income families were already seen in vocabulary size and in real-time language processing efficiency. By 24 months, a 6-month gap was found between the two groups in processing skills related to language development. A companion study by Weisleder and Fernald (2013) with 29 lower-income Spanish-speaking families found that infants who experienced more child-directed speech at 19 months had larger vocabularies and greater language processing efficiency at 24 months. But adult speech that was simply overheard by infants (i.e., not child directed) at 19 months had no association with later language ( Schneidman et al., 2013 ). These studies indicate that child-directed speech, and perhaps the social interaction that accompanies it, is what strengthens infants' language processing efficiency. As in the Hart and Risley (1995) study, differences in family language environments were both qualitative and quantitative in nature. These findings are important in light of the association between the socioeconomic status of children's families and their language skills ( Bradley and Corwyn, 2002 ).

The findings of these studies are consistent with those of studies of the social experiences in and outside the home that promote language learning in early childhood. (See also the section on language and literacy under “Learning Specific Subjects” earlier in this chapter.) According to one longitudinal study, language and literacy skills in kindergarten were predicted by several aspects of the language environment at home and in classrooms in the preschool years. The characteristics of adult language that stimulated young children's language development included adult use of varied vocabulary during conversations with children; extended discourse on a single topic (rather than frequent topic switching); and diversity of language-related activities, including storybook reading, conversation related to children's experiences and interests, language corrections, and pretend play ( Dickinson, 2003 ; Dickinson and Porche, 2011 ; Dickinson and Tabors, 2001 ). These elements of the early childhood social environment predicted both kindergarten language skills and fourth-grade language and reading abilities. Other studies show that extensive use of descriptive language (e.g., labeling and commenting on people's actions) related to the child's current experience contributes to the quality of children's language development. Shared storybook reading also has been found to enhance the language skills of young children in lower-income homes ( Raikes et al., 2006 ). Stated differently, what matters is not just how much language young children are exposed to but the social and emotional contexts of language shared with an adult.

Language and literacy development is a major focus of instruction in prekindergarten and K-3 classrooms, and the instructional strategies used by teachers are both more formal and more sophisticated than those used in early childhood classrooms. Duke and Block (2012) have noted that in primary grade classrooms, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and conceptual and content knowledge are not adequately emphasized. The practices that would enhance early reading skills are embedded in children's social experiences with educators and peers in the classroom. They involve children interacting with partners throughout reading activity, and teachers explaining and discussing vocabulary terms and encouraging children to make personal connections with the concepts in the text.

Number Concepts and Mathematics

Language and literacy skills are the best-studied area in which early social experiences are influential, but they are not the only skills for which social interactions are important. Social experiences also are important for mathematics, such as for developing an understanding of numbers as well as early number and spatial/geometric language. Infants have an approximate number system that enables them to distinguish different quantities provided that the numerical ratio between them is not small, and this discrimination ability improves with increasing age (see Box 4-5 earlier in this chapter). There is some evidence that early individual differences in this ability are consistent during the first year and predict later mathematical abilities, although the reason for this remains unclear ( Libertus and Brannon, 2010 ; Starr et al., 2013 ). Toddlers also are beginning to comprehend certain number principles, such as one-to-one correspondence ( Slaughter et al., 2011 ). How adults talk about number is important. In one study, everyday parent–child discourse was recorded for 90 minutes every 4 months when the child was between 14 and 30 months old. The amount of parents' spontaneous “number talk” in these conversations (e.g., counting objects, references to time) was predictive of children's cardinal number knowledge (i.e., the knowledge that “four” refers to sets with four items) at 46 months ( Levine et al., 2010 ). Particularly important was when parents counted or labeled fairly large sets of objects within the child's view, providing concrete referents for parent–child interaction over number ( Gunderson and Levine, 2011 ).

Klibanoff and colleagues (2006) found that in early childhood, teachers' “math language”—that is, the frequency of their verbal references to number and geometric concepts—varied greatly for different teachers, but it significantly predicted progress in preschoolers' mathematical knowledge over the course of the school year. Similarly, another study found that parents' number-related activities at home with their young children were highly variable, but parents who engaged in more of these activities had children with stronger mathematical skill on standardized tests ( Blevins-Knabe and Musun-Miller, 1996 ). These practices in the classroom and at home help explain the significant socioeconomic disparities in number understanding by the time children arrive at school ( Klibanoff et al., 2006 ; Saxe et al., 1987 ). In addition to spoken references to numerical and geometric concepts, adults stimulate developing mathematical understanding when they incorporate these concepts into everyday activities, including games and other kinds of play; prompt children's explanations for numerical inferences; probe their understanding; and relate mathematical ideas to everyday experience ( NRC, 2009 ). Unfortunately, the quality of mathematical instruction is highly variable in preschool and early primary grades (discussed further in Chapter 6 ).

Taken together, these studies suggest the diverse ways in which social experiences provide catalysts for children's developing language and number skills that are the focus of later academic work. In these domains, adult practices provide essential cognitive stimulants beginning in infancy. Similar practices—adapted to young children's developing skills—remain important as children proceed through the primary grades.

Relationships and Early Learning: Implications for Adults

The relationship of an adult to a child—the emotional quality of their interaction, the experiences they have shared, the adult's beliefs about the child's capabilities and characteristics—helps motivate young children's learning, inspire their self-confidence, and provide emotional support to engage them in new learning.

Commonplace interactions provide contexts for supporting the development of cognitive and learning skills and the emotional security in which early learning thrives. Applauding a toddler's physical skills or a second-grader's writing skills, counting together the leaves on the sidewalk or the ingredients of a recipe, interactively reading a book, talking about a sibling's temper tantrum or an episode of classroom peer conflict—these and other shared experiences contribute to young children's cognitive development and early learning.

Conclusion About Socioemotional Development Socioemotional development contributes to the growth of emotional security that enables young children to fully invest themselves in new learning and to the growth of cognitive skills and competencies that are important for learning. These capacities are essential because learning is inherently a social process. Young children's relationships—with parents, teachers, and peers—thus are central to the learning experiences that contribute to their later success.

• PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH

Child development and early learning are closely intertwined with child health. Indeed, each is a foundation for outcomes in the other: health is a foundation for learning, while education is a determinant of health ( Zimmerman and Woolf, 2014 ). The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010) has described three foundational areas of child health and development that contribute to physical and mental well-being:

• Stable and responsive relationships—Such relationships provide young children with consistent, nurturing, and protective interactions with adults that enhance their learning and help them develop adaptive capacities that promote well-regulated stress response systems.
• Safe and supportive physical, chemical, and built environments—Such environments provide physical and emotional spaces that are free from toxins and fear, allow active exploration without significant risk of harm, and offer supports for families raising young children.
• Sound and appropriate nutrition—Such nutrition includes health-promoting food intake as well as eating habits, beginning with the future mother's nutritional status even before conception.

This section examines interrelated topics of physical development, child health, nutrition, and physical activity and then touches on partnerships between the health and education sectors (also discussed in Chapter 5 ).

