Development of a Toddler Learner Objectives for Toddlers

Development of a Toddler

Learner Objectives for Toddlers 1. Students will describe average changes in height, weight, proportion, and posture from ages one through three. 2. Students will identify habits that build healthy teeth. 3. Students will distinguish between large and small motor skills, and give examples of each.

Toddlers Development (one to three years) Physical Development Grows rapidly, becoming taller and heavier • Strengthening of bones and muscles • Begin to walk, climb, run, throw balls, stack blocks and turn knobs • Begin to use a spoon and cup • Seem to be in constant motion

Height and Weight • Slower than when an infant. • Children from one to three gain only about ½ pound per month.

Proportion and Posture • Posture improves during the period from one to three. • Until age two, child’s head, chest, and abdomen all measure the same. • Between two and three, chest becomes larger than the head and abdomen. Also, arms, legs, and trunk grow rapidly. This improves balance.

Teeth • • • 1 year – average of 8 teeth 2 nd year – 8 more teeth 3 rd year – back four teeth Total – 20 teeth Diet of the mother during pregnancy and the diet of the child during the first two years lay the foundation for a lifetime of good-or poorteeth.

Motor Skills As you recall, development follows three patterns: • Head to foot • Near to far • Simple to complex

Motor Skills Divided into two types: 1. Large motor skills – use and control of the large muscles of the back, legs, shoulders, and arms. E. X. – walking, running, and throwing a ball. 2. Small motor skills – control of the finer muscles of the wrists, fingers, and ankles. E. X. Using crayons, turning pages of a book, and eating.

Large Motor Skills Physical exercise and repeated practice promote the development of large motor skills. Ages 1 ½-2 overhand. Ages 2 – 2 ½ Ages 2 ½ - 3 Ages 3 – 4 Stoops to pick up toys and walks. Runs, stands on one foot, walks up and down stairs, throws objects Walks with coordination, climbs, jumps, pushes self on wheeled toys. Runs, alternates feet going up stairs, throws a ball overhand, kicks balls. Jumps up and down in place, walks on tiptoe, rides a tricycle, and catches a ball with arms straight.

Small Motor Skills Ages 1 ½-2 Ages 2 – 2 ½ Ages 2 ½ - 3 Ages 3 – 4 Scribbles, turns pages, picks up small objects. Buttons, pulls down zippers, turns doorknobs, stacks several blocks to form a tower. Turns one page of a book at a time, strings large beads, builds towers of about six blocks. Builds towers of about eight blocks, draws horizontal and vertical lines, screws lids off containers. Builds towers from nine blocks, cuts with scissors, draws recognizable pictures, and uses fork and spoon with little spilling.

Journal Entry……………… • You are a parent upset because your child’s first step took place at day care while you were working. • Do you have a need to be upset? Why or why not?

Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Why do you think children are called toddlers? What height and weight changes take place in these ages? How do a child’s posture and proportion change from age one to age three? At about what age do most children have a complete set of primary teeth? How do milk and milk products contribute to healthy teeth? Choose a large motor skill and explain how children develop this skill from ages one to three. How does improved dexterity show development of small motor skills?

Caring for a Toddler Objectives: 1. Students will plan meals for young children. 2. Students will explain how to help children learn and practice good hygiene. Students will choose appropriate clothes for children ages ones to three. 3. Children will describe common bedtime problems, and discuss how to minimize them. 4. Students will discuss how to toilet train a child.

Feeding • Current attitudes will affect eating habits throughout life. • Self-Feeding affects small motor skills. • Growing…. need food every three or four hours because their stomachs are still small. • Snacks should be nutritious. • Accept new foods more easily if they aren’t pressured to or rewarded for eating them.

Feeding……. . One-years-olds • Still eats a variety of baby foods. • Simple family meals can be added. • Until more teeth come in, cut foods into small pieces to aid swallowing.

Feeding……. . Two-year-olds • Can usually feed themselves and learn to use fork. • Be Patient. • Children take a long time to eat. • Conversation at the dinner table is an important way to help establish the social nature of meals and to reinforce family bonds.

Feeding……. . Three-year-olds • Have full set of primary teeth • Chewing is easier. • Meats and other tough foods should still be served in small pieces. • Children are quite handy with eating utensils.

Children’s My. Pyramid

Choosing Foods for Children • Need variety of foods…. follow My. Pyramid. • Pediatricians recommend that milk or milk products not be given to a child until their first birthday. • After first birthday, drink whole milk. • After two, serve reduced-fat or low fat milk.