Physical Development

Physical development goes hand-in-hand with cognitive development in young children, and progress in one domain often relies on progress in the other. Similar to cognitive development, typical physical development follows a common trajectory among children but with individual differences in the rate of development. A child's physical development encompasses healthy physical growth; the development of sensory systems, including vision and hearing; and development of the ability to use the musculoskeletal system for gross motor skills that involve large body movements as well as fine motor skills that require precision and the controlled production of sound for speaking. Sensory and motor development are critical for both everyday and classroom activities that contribute to cognitive development, early learning, and eventually academic achievement.

Young children's growth in gross and fine motor skills develops throughout the birth through age 8 continuum—early on from holding their head up; rolling over; standing, crawling, and walking; to grasping cereal, picking up blocks, using a fork, tying shoelaces, and writing. A number of recent studies have focused on the relationships among the development of fine and gross motor skills in infants and young children, cognitive development, and school readiness. For example, one study found that students showing deficiencies in fine motor skills exhibited lower math and verbal scores ( Sandler et al., 1992 ), and more recent studies have also shown that fine motor skills were strongly linked to later achievement ( Grissmer et al., 2010a ; Pagani and Messier, 2012 ). Some of the same neural infrastructure in the brain that controls the learning process during motor development are also involved in the control of learning in cognitive development ( Grissmer et al., 2010a ). The evidence of the impact of motor skills on cognitive development and readiness for school calls for a shift in curricula to include activities that focus on fine motor skills, to include the arts, physical education, and play ( Grissmer et al., 2010b ).

Child Health

Health has an important influence on early learning and academic achievement. Hair and colleagues (2006) found that poor health can be as important in contributing to struggles with academic performance in first grade as language and cognitive skills, along with lack of social skills. Not only are healthy children better prepared to learn, but participation in high-quality early childhood programs leads to improved health in adulthood, setting the stage for intergenerational well-being. Data from Head Start and from the Carolina Abecedarian Project indicate that high-quality, intensive interventions can prevent, or at least delay, the onset of physical and emotional problems from adolescence into adulthood ( Campbell et al., 2014 ; Carneiro and Ginja, 2012 ). Data from a national longitudinal survey show that involvement in Head Start was associated with fewer behavior problems and serious health problems, such as 29 percent less obesity in males at 12 and 13 years of age. In addition, Head Start participants had less depression and obesity as adolescents and 31 percent less involvement in criminal activity as young adults. Similarly, long-term follow-up of adults who were enrolled in the Carolina Abecedarian Project revealed that males in their mid-30s in the project had lower rates of hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome than controls. None of the males in the project had metabolic syndrome, compared with 25 percent of the control group. Further analysis of growth parameters indicated that those who were obese in their mid-30s were on that trajectory by 5 years of age, indicating the need for emphasis on healthy nutrition and regular physical activity beginning in early childhood. These studies suggest that the impact of early care and education programs on physical and emotional health is long term.

Sufficient, high-quality dietary intake is necessary for children's health, development, and learning. Support for providing healthy nutrition for children and their families, including pregnant and expectant mothers, is vital. Adequate protein, calories, and nutrients are needed for brain development and function. While the rapid brain growth and development that occurs in infants and toddlers may make children in this age group particularly vulnerable to dietary deficiencies, nutrition remains important as certain brain regions continue to develop through childhood into adolescence.

Nutrients, Cognitive Development, and Academic Performance

Deficiencies in protein, energy, and micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, and omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to adverse effects on cognitive and emotional functioning ( Bryan et al., 2004 ). Research has shown that iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is associated with lower cognitive and academic performance ( Bryan et al., 2004 ; Nyaradi et al., 2013 ; Taras, 2005 ). Children at an early school age who had IDA as an infant were found to have lower test scores than those who did not have IDA. Effects of severe IDA in infancy have been seen in adolescence. These effects include lower scores in motor functioning; written expression; arithmetic achievement; and some specific cognitive processes, such as spatial memory and selective recall ( NRC and IOM, 2000 ). However, it is not clear whether children with iron deficiency but no anemia have similar outcomes ( Taras, 2005 ). A review of daily iron supplementation in children aged 5-12 years studied in randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials showed improvement in measures of attention and concentration, global cognitive scores, and, for children with anemia, intelligence quotient (IQ) scores ( Low et al., 2013 ).

IDA in infancy also has been associated with impaired inhibitory control and executive functioning. Altered socioemotional behavior and affect have been seen in infants with iron deficiency regardless of whether anemia is present ( Lozoff, 2011 ). One study found an association between iron supplementation in infancy and increased adaptive behavior at age 10 years, especially in the areas of affect and response to reward, which may have beneficial effects on school performance, mental health, and personal relationships ( Lozoff et al., 2014 ).

Folate and iodine also have been shown to be important for brain development and cognitive performance ( Bougma et al., 2013 ; Bryan et al., 2004 ; Nyaradi et al., 2013 ), although iodine deficiency is rare in the United States. While there is some evidence that zinc, vitamin B 12 , and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids also may be important for cognitive development, the research on these associations is inconclusive ( Bougma et al., 2013 ; Bryan et al., 2004 ; Taras, 2005 ).

Food Insecurity, Diet Quality, and Healthful Eating

Food insecurity and diet quality in children have both been linked to impaired academic performance and cognitive and socioemotional development. Food insecurity refers to circumstances in which households do not have adequate food to eat, encompassing both inadequate quantity and nutritional quality of food ( ERS, 2014 ). Food insecurity affects development not only by compromising nutrition but also by contributing to a factor in family stress ( Cook and Frank, 2008 ). In 2012, 48 million Americans were food insecure, a fivefold increase from the 1960s and a 57 percent increase from the late 1990s. One in six Americans reported being short of food at least once per year. More than half of affected households were white, and more than half lived outside cities. Indeed, hunger in the suburbs has more than doubled since 2007. Two-thirds of food-insecure households with children have at least one working adult, typically in a full-time job ( McMillan, 2014 ).

A recent review indicates that food insecurity is a “prevalent risk to the growth, health, cognitive, and behavioral potential of low-income children” ( Cook and Frank, 2008 , p. 202). Studies found that children in food-insufficient families were more likely than those in households with adequate food to have fair/poor health; iron deficiency; and behavioral, emotional, and academic problems. Infants and toddlers are at particular risk from food insecurity even at its least severe levels ( Cook and Frank, 2008 ). Cross-sectional studies of children from developing countries have shown an association among general undernutrition and stunting, IQ scores, and academic performance ( Bryan et al., 2004 ). Alaimo and colleagues (2001) found that food insecurity was linked to poorer academic and psychosocial outcomes in children ages 6 to 11 years. Similarly, Florence and colleagues (2008) observed that students with lower overall diet quality were significantly more likely to fail a literacy assessment. Subsequent research has shown that while food insecurity experienced earlier in childhood was associated with emotional problems that appeared in adolescence, cognitive and behavioral problems could be accounted for by differences in the home environments, such as family income and the household's sensitivity to children's needs ( Belsky et al., 2010 ).

Eating breakfast, which can be related to food insecurity, diet quality, and healthful eating habits, has been associated with improved cognitive function, academic performance, and school attendance ( Basch, 2011 ; Hoyland et al., 2009 ; Mahoney et al., 2005 ; Nyaradi et al., 2013 ; Rampersaud et al., 2005 ). According to two reviews of the effect of consuming breakfast in children and adolescents, the evidence suggests that children who consume breakfast—particularly those children whose nutritional status is compromised—may have improved cognitive function, test grades, and school attendance. The positive effects of school breakfast programs may be explained in part by their effect of increasing school attendance ( Hoyland et al., 2009 ; Rampersaud et al., 2005 ). The composition of the breakfast meal may also be important to cognitive performance; a breakfast meal with a low glycemic index, such as oatmeal, has been shown to improve cognitive function ( Cooper et al., 2012 ; Mahoney et al., 2005 ).

In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report documenting the relationship between healthy eating and increased life expectancy; improved quality of life; and fewer chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and inadequate bone health ( CDC, 2011 ). The report documents the high rate of iron deficiency among obese children and emphasizes the link between dental caries and unhealthy diet. Children are unlikely to follow recommendations for the number of servings of various food groups and they consume higher-than-recommended amounts of saturated fats, sodium, and foods with added sugar. Children's eating behavior and food choices are influenced not only by taste preferences but also by the home environment and parental influences, including household eating rules, family meal patterns, and parents' lifestyles. The school environment influences children's eating behavior as well. The availability of unhealthy options in schools leads to poor choices by children, whereas research has shown that efforts to reduce the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in the schools can have a positive impact on children's choices ( AAP Committee on School Health, 2004 ). There are also rising concerns about food insecurity in association with obesity; inexpensive foods tend not to be nutritious, and contribute to increasing rates of obesity ( IOM, 2011 ; McMillan, 2014 ).

Physical Activity

A recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) study linked increasing physical activity and enhancing physical fitness to improved academic performance, and found that this can be facilitated by physical activity built into children's days through physical education, recess, and physical classroom activity ( IOM, 2013 ). Likewise, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently highlighted the crucial role of recess as a complement to physical education, suggesting that recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits and is a necessary component of a child's development ( AAP Council on School Health, 2013 ). However, fewer than half of youth meet the current recommendation of at least 60 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per day, and recent years have seen a significant downward trend in the offering of daily physical education in schools at all levels ( CDC, 2012 ; GAO, 2012 ). Positive support from friends and family encourages children to engage in physical activity, as do physical environments that are conducive to activity. However, the school environment plays an especially important role. The IOM report recommends that schools provide access to a minimum of 60 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per day, including an average of 30 minutes per day in physical education class for students in elementary schools ( IOM, 2013 ).

Partnerships Between Health and Education

Each of the domains of child development and early learning discussed in this chapter can be supported through interventions that involve both the health and education sectors (see also the discussion of continuity among sectors in Chapter 5 ). Specific activities include coordinating vision, hearing, developmental, and behavioral screening to facilitate early identification of children with special needs; completing daily health checks; making appropriate referrals and collaborating with the child's medical home and dental health services; ensuring that immunizations for the entire family and for the early care and education workforce are up to date; modifying and adapting services to meet the individual needs of the child; and providing support to the early care and education workforce to promote more inclusive practices for children with special needs. In addition, teaching and modeling skills in sanitation and personal hygiene will contribute to preventing illness. Furthermore, pediatric health care professionals can make an important contribution by promoting literacy. Extensive research documents the positive impact on early language and literacy development when a pediatric professional gives advice to parents about reading developmentally appropriate books with children as early as 6 months of age ( AAP Council on Early Childhood et al., 2014 ).

There is evidence that coordinated efforts between educational settings and health care services lead to improved health. Head Start, the Infant Health and Development Program, and the Carolina Abecedarian Project are examples of early care and education programs that have integrated health care services into the intervention design, leading to positive health outcomes. Schools also can partner with pediatric health care professionals in their communities to identify opportunities to enhance physical activity in the school setting ( AAP Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness and AAP Committee on School Health, 2000 ). CDC (2011) has offered recommendations for promoting healthful eating and physical activity that include the following and, if placed in an appropriate developmental context, can be applied to care and education settings for children aged 0-8:

• Use a coordinated approach to develop, implement, and evaluate healthful eating and physical activity policies and practices.
• Establish school environments that support healthy eating and activity.
• Provide a quality school meal program and ensure that students have only appealing, healthy food and beverage choices offered outside of the school meal program.
• Implement a comprehensive physical activity program with quality physical education as the cornerstone.
• Implement health education that provides students with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and experiences needed for healthy eating and physical activity.
• Provide students with health, mental health, and social services to address healthy eating, physical activity, and related chronic disease prevention.
• Partner with families and community members in the development and implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies, practices, and programs.
• Provide a school employee wellness program that includes healthy eating and physical activity services for all school staff members.
• Employ qualified persons and provide them with professional development opportunities in staffing physical education; health education; nutrition services; health, mental health, and social services; and supervision of recess, cafeteria time, and out-of-school-time programs.

School-based health centers are another approach to partnering between health and education. They have been associated with improved immunization rates, better adherence to scheduled preventive examinations, and more treatment for illnesses and injuries, as well as fewer emergency room visits. For example, King and colleagues (2006) found that a school-based vaccination program significantly reduced influenza symptoms in the entire school. School-based mental health services also have been shown to be effective in addressing a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues ( Rones and Hoagwood, 2000 ). School-based health centers have been shown to reduce nonfinancial barriers to health care ( Keyl et al., 1996 ), and families also report more satisfaction with their care than in community or hospital settings ( Kaplan et al., 1999 ).

Conclusion About Health, Nutrition, and Early Learning Safe physical and built environments, health, and nutrition are essential to early learning and academic achievement. Food security and adequate nutrition are important to support cognitive development and participation in education, and food insecurity and poor nutrition can contribute to early learning difficulties. Care and education settings provide an opportunity to promote healthful eating and physical activity in learning environments. Providing appropriate health and developmental screenings and follow-up care and services also is important in supporting development and early learning.

Health and Early Learning: Implications for Adults

Healthy children supported by healthy adults are better prepared to learn. Child health begins prior to conception and extends through pregnancy and throughout childhood. Therefore, the early care and education workforce must be prepared to work across generations to provide education, support, and community linkages to ensure that children grow up poised for success. Ongoing federal support for evidence-based home visiting programs for high-risk families that begin early in pregnancy and continue through early childhood is essential. Professionals working in family childcare, early childhood education centers, preschools, and early elementary schools need to have working knowledge of the relationship between health and children's learning and development. Guidance related to nutrition, physical activity, oral health, immunizations, and preventive health care is essential across all early care and education settings. These professionals also need to be provided with supports and opportunities for close collaboration with health care services and their potential integration into or strengthened linkages with the early care and education setting.