Mealtime Tips • • Include children in meal preparation. Follow a regular schedule for meals and snacks. Keep meals pleasant Use a sturdy, unbreakable dish or plate with sides for serving the child’s food. Choose a cup that the child can hold easily Provide child-size eating utensils. Let a toddler sit in a high chair for meals. Remember, children imitate others.

Mealtime…. What Would You Do? • Three-year-old Adam is sitting in his high chair happily eating a lunch of egg salad on whole wheat, green beans, peaches, and milk. His seven-year-old sister Sara sits down, refused to drink her milk, pronounces her green beans “yucky” and scrapes the egg salad off her bread and eats the bread. Adam soon follows suit, refusing to eat and demanding potato chips instead. ” If you were the parents, what would you do?

Bathing • Need to teach hygiene…personal cleanliness. • Examples: washing hands after the bathroom, daily baths, etc. • By age two, children can wash, rinse, and dry themselves fairly well. • Bathtubs are very dangerous! Children can drown in as little as one inch of water. • Never leave a child alone!

Caring for the Teeth • Begin as soon as children have teeth. • The longer food remains in mouth, the more it can damage the teeth. • Use a small, soft toothbrush. • First attempts will not be very successful, but the opportunity to try is important.

Dressing • Children are eager to learn dressing skills. • Dressing involves a number of large and small motor skills. • Patience is important! • Usually start dressing around the age of thirteen or fourteen months, perhaps by holding out an arm. • With self-dressing, a child learns independence, responsibility, and selfesteem.

Clothing Choose…. Comfort: Freedom of movement. Knits that stretch as the child moves is a good choice. Durability: Must with stand hard wear and repeated washing. Economy: Children out grow clothing quickly. Many parents exchange clothing with others. Others find good used clothes at yard sales, secondhand stores, and thrift stores.

Sleeping • By age two, children no longer take a morning nap. • Most three-year-olds give up the afternoon nap as well. • A two-year old may seem to be more emotionally dependent on adults than during the previous year. • Fear of the dark is common among two and three-year-olds. Many reasons: news, fires, accidents, or other dangers. Unfortunately, there is rarely a quick solution.

Toilet Training • Readiness: A child must be able to control his or her sphincter muscles – the muscles that control elimination. • The child must also be able to recognize body sensations that precede elimination. • Attitudes of parents and/or caregivers toward toilet training are very important. • Calm encouragement is more effect than rules and punishment. It also builds selfesteem.

Assignments: 1. Questions 2. Study Guide on Toilet Training (www. babycenter. com) 3. Journal Entry Which one of the following terms does not belong. Please explain your reasoning. *feeding *bathing *dressing *caring *sleeping

Questions 1. What is the most important consideration in preparing meals and snacks for young children? 2. What choices in plates, cups, and utensils can make it easier for toddlers to learn self-feeding? 3. How can parents build the bathing skills of children form one to three? 4. What should caregivers do to teach children to care for their teeth? 5. Why are comfort, durability, and economy important in children’s clothing? 6. How should caregivers respond to a young child’s fear of the dark?

Emotional Development Objectives: 1. Describe patterns of emotional development from ages one to three. 2. Identify the common emotions of young children and the changing ways they express those emotions. 3. Analyze how individual differences affect emotional development. 4. Explain how self-concept develops.

Eighteen Months Self-Centered – think about their own needs and wants, not those of others. Is this surprising? Negativism - doing the opposite of what other wants. Many causes: the desire for independence, frustration, and the child’s realization of being a separate person.

Eighteen Months Negative Behavior • Give choices: Having choices allows the child to exercise control. Limit choices to two alternatives, however. Toddlers can’t think about three or four things at a time. • Redirect the child: if possible, take the child’s attention off the issue that is causing the negative response. • Encourage talking: help children learn to use words to communicate how they feel. This will help both you and the child understand deal with those feelings.

Eighteen Months Negative Behavior • Temper Tantrums: child releases anger or frustration by screaming, crying, kicking, pounding, and sometimes holding his or her breath. • Occurs until age three or four.

Two Years • Less at odds with the world than he or she was at eighteen months. • Speech and motor skills have improved. • Expresses love and affection freely and seeks approval and praise. • Outbursts…seldom. • Easier to reason with.