• EFFECTS OF CHRONIC STRESS AND ADVERSITY

As detailed in Chapter 3 , one of the most important advances in developmental science in recent years has been the recognition that the brain incorporates experience into its development. Although experience is important at any age, early experiences are especially formative in the development of the brain's structure and function. Human development is the result of the continuous interaction of genetics and experience. This interplay is true not just of brain development but of other aspects of human development as well. Research in this area encourages developmental scientists as well as parents and practitioners to consider how positive early experiences and enrichment, in formal and informal ways, may have a beneficial influence on the developing brain and in turn on the growth of thinking and learning. The brain's openness to experience is, however, a double-edged sword—adverse early experiences can have potentially significant negative consequences for brain development and early learning.

As discussed in Chapter 3 , evidence indicates that experiences of stress and adversity are biologically embedded and that individual differences exist in the health and developmental consequences of stress. A substantial body of evidence now shows that adversity and stress in early life are associated with higher rates of childhood mental and physical morbidities, more frequent disturbances in developmental trajectories and educational achievement, and lifelong risks of chronic disorders that compromise health and well- being ( Boyce et al., 2012 ; Hertzman and Boyce, 2010 ; Shonkoff et al., 2009 ). Children respond to stress differently. Many exhibit withdrawal, anger and irritability, difficulty paying attention and concentrating, disturbed sleep, repeated and intrusive thoughts, and extreme distress triggered by things that remind them of their traumatic experiences. Some develop psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and a variety of behavioral disorders ( NCTSN, 2005 ).

What are the circumstances that contribute to chronic adversity and stress for children? All children can experience forms of chronic stress and adversity, but exposures to stress and adversity are socioeconomically layered. Poverty, discussed in more detail below, has been the best studied and is a highly prevalent source of early chronic stress ( Blair and Raver, 2012 ; Evans and Kim, 2013 ; Jiang et al., 2014 ). Young children in the United States also suffer high levels of victimization through child abuse and exposure to domestic violence. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported for the year 2012 that of all child abuse victims, approximately 60 percent were age 8 or younger ( Children's Bureau, 2013 ). The highest rates of child abuse and neglect, including fatalities related to child abuse, were reported for children in the first year of life. Comparable biological and behavioral effects of chronic stress have been studied in children in foster care, in those who experience significant or prolonged family conflict, in those who have a depressed parent, and in those who are abused or neglected (see Thompson, 2014 , for a review).

It is noteworthy that these circumstances include not only those that most people would regard as sources of extreme stress for children (e.g., child abuse), but also those that an adult might regard as less significant because they may be less severe although persistent (e.g., parents' chronic marital conflict, poverty). This broader range of circumstances that children experience as stressful is consistent with the view that, in addition to situations that are manifestly threatening and dangerous, children are stressed by the denial or withdrawal of supportive care, especially when they are young.

Culture also is closely interrelated with stress and adversity. Culture affects the meaning that a child or a family attributes to specific types of traumatic events as well as the ways in which they respond. Because culture also influences expectations regarding the self, others, and social institutions, it can also influence how children and families experience and express distress, grieve or mourn losses, provide support to each other, seek help, and disclose personal information to others. Historical or multigenerational trauma also can influence cultural differences in responses to trauma and loss ( NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force, 2012 ).

Building on the discussion in Chapter 3 of the biology of chronic stress and adversity, the following sections describe more broadly some of the contributing circumstances and consequences for young children, including the stressors associated with economic adversity; social buffering of stress; and the relationships among stress, learning, and mental health.

The Stressors of Economic Adversity

Children in any economic circumstances can experience stress and adversity, but considerable research on the effects of chronic stress on children's development has focused on children living in families in poverty or with low incomes. The number of children in these conditions of economic adversity is considerable. In 2012, nearly half the children under age 6 lived in poverty or low-income families (defined as up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, 2 which remains a meagre subsistence) ( Jiang et al., 2014 ). During that same year, more than half the children living with their families in homeless shelters were under the age of 6 ( Child Trends, 2015 ).

The research is clear that poverty as a form of early chronic adversity is a risk factor to long-term physical and mental health, and that for children it can be a significant threat to their capacities to cope with stress, socialize constructively with others, and benefit from the cognitive stimulating opportunities of an early childhood classroom. Socioeconomic disparities in children's experiences of socioemotional adversity and challenging physical environments are well documented (see, e.g., Evans et al., 2012 ). Factors other than economic status itself contribute to the challenges and stresses for children living in low-income families ( Fernald et al., 2013 ). Poverty often is accompanied by the confluence of multiple sources of chronic stress, such as food insufficiency, housing instability (and sometimes homelessness), exposure to violence, environmental noise and toxins, dangerous neighborhoods, poor childcare and schools, family chaos, parents with limited capacity (e.g., resources, education, knowledge/information, time, physical or mental energy) to be supportive and nurturing, parents who are anxious or depressed, parents who are harsh or abusive caregivers, impoverished parent–child communication, and home environments lacking cognitively stimulating activities ( Evans et al., 2012 ; Fernald et al., 2013 ).

As discussed in detail in Chapter 3 , the perturbed biological processes that often accompany economic adversity include changes in the structure and function of children's brain circuitry and dysregulation of their central stress response systems. For these children, therefore, the effects of the chronic stresses associated with economic adversity are likely to contribute to academic, social, and behavioral problems. These problems affect not only early learning and the development of cognitive skills (with impacts on the development of language being best documented) but also the development of learning skills associated with self-regulation and persistence, as well as coping ability, health, and emotional well-being ( Blair and Raver, 2012 ; Evans and Kim, 2013 ).

In addition, developmental consequences related to socioeconomic status are not seen exclusively in children from severely impoverished families. Rather, evidence shows a graded effect of deprivation and adversity across the entire spectrum of socioeconomic status, with even those children from the second-highest social class showing poorer health and development compared with those from families of the very highest socioeconomic status ( Adler et al., 1994 ; Hertzman and Boyce, 2010 ). Moreover, as discussed in Chapter 3 , children are not equally affected by early adverse experiences. Genetic and epigenetic influences may have a role in whether some children are more resilient to early adversity than others ( Rutter, 2012 ).

Detrimental prenatal influences may also be important ( Farah et al., 2008 ; Hackman et al., 2010 ). Although this report focuses on children beginning at birth, child development and early learning also are affected by what a child is exposed to before birth, including influences of family disadvantage. Box 4-6 highlights major research findings on the relationships among family disadvantage, fetal health, and child development.

Family Disadvantage, Fetal Health, and Child Development. Children from different family backgrounds—affected by systemic inequities and disadvantage—start life with starkly different health endowments. As but one example, having a low-birth-weight (more...)

Social Buffering of Stress

The neuroscience of stress has yielded greater understanding of how the effects of stress may be buffered through social support. In behavioral and neurobiological studies of humans and animals, researchers have shown how individuals in adversity show diminished behavioral reactivity and better-regulated cortisol response, among other effects, in the company of people who provide them with emotional support. For children, these individuals often are attachment figures in the family or outside the home.

In health psychology, the benefits of social support for the development and maintenance of healthy practices and the control of disease pathology and healing have been studied since the 1970s (e.g., Cassel, 1976 ; Cobb, 1976 ). Social support also has been recognized as a contributor to psychological well-being for children and youth in difficult circumstances ( Thompson and Goodvin, in press) . In recent years, research on the neurobiology of the social buffering of stress has contributed to a better understanding of why social support has these benefits ( Hostinar et al., 2014 ). In human and animal studies, social companionship in the context of adversity appears to have effects on the biological regulators of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) activity, contributing to greater regulation of stress reactivity through cortical and limbic influences. Social support also appears to stimulate the down-regulation of the proinflammatory tendencies induced by chronic stress, as well as processes driven by neurohormones, including oxytocin, that have other positive benefits ( Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2010 ). Stated differently, social support not only counters the negative effects of chronic stress reactivity but also stimulates constructive influences that contribute independently to greater self-regulation and well-being ( Hostinar et al., 2014 ). This research is still at an early stage, and establishing reliable associations between brain and behavioral functioning in this area is a work in progress, but research findings are providing increasing support for these processes. In one study, for example, greater maternal support measured when children were preschoolers predicted children's larger hippocampus volume at school age ( Luby et al., 2012 ).

The potential benefits of social support as a buffer of chronic stress reactivity underscore the plasticity of developing behavioral and biological systems. Children in adversity need not suffer long-term harms arising from the effects of chronic stress exposure. In a study of families living in rural poverty, for example, toddlers' chronic exposure to domestic violence was associated with elevated cortisol reactivity. However, this effect was buffered when mothers were observed to respond sensitively to their children ( Hibel et al., 2011 ). Experimental interventions designed to change stressful circumstances and promote positive relationships have yielded similar findings. For example a program aimed at easing young children's transition to new foster care placements and promoting warm, responsive, and consistent relationships with new foster parents provided individualized sessions with child therapists, weekly playgroup sessions, and support for foster parents. This program resulted in a normalization of the children's HPA hyporesponsiveness (an effect of stress discussed in Chapter 3 ) ( Fisher et al., 2007 , 2011 ). Another example comes from an intervention based on attachment theory, which trained caregivers to better interpret and respond affectionately to infants and toddlers in foster care and similarly resulted in a normalization of HPA activity and lower cortisol reactivity ( Dozier et al., 2006 , 2008 ). There may be limits to these potential ameliorative effects, depending on the severity and duration of the exposure to adversity. Children who lived for an extended period in profoundly depriving Romanian orphanages, for example, did not show recovery of dysregulated cortisol reactivity, even after a prolonged period of supportive adoptive care ( Gunnar et al., 2001 ).

Because interventions that can help children recover from the effects of chronic adversity can be expensive and time-consuming, however, it appears sensible to try to prevent these effects from occurring. This can be accomplished by reducing exposure to influences that cause significant stress for children, and by strengthening supportive relationships that can buffer its effects. The development of warm, secure attachments between parents and children illustrates the latter approach. As discussed earlier in this chapter, attachment theorists argue that the reliable support provided by a secure attachment relationship enables infants and children to explore and learn from their experiences confidently with the assurance that a trusted adult is available to assist if difficulty ensues. In this view, secure attachments buffer stress and significantly reduce the child's need to be vigilant for threat or danger. As noted previously, attachment research documents a range of benefits associated with secure parent–child relationships in childhood, including greater language skill, academic achievement, and social competence (see Thompson, 2008 , for a review; West et al., 2013 ). The view that these accomplishments are explained, at least in part, by how secure attachments buffer stress for children is supported by studies documenting the better-regulated cortisol reactivity of young children with secure attachments in challenging situations (see Gunnar and Donzella, 2002 , for a review; Nachmias et al., 1996 ).

Viewed in this light, it appears that the contributions adults make to children's learning extend significantly beyond their reading, conversing, counting, and providing other direct forms of cognitive stimulation. An essential contribution is the safety and security they provide that not only buffers children against significant stress when this occurs, but also enables children to invest themselves in learning opportunities with confidence that an adult will assist them when needed. Such confidence not only enables children to learn more from the opportunities afforded them in the family and outside the home but also fosters their developing self-confidence, curiosity, and other learning skills that emerge in the context of secure relationships ( Thompson, 2008 ). This is a benefit of secure, warm adult–child relationships for all children, not just those in adverse circumstances. This phenomenon is perhaps analogous to that seen in studies in which rat pups with nurturant mothers show enhanced learning and memory in low-stress contexts, whereas pups with nonnurturant mothers show greater proficiency in fear conditioning ( Champagne et al., 2008 ).

One problem, however, is that children in adverse circumstances usually have parents and other caregivers who are affected by the same conditions of adversity. Thus, their parents may not be able to provide them with the support they need. This realization has led to the growth of two-generation interventions that are designed to assist children by providing support to their parents in difficult circumstances ( Chase-Lansdale and Brooks-Gunn, 2014 ).

Stress, Learning, and Mental Health

Children learn readily in contexts of social support and emotional well-being, which derive from positive relationships with those who care for and educate them in the family and outside the home. In these contexts, adults can support and encourage developing competencies, convey positive values about learning and school, and help instill curiosity and self-confidence in children. By contrast, learning and cognitive achievement are hindered when children are troubled. This is the case for children from infancy through adolescence who are living in homes with significant marital conflict, when mothers are chronically depressed, when parents are hostile and coercive, or in other circumstances of family turmoil (e.g., Bascoe et al., 2009 ; Brennan et al., 2013 ; Canadian Paediatric Society, 2004 ; Davies et al., 2008 ).

Socioemotional hindrances to learning and cognitive achievement are apparent very early, before children have begun school, and continue to be important as children move into the primary grades. In educational settings, the emotional effects of problems in educator–child relationships can undermine children's performance and their academic success ( Hamre and Pianta, 2004 ; Jeon et al., 2014 ; Pianta, 1999 ; Pianta and Stuhlman, 2004b ; Skinner and Belmont, 1993 ). As discussed in Chapter 3 , when children are in circumstances of chronic or overwhelming stress, stress hormones affect multiple brain regions, including those relevant to learning, attention, memory, and self-regulation ( McEwen, 2012 ; Ulrich-Lai and Herman, 2009 ). Over time and with continued exposure to stressful circumstances, these neurocognitive processes become altered as a result of the progressive wear and tear of stress hormones on biological systems as they adapt to this chronic stress. As a consequence, immunologic capacities become weakened (contributing to more frequent acute and chronic illness), self-regulation is impaired (contributing to poorer emotion regulation and impulse control), and cognitive and attentional capabilities are blunted ( Danese and McEwen, 2012 ; Lupien et al., 2009 ; Miller et al., 2011 ). For children, these effects can help account for problems in following instructions, paying attention, managing impulsivity, focusing thinking, and controlling emotions in social encounters—each of which can impair classroom performance and academic achievement.

Young children's vulnerability to stress and their reliance on the support of adults are two central considerations in understanding the foundations for childhood mental health ( IOM and NRC, 2009 ). This relationship among stress, early development, and mental health is relevant to understanding the influences that can threaten the socioemotional well-being of younger children—and to understanding why behavior problems can undermine learning and cognitive growth. One illustration of these effects is the high rates of preschool and prekindergarten children being expelled from their classrooms because of disruptive behavior problems—by one report at a rate more than three times the rate of children in the K-12 grades ( Gilliam, 2005 ; see also U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2014 ). In this study, the likelihood of expulsion decreased significantly when educators were provided access to early childhood mental health consultants who could assist them in managing behavior problems.