Two and One-Half Years • Sensitive about being bossed, shown, helped, or directed. • Independence and immaturity clash headon during this stage. • Children can be stubborn, demanding, and domineering. • Moods change rapidly, and within a short time they can become lovable and completely charming.

Two and One-Half Years • Children have a need for consistency. They want the same routines, carried out the same way, every day. • Children are independent and dependent: they seek help; at other times, they want to do things themselves.

Three Years • Sunny and cooperative and are learning to be considerate • More willing to take directions from others. • Will modify their behavior in order to win praise and affection – which they crave. • Fewer temper tantrums than younger children. • Like to talk and are much better at it. • Talk to toys, their playmates, their imaginary companions, and themselves.

Three and One-Half Years • Self confident three-year-old is suddenly very insecure at three and one-half. • Fears are common at this age. • Might be afraid of the dark, lions, and tigers, monsters, strangers, or loud noises. • Some children may start habits-such as thumb sucking, nail biting, or nose picking, to release tension. • May issue constant demands, such as “I want to sit on the floor to eat lunch!” or “Talk to me!”. They are trying to ensure their own security by controlling their environment.

Specific Emotions • • • Anger Fear Jealousy Love and Affection Empathy

Specific Emotion Anger • Anger: is often the child’s way of reacting to frustration. • Anger is more frequent in anxious, insecure children. Child who hasn’t learned self-control also tends to have frequent outbursts. • Sometimes parents who are overly critical or inconsistent become frustrated angry • Make sure demands on children are limited and reasonable for self-control.

Specific Emotion Fear • One-year-old: frightened of high places, strangers, and loud noises. • Three-year-old might be afraid of the dark, animals and storms. • Separation anxiety – a fear of being away from parents, familiar caregivers, or their normal environment. (happens between the first and fourth birthdays).

Specific Emotion Jealousy • Recognizable during second year. Reaches peak at age three and then lessens as outsider relationships begin. • Sibling rivalry: competition between brothers or sisters for parents’ affection and attention. Often happens with the birth of a baby.

Specific Emotion Love and Affection • Relationships that children have with others in these years form the basis of their capacity for love and affection in later life. • First comes “love” of those who satisfy the baby’s physical needs. Gradually, the baby’s affection expands to include siblings, pets, and people outside the home.

Specific Emotion Empathy • Empathy: ability to put oneself in another’s place. • Children as early as a year old may pat and talk to an unhappy child. By two, a child can show empathy.

Individual Differences • Differences can be very striking during this stage. Happens because of different experiences. • Helps student develop a positive selfconcept – how they see themselves.

Assignment • Toddler behavior webquest. • Questions • Journal Entry – Your younger brother has been displaying tantrums whenever he goes to bed. Knowing what you know about emotional development, how long do you think the tantrums will last? How can one re-direct the behavior when tantrums happen?

Questions 1. Explain what is means to be self-centered. 2. What is negativism? What does negativism in a toddler indicate? 3. What changes occur in emotions between three and one-half years? 4. What children are more likely than others to feel anger? 5. What is separation anxiety?

Social Development One to Three Objectives • Students will describe patterns of social development from ages one to three. • Students will explain how children make friends. • Students give principles for guiding toddlers.

Social Patterns • Socialization: children gradually learning to get along with other people, first in their own families and then in groups. • Individual differences may influence these patterns.

Social Patterns Eighteen Months • Begin developing independence from the family. • Closest relationship is with their families. • Parallel play: playing independently near, but not actually with another child. • Intent on satisfying strong desires without regard for anyone who interferes. Might be conflict over toys that result in screaming, hitting, biting, or hair puling.

Social Patterns Two Years • Good at understanding and interacting with main caregiver. The child can read the person’s moods and gauge what kind of behavior he or she will accept. • Like to play with others but still engages in parallel play. • Begin to understand the ideas of sharing or taking turns. • Like to please others.

Social Patterns Two and One-Half years • A child who refuses to do anything for one person may do things happily for another. • Learning about the rights of others. • Can respond to the idea of fairness – at first more concerned with what is fair to them. • Squabbles are frequent, but brief.

Social Patterns Three Years • Sunny and agreeable. • They will share, help, or do things another person’s way. • Cooperative play: playing with one another. • Parents no longer all-powerful in children’s lives.

Social Patterns Three and One-Half Years • Becomes more complex and includes more conversation. • Enjoy company of others. • Realize they have to share toys. • Increasing ability to evaluate friendships.