Another illustration is reports by kindergarten teachers that social, emotional, and self-regulatory problems are a common impediment to children's readiness to achieve in their classrooms ( Lewit and Baker, 1995 ; Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2000 ). Other studies have shown that children's conduct problems and internalizing (anxious, depressed) behavior in the classroom can undermine the development of constructive educator–child relationships and foreshadow later social and academic difficulties ( Berry and O'Connor, 2010 ; Koles et al., 2009 ; Ladd and Burgess, 2001 ).

Consistent with the research concerning the biological and behavioral effects of chronic stress, there is increasing evidence that even very young children show clear evidence of traumatization and posttraumatic stress, anxious and depressive symptomatology, behavioral and conduct problems, and other serious psychological problems ( Egger and Angold, 2006 ; Lieberman et al., 2011 ; Luby, 2006 ; Zeanah, 2009 ). Sometimes these symptom patterns overlap, such as in the comorbidity in which depressive symptomatology appears along with oppositional behavior in preschoolers ( Egger and Angold, 2006 ). The origins of these problems are multifaceted, but certainly include interaction of environmental stresses with genetic factors that heighten or reduce children's vulnerability to these stresses. Often these environmental stresses undermine the social support that would otherwise buffer the effects of stress on children. Diagnosing these disorders in young children is a challenge because the behaviors associated with early mental health problems in young children can be different from those observed in adults and adolescents ( Egger and Emde, 2011 ). But progress has been made in developing reliable diagnostic criteria for preschoolers (e.g., Egger and Angold, 2006 ; Keenan et al., 1997 ; Lavigne et al., 2009 ) and even infants and toddlers ( Zero to Three, 2005 ). This work provides a foundation for further study of the developmental origins of early mental health challenges and therapeutic interventions that might help these children.

Connecting the Socioemotional Health of Children and Adults

The preceding discussion makes clear that children's socioemotional health is linked to the socioemotional well-being of the adults in their lives. Consistent with the research on the social buffering of stress discussed earlier, when parents and other caregivers are managing well, they can help children cope more competently with the ordinary stresses that inevitably occur. When caregivers are stressed, by contrast, they cannot provide this buffering and are instead more often a source of stress for children. When parents are depressed, for example, they can be unpredictably sad, hostile, critical, and/or disengaged ( NRC and IOM, 2009 ). This constellation of behaviors constitutes a difficult combination of threat and withdrawal of support for children. Young children with a depressed mother are more likely, therefore, to exhibit heightened stress reactivity to moderate challenges; to have an insecure attachment to the parent; to show lower levels of cognitive performance and, later, poorer academic achievement; and to be at greater risk of becoming depressed themselves.

The adult's emotional well-being is important in the classroom as well. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, Jeon and colleagues (2014) measured the depressive symptomatology of 761 home- and center-based care providers, as well as overall observed classroom quality, and obtained independent measures of the behavior problems of the 3-year-olds in their classrooms. They found that educator depression was linked to higher levels of behavior problems in children, attributable to the poorer quality of the classroom environment. Notably, this study was conducted with a sample of families in economic stress, with the educators often sharing the same financial difficulties. Nevertheless, the association of educator depression with child behavior problems remained even when family influences, including maternal depression and family poverty status, were controlled for. Similar associations of educator well-being with the quality of the classroom environment and children's learning have been found in studies of children in the early primary grades (e.g., Pianta, 1999 ; Pianta and Stuhlman, 2004b ).

Conclusions About Chronic Stress and Adversity Chronic stress and adversity constitute fundamental risks to learning and academic success as well as to emotional well-being for many young children. The biological and behavioral effects of stress and adversity can disrupt brain circuitry and stress response systems, affect fundamental cognitive skills, undermine focused thinking and attention, diminish self-regulation, and imperil mental and physical health. Trauma, adversity, and chronic stress can arise from many sources, such as poverty, family conflict, parental depression, abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence in the community. Supportive and stable relationships with adults can help develop children's adaptive capacities and provide them with a significant stress buffer. It is important for adults who work with children to recognize and appreciate the effects of adversity and to have the capacity to employ strategies for preventing or mitigating them, as well as for promoting cognitive, social, and emotional strengths for coping with adverse and stressful experiences. Given the importance of stable and responsive relationships that provide consistent and nurturing interactions, the well-being of the adults who care for young children contributes to their healthy development and early learning. The stresses of economic disadvantage are manifested not only in differences in children's early experiences in the family and the community but also in the quality and stability of the out-of-home care and education families can access and afford and the quality of the schools children later attend. Socioeconomic differences in the quality of early learning opportunities place large numbers of children at a learning disadvantage and undermine their potential for academic success. These differences begin early and have a cumulative effect over time. Strengthening early learning and developing competencies requires serious and sustained attention to these socioeconomic disparities in opportunity.

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An ongoing study and forthcoming report of the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council focuses on research, practice, and policy for young dual language learners. More information about this study can be found at www ​.iom.edu/English-DualLanguageLearners .

The 2012 federal poverty threshold was $23,364 for a family of four with two children, $18,480 for a family of three with one child, $15,825 for a family of two with one child.

• Cite this Page Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8: Deepening and Broadening the Foundation for Success; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Allen LR, Kelly BB, editors. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 23. 4, Child Development and Early Learning.
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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Child — About Child Development Stages

About Child Development Stages

• Categories: Child Children

About this sample

Words: 691 |

Published: Jan 4, 2019

Words: 691 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

• Giving praise for achievement
• Giving children guidance but respecting their choices
• Giving them the chance to meet and spend time with other children and adults
• Providing activities that involve sharing and taking turns
• Giving support and encouragement and the right amount of supervision
• Providing opportunities to share in decisions
• Listening to children and taking them seriously
• Providing opportunities where children take responsibility
• 12-19 years

Works Cited

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Learn the signs. Act early. Milestones. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/spanish/actearly/milestones/index.html
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (n.d.). Child development: A closer look. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/child-development/closer-look
• Raver, C. C., Blair, C., & Willoughby, M. (2013). Poverty as a predictor of 4-year-olds' executive function: New perspectives on models of differential susceptibility. Developmental Psychology, 49(2), 292-304. doi:10.1037/a0028343
• Stein, A., Woolley, H., Senior, R., & Hertzman, C. (2008). Social inequalities in physical and mental health: Possible mechanisms and pathways. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(6), 661-672. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01934.x
• Zero to Three. (n.d.). Developmental milestones. Retrieved from https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/developmental-milestones
• Kostelnik, M. J., Soderman, A. K., & Whiren, A. P. (2019). Developmentally appropriate curriculum: Best practices in early childhood education (7th ed.). Pearson.
• Berk, L. E. (2020). Child development (10th ed.). Pearson.
• Papalia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2019). Human development (13th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2014). Excessive stress disrupts the architecture of the developing brain. Working Paper No. 3. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/wp3/
• Pianta, R. C., & Walsh, D. J. (1996). High-risk children in schools: Constructing sustaining relationships. Routledge.