Making Friends • A child who is comfortable and friendly with others and who has at least one friend at a time is usually developing normally. • Young children need contact with others – this is how they learn the give-and-take of socializing. • Children who have only adult companions may have difficulty interacting with others their own age.

Imaginary Friends • Some children have same friends, different friends or imaginary friends and/or animals. • Children have rich imaginations and are interested in fantasy and reality. • Imaginary friends can be healthy and usually fade away after the ages of three to four.

Guiding Toddler • Guidance: to help children learn selfdiscipline-the ability to control their own actions. • Consider the individual personality of each child, as well as their own personal beliefs.

Promoting sharing • Lead children to activities in which they need to share-or at least take turns. • Limit the materials on hand for an activity so that sharing or taking turns is required. • When you’re handing out snacks, use the children to pass them to one another. • Make clear what behavior you’re trying to encourage. Call it “sharing” or “taking turns”.

What would you do? For a holiday, three-year-old Johnny, and his two-year-old brother Randy both received coloring books. Randy liked the characters in his brother’s coloring book and tried to take it. Johnny got mad and tried to get it back. Their parents heard the argument and came to see what is happening.

What would you do? Stacey, who is four was playing with blocks at her child care center. Another child the same age came to the block area and began to play also. Stacey protested that the blocks were for her to play with. One of the center’s staff heard them talking.

What would you do? Charlie, who is two, and Carrie, who is three, are at the pool with their mother. She is taking turns giving them rides around the pool. Carrie gets mad because she says Charlie has gotten more rides than she has.

Assignment: • Questions • Journal entry – Using four to six sentences, answer one of the three previous “What would you do? ” slides.

Questions 1. What is socialization? 2. Compare parallel and cooperative play. At about what age does cooperative play begin? 3. How do two-and-one-half-years olds often show negativism in their social relationships? 4. Why is it important to give young children opportunities to play with friends? 5. Distractions is effective for children of which ages? 6. What can parents do to promote sharing?

Understanding Learning and the Mind Objectives • Students will identify ways children learn. • Students will explain how children develop concepts. • Children will explain how one-tothree year-olds develop in several areas of intellectual activity.

Role of Intelligence • One year-old – trying to make sense of the world. • Three and one-half - talks freely, solves simple problems, and constantly seeks out new things to learn. • Intelligence: ability to interpret or understand everyday situations and to use that experience when faced with new situations or problems.

Methods of Learning: • Incidental Learning: unplanned learning. E. X. Josh happens to push both feet against the bottom of the crib and discovers that this motion moves his body forward. After this happens accidentally a few times, Josh sees a cause-andeffect situation. • Imitation: learning by watching and copying others. Perhaps you have been annoyed by a younger brother who copied everything you did. Did you realize that he was trying to learn form you?

Methods of Learning: • Trial-and-error learning: takes place when a child tries several solutions before finding one that works. E. X. Twelve to eighteen months, this means experimenting: “What happens when I touch the cat? Try to pick up the cat? Pull the cat’s tail? • Directed learning: learning that results from being taught. E. X. Umberto’s first grade teacher helps him learn to read. Kara’s mother teaches her the names of parts of her body by saying them while pointing to them.

Concept Development • Concepts: general categories of objects and information. Concepts range from categories for objects such as “fruit” to qualities such as color or shape and to abstract ideas such as time.

The Mind at Work Can be broken down into seven areas: Attention Reasoning Memory Imagination Perception Creativity Curiosity

Attention • As children mature, they gradually develop the ability to ignore most of the information their senses provide and to concentrate on one item of interest. Their learning is more focus on a particular topic. • One to three year olds have short attention spans. However, a three-yearold can focus on one activity for much longer than a one year old.

Memory • As children develop, they become able to react to a situation by remembering similar experiences in the past. A one-year-old who was frightened by a dog may be afraid of all animals for a time. A three-yearold can remember the particular dog and compare it with others.

Perception • A newborn learns about the world through perceptions-the information received through the senses. This sensory information reinforces established connections in the brain and sparks new ones. Gradually, the brain organizes itself for increasingly complex learning. The newborn, however, is just beginning to interpret this information.

Reasoning • Reasoning: basic ability to solve problems and make decisions. It’s also important in recognizing relationships and forming concepts.

Imagination • Apparent at about two years of age. An active imagination enhances learning because it allows the child to try new things and to be different people-at least in the mind. Chairs become trains, boxes are buildings, and closets are caves. The child becomes a ferocious lion or a bus mail carrier.