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The Educators Room

Empowering Teachers as the Experts

The Importance of Understanding Child Development When Teaching

For the next few weeks, I’d like to explore some key points of child development from three years of age to eighteen. We must know what we are dealing with in order to deal with it effectively. The same goes for teaching. We would never walk into a room of kindergarten students expecting them to do algebra or hand a class of high schoolers the Dolch pre-primer list and have them read it, expecting growth in literature. Unfortunately, with all of the paperwork, curriculum, district evaluation procedures, standardized testing, and new common core implementation, very few teachers have time to brush up on their child’s development.

Child development is a process every child goes through. This process involves learning and mastering skills like sitting, walking, talking, skipping, and tying shoes. Most children learn these skills, called developmental milestones, during predictable time periods. Milestones develop in a sequential fashion. This means that a child will need to develop some skills before he or she can develop other skills. For example, children must first learn to crawl and to pull up to a standing position before they are able to walk. Each milestone that a child acquires builds on the last milestone developed.

There are five main areas of child development in which children develop skills:

• Cognitive Development:   This is the child’s ability to learn and solve problems.
• Social and Emotional Development:  This is the child’s ability to interact with others, which includes being able to help themselves and self-control.
• Speech and Language Development:  This is the child’s ability to both understand and use language.
• Fine Motor Skill Development:  This is the child’s ability to use small muscles, specifically their hands, and fingers, to pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw.
• Gross Motor Skill Development:  This is the child’s ability to use large muscles.

Through extensive research, we now know that neurons can continue to make connections into adulthood. However, the fact still remains that the brain grows very rapidly, with billions of neurological connections being made during the first three years of life so it is very important that children get adequate exposure early on to the five areas previously listed.

Although the digital age has expanded the abilities and knowledge of young children, it should never act as a replacement for providing the exposure children need in order to reach these milestones. Each child is an individual and may meet developmental milestones a little earlier or later than his peers. However, there are definitely blocks of time when most children will meet a milestone. And developmental milestones don’t just end once kids are six or seven. All five areas continue to develop up to the age of 21 for most children, especially boys. Although gross motor, fine motor, and speech and language development have reached a plateau, cognitive and social development will continue to snowball.

If we go into a classroom completely unprepared for whom we are teaching, it will be very difficult to see progress and will cause tremendous frustration for the students and for us. Our expectations need to be high but not higher than what the child is developmentally able to give us.

In the next few weeks, I’d like to provide checklists in each area for each age of development. It will by no means be an end in itself, but more a springboard for teachers to use in order to evaluate and work from. We must also remember that children are individuals and will not develop in the five areas at the same rate.

This is where the importance of differentiated classrooms comes into play. All classrooms are differentiated by definition, meaning that not every student is in the same place as others. And even though it’s so very difficult in today’s world of education to find any extra time to evaluate outside of the box, let alone teach all over the board, if we do our homework beforehand, it becomes easier to identify what we are dealing with in our classrooms.

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Paula Kay Glass

Paula has a Masters degree in education with an emphasis on child development and child behavior.... More by Paula Kay Glass

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• Pingback: Child Development: Five and Six Year OldsThe Educator’s Room | Empowering Teachers as the Experts.

It is important to parents to learn the different stages of child development so that we would know what stage they are right now and if they need something to learn or something to improve for their child’s development.

How to develop your child’s gratefulness? We also help those parent on how they can help their kids to be grateful for every blessing they receive everyday. https://academyforhealthsuperheroes.com/teaching-child-grateful-gratitude-parent/

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I’m a prison guard in Kenya and had challenges understanding the reasons why prisoners behave in such split personalities, which prompted me to undertake undergraduate course that luckily captured child development widely. Now I can say for sure that a number of our children collide into the criminal justice system as a result of gaps in the five stages of child development, echoed with unfulfilled “Maslow hierarchy of needs”. Understanding child development is key in bringing up a ‘well baked’ individual.

I am a parent of two brilliant daughters and I can see the activeness and curiosity in children of their age. Younger children should be dealt with extreme care and diligence and their potential should be brought to light. I personally believe that in preschool there should be a play-learn kind of an environment that enhance the children’s decision making skills and learning ability. I found just the right montessori for them in my area that gives this kind of a learning atmosphere! Reference: San Marcos Montessori Preschool ( https://smmontessori.com/ ).

Great information, I’m a grandad swimming in new water, I’m dealing with a very playful 5 year old whom has had an unexplained change in my patience. Now I spend a lot time enjoying and watching his development, wanting to educate myself more to deal properly with him in all his growing phases.

Important information.thanks lot

I completely agree with what you have written. I hope this post could reach more people as this was truly an interesting post.

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Child Development Essay

This is an IELTS model child development essay . The essay is about the factors that affect the way that children develop.

This is the question:

Some people think that the main factors influencing a child’s development these days are things such as television, friends, and music. Others believe that the family still remains more important.

Discuss both opinions and give your opinion.

The factors that you need to discuss are:

• Social factors (such as television, music and friends)

Which do you think has the biggest impact on a child as they grow up?

In this essay you have to discuss two opinions and give your opinion . The best way to do this is to dedicate one body paragraph to each opinion.

You can then give your opinion in the second body paragraph and the conclusion, or just the conclusion if you wish.

But however you organise it, you must make sure you do these three things:

• Discuss the first opinion
• Discuss the second opinion
• Give your opinion

Now take a look at the question and the model answer.

IELTS Child Development Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Child Development Essay Model Answer:

While parents obviously play a major role in the way that their child develops as they get older, many people believe that social factors outside of the family now influence children much more. This essay will examine both sides of the argument.

There is no doubt that there are factors external to the family that significantly impact on a child’s development.  For example, there is television and the internet. Children these days have access to these much more than they used to in the past, and they will pick up language and see things that will teach them about life. Friends also have an important influence as a child will often copy peers that they admire and respect. This could be positive behaviour but it could also be negative, such as smoking or taking drugs.

Ultimately, however, it is family who have the most important impact. Children spend nearly all of their time with their family, especially in their early years. They develop their confidence, socialisation skills, morals, values and views on life through their interaction with them. Proof of the importance of this can be seen in the differences between some children. Those that grow up in a dysfunctional home often eventually have problems themselves, whilst those that are brought up in a warm and close environment end up more confident and secure in adult life.

To conclude, it is the family that can provide a supportive, secure, and nurturing environment, which is crucial to the way in which a child becomes an adult. Although it is clear that social factors play a part, I would argue that it is the former that is the most important.

(278 words)

The child development essay has a good introduction that clearly sets out what the two opposing opinions are ( this is done by paraphrasing the question ).

The thesis sentence ( last sentence of the introduction ) then clearly states what will be in the essay - a discussion of the two opinions.

The body paragraphs are coherent - each one clearly discusses one of the opinions. Topic sentences have also been used effectively in each body paragraph to identify the topic and controlling idea :

There is no doubt that there are factors external to the family that significantly impact on a child’s development. Ultimately, however, it is family who have the most important impact.