Creativity • Creativity: imagination is used to produce things. The product is usually an object that others can see, such as a finger painting. Sometimes the creative product is not an objects. Examples are daydreams and dramatic play.

Curiosity • Children are curious about the world around them, and that curiosity fuels brain development and learning. It’s curiosity that causes children to wonder why or to try new activities. However parents sometimes stifle that curiosity by overprotecting the child.

Assignment: • Questions • Journal Entry – Which of the four methods of learning do you use most? Why? Which do you think you found most useful and enjoyable as a three-yearold? Why?

Questions • What is intelligence? • Which method of learning is based on watching and copying others? Which type is based on trying different approaches to solving a problem? • What concept is developed by a shape sorter toy? By stacking boxes? • How does memory support learning? • How can caregivers help children sharpen their perception? • Why is curiosity important?

Encouraging Learning Objectives • Students will suggest ways to encourage young children to learn. • Student will choose safe, appropriate toys that promote mental, physical, and social skills. • Students will describe how speech develops. • Students will name common speech problems and approaches to solving them.

Learning • Readiness for Learning – Children can learn a new skill only when they are physically and intellectually ready. – When adults push children to learn things they aren’t ready for, the children can’t succeed. A sense of failure may slow the child’s learning, rather than increase it as the adult had intended. – Avoid delaying skills that children are ready to learn.

Guiding Learning – Give your time and attention - Children learn best when they are encouraged by someone who cares about them – Take advantage of simple learning opportunities- Everyday life provides many chances to help a child’s understanding grow. – Allow time for thinking- Problem solving and decision making are new experiences for young children. They need time to consider choices and make decisions.

Guiding Learning – Give only as much help as the child needs to succeed- If at all possible, let children do the final step in any task they are struggling with. – Encourage children to draw their own conclusions“Let’s find out” is better then an explanation. Seeing and doing helps reinforce learning. – Show to solve problems- demonstrate, then leave the child up to the rest. You can also model problem solving. Talk out loud as you solve problems of make decisions. That way, the child can hear the way you think your way to a solution.

Guiding Learning – Maintain a positive attitude- Express confidence in the child’s abilities. – Keep explanations simple and on the child’s level- Too much information cause a young child to stop listening. – Allow children to explore and discover. Constantly saying “Don’t do this” and “Don’t touch that” limits the sensory and motor experiences needed for learning.

Guiding Learning – Help the children understand the world and how it works- Take young children along, even on routine errands. Talk about what is happening and why it’s happening. Helping at home also boosts learning. – Take frequent breaks- A child needs stimulation– but a child also needs a chance just to have fun. Watch for clear signals that a child has had enough of an activity. Fussing, wiggling in a chair, or a distracted look all suggest that it’s time to stop.

Play Activities and Toys are an important part of play. They allow children to experience imaginary situations and act out different roles. They encourage the development of large and small motor skills. They also help children learn to share and cooperate with others.

Evaluating Toys • Is the toy safe? – This is the single most important consideration. Make sure there are no small parts that could be swallowed or sharp parts that could cut a child. Make sure that the toy had no lead-based paints, which are poisonous. Finally, make sure that the toy is not flammable.

Speech Development • Language grows rapidly at this stage. • Children vary greatly in the time of their speaking skills. • Toddlers appear to have an inborn instinct to decode sounds, words, sentences, and grammar from the language they hear.

Speech Development • Encourage language development and learning in toddlers by talking to them about their lies. • Speak in a clear and engaging way. • By 2 ½ children begin to learn rules of grammar.

Speech Difficulties • Worried about “late talkers”? Do not pressure child into talking. • If so, see a speech-language pathologist. These individuals are trained into detect and correct speech problems. • Problems with articulation, the ability to use clear, distinct speech? Some children skip syllables or leave off the endings of words. These problems usually correct themselves in time.

Assignment: • Questions • Journal Entry – While at a friend’s birthday party, the friend’s mother asks Jake which balloon he wants. He answers, “I…ah…ah…want the…ah…green one. ” Does Jake’s answer suggest that he needs speech therapy? Why or why not?

Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What kind of readiness is needed before a child can learn a skill? Choose one of the principles of how to guide a child’s learning and give an example of a caregiver putting it into practice. Which kinds of development-physical, emotional, social, or intellectual-does play promote? What should be the most important consideration when choosing toys for children? Why? What is the disadvantage of speaking to a child using “baby talk”. What kinds of problems might indicate that speech therapy is needed?