Note the use of ' however ' to show that a contrasting opinion is to be given. This gives the writing coherence .

The topic sentence of the second body paragraph also makes it clear that this other side of the argument is also the writers opinion .

There is some good topic related vocabulary . For example:

peers; socialisation skills; dysfunctional home; supportive; secure; nurturing

There are a mix of complex sentences in the child development essay. For example:

While parents obviously play a major role... There is no doubt that ... Friends also have an important influence as ... Ultimately, however, it is family who ... ... whilst those that are brought up... Although it is clear that ...

The candidates opinion is made clear in the second body paragraph, but the candidate clearly clarifies it in the conclusion and also summarises the main ideas of the essay again.

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Essay on Early Childhood Development

Introduction.

From conception until the age of eight years, early childhood development (ECD) is a period of fast and significant growth. For children’s physical health, intellectual, lingual, and social-emotional development, adequate nourishment, proper healthcare, early education, safety and exercise are all critical. A child’s future physiological, psychological, emotional, and social empowerment are heavily influenced by early contacts with parents and early educational experiences. Optimizing children’s early years is the greatest investment we can make as a whole in ensuring their future success. In this article, I’ll look at some similar articles about early childhood development and offer my thoughts on them at the end.

Academic achievement, economic productivity, political involvement, long-term wellness, stronger communities, and good parenting of the next generation are all built on the basis of early childhood development (particularly from infancy to around three years old). According to strong research, children learn more when they are young, mostly at least the first five to six years of their lives than just about any other point in their whole lives. The pace of learning declines beyond the first six years. You’re building the groundwork for a child’s future learning and achievement in school and their whole life. The brain develops the most throughout the first six years of a child’s life. Neurons are evolving at a faster rate than they have ever been before.

According to World Health Organization (2020), whatever a youngster learns throughout their early years of life will stay with them. As a result, a youngster may face issues in adulthood if they are exposed to harsh and dangerous situations. They discover that their troubles are linked to their early experiences via counselling. Because the first few years have such a significant influence, you must create a strong foundation of love, support, and pleasure. It will have a substantial impact on their future lives and relationships. According to research, there is a significant link between a child’s early growth and future success. Children may experience learning challenges in various instances. The earlier you recognize a problem, the more likely it is to be treated successfully. You will be able to give more assistance if you can detect your child’s difficulties early on. You may speak with a professional and receive an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. Early therapy can sometimes help fix a problem before it gets more serious. The sooner you recognize a learning issue in your child, the better.

The more pleasant experiences a youngster gets as a child, the more positive view they will acquire and the more hopeful they will be despite their circumstances. When a youngster excels at anything early in life, it motivates them to try again and boosts their self-esteem. As a result of the rise in confidence, they will attempt new activities and pursue new interests. Early childhood development is influenced by personality, much like every other area of life (Richter, et al., 2020). Babies begin to develop a sense of self and nature even before birth. Each event they have after they are born shapes and forms their personality somehow. Make careful to emphasize your child’s work rather than their character when you praise them. “I noticed how hard you worked on that,” rather than “you are brilliant,” says the speaker. This will enable kids to perceive themselves in the best possible light and build stronger personalities.

Your relationship with your child, as a parent, will be their first encounter with a relationship. Your relationship may be one of just a handful throughout the early years if they start school or preschool later. The way you conduct your connection with your child will impact how healthy their future relationships will be. They’ll keep an eye on you and take notes on everything you do. They will learn to interact and build good ties with others if they are in a healthy relationship. On the other hand, the reverse is also true. The way you interact with your child will teach them how to interact with others. Early childhood development has a significant influence on subsequent school learning ability. If children do not grow up in a healthy environment, they may have considerable difficulties studying in school. What youngsters learn at home and in preschool throughout their early years has a significant influence on the types of learners they become in formal schooling. They’ll have mastered the fundamentals and the capacity to listen and concentrate in class.

Because newborns cannot communicate, they must rely on their perceptions and emotions to learn. They have an incredible ability to pick up on their mother’s and caregiver’s feelings. When you’re sad or worried, your baby senses it and reacts accordingly. They’re also fantastic at detecting social signs. If they notice you are depressed, they will get depressed as well. When you grin at them, they immediately return your smile. That is their only means of communication in the absence of language. They will learn and develop healthy social and emotional health if their home is a safe and appealing place. They will realize that there are various emotions and that it is OK to experience them. Early childhood is the time to lay the groundwork for the rest of their lives, not just in social and emotional development but also in all areas.

The physical health of a kid is also shaped by early childhood development. Brushing children’s teeth from the time they have their first tooth can help them maintain good personal hygiene (Dankiw, et al., 2020). A youngster who grows up in a healthy family is more likely to grow up to be healthy. Make it a point to instil good behaviours in children from a young age. From a young age, you may assist your child in developing a passion for learning. They will like school and the learning process if you promote it. If you don’t, they can have a tougher time in school. Make it entertaining and thrilling for your child while teaching them how to accomplish anything. This will help kids understand that learning should be enjoyable. Encourage children not to give up if they fail at anything they’re trying to learn but try again. The brain of a youngster is like a sponge. Even at such an early age, they desire to learn. They are interested in everything. What your youngster acquires in their first several years on earth will significantly influence their future.

Finally, from the reviewed articles above, we can see that early childhood is a critical time for influencing a child’s holistic development and building the foundation for their future success. To realize their full potential, children require health care and nutrition, protection from harm and a sense of security, opportunities for childhood growth, and responsive parenting – such as chatting, singing, and amusing – from parents and guardians who love them. All of this is necessary to nourish growing bodies and developing minds.

As seen in the data provided by Richter, et al., children throughout the world are growing up in violent, polluted environments and are under a lot of stress because they aren’t getting the nutrition or medical care they need. They miss out on schooling experiences and lack the stimulation that their growing brains require to thrive. Their parents and caregivers find it difficult to find the time, money, and resources needed to offer loving care to their children in these conditions.

Countless hundreds of highly vulnerable youngsters, including those living below the poverty line or devastated by violence and natural disasters, children on the move, youngsters from marginalized communities, and children with special needs, miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance on a regular basis. When children miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance, they pay the price for their unrealized potential by dying before reaching adulthood or enduring a lifestyle of poor physical and mental health, which makes it hard to study and, as a result, earn a living. And we’ll all pay the price for it. That is why the World Health Organization establishes certain guidelines for improving early childhood development. Failure to provide children with the best possible start in life results in generations of poverty and disadvantage, weakening our society’s load bearing capacity.

Dankiw, K. A., Tsiros, M. D., Baldock, K. L., & Kumar, S. (2020). The impacts of unstructured nature play on health in early childhood development: A systematic review.  Plos one ,  15 (2), e0229006.

Richter, L. M., Cappa, C., Issa, G., Lu, C., Petrowski, N., & Naicker, S. N. (2020). Data for action on early childhood development.  The Lancet ,  396 (10265), 1784-1786.

World Health Organization. (2020).  Improving early childhood development: WHO guideline . World Health Organization.

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