Understanding Children

1. Understanding Children Two and Three Year Olds

3. Terms to Know • Language comprehension • Expressive language • Egocentric • Gender roles • Self – concept

4. 2 year olds

5. Physical Development • Gross motor development • Improved coordination and body control • Can walk up and down stairs if they place both feet on each stair • Can jump several inches off the floor • Can sit on a riding toy and move it by pushing with their feet

6. Physical Development • Fine motor development • Can insert keys into a lock and turn pages in a book one at a time • Can hold scissors properly • Hand preference is fairly developed • At 24 months, kids can scribble • Hold the crayon or pencil in their fist • Can build with blocks

7. Physical Development • Self – help skills • Undress self • Dress self by pulling on simple garments • Zipper usage • Drink from a cup or glass • Can use a spoon • Potty training

8. Cognitive Development • Language Comprehension Skills • Understanding of language • 2 year olds can understand and answer routine questions (e.g. What is that?) • Can tell difference between soft/heavy, big/tall

9. Cognitive Development • Expressive Language Skills • The ability to produce language forms • The child’s experiences affect the rate and content • Important to provide an environment that stimulates language development • Two language strategies • Feeding – in: you provide child’s language • Expansion: reframing child’s word into a sentence

10. Cognitive Development • Express language skills • 50 to 200 word vocabulary • Girls generally develop language skills faster than boys • Often use the word “no”

11. Cognitive Development • Math Readiness Skills • Developed as children interact with others and with objects • Begin to sort objects by shape and color

12. Social – Emotional Development • Social development • Children play next to each, but not with each other • More interested in adults than other kids • Act out adult experiences as they play (driving, talking on the phone) • Possessive; do not want to share • Affectionate

13. Social – Emotional Development • Emotional development • 2 year olds like to be able to control their surroundings • Doing a task too difficult for them may cause anger • Commonly develop fears (most often of being harmed or hurt, or stem from their imagination) • Need regular routines to build trust and security • Need love and caring, despite their temper

14. When teaching 2 year oldsbe prepared for: • The word “no”… A LOT • Egocentricity … they think you feel the same way they day • Dawdling … they go at their own pace • Curiosity … especially with toys. Add new items a few at a time. • Temper tantrums … be calm and composed.

15. 3 year olds

16. Physical Development • Gross motor development • Throwing, jumping and hopping improve due to better coordination • Can climb and descend stairs easily • Can ride and steer tricycle • Fine motor skills • Cutting skills more refined • Can reproduce simple shapes as they draw • Can trace • Enjoy drawing faces that include a mouth, eyes, nose and ears that are not proportional

17. Physical Development • Self – help skills • Daily care routines require little assistance from adults • Open buckles on clothes • Put on shoes (without strings) • Have trouble telling front from back of clothing • Most have almost full control of toilet routines

18. Cognitive Development • Able to solve simple problems • Still egocentric • Learn quickly • Language comprehension, expressive language, and math readiness skills continue to improve

19. Cognitive Development • Language comprehension skills • Can remember and follow 3 part instructions • Understand pronouns such as you, they • Space concepts become clearer

20. Cognitive Development • Expressive language skills • Children may use more than 900 words • Start to use question words (why/when) • As children play, they frequently talk out loud to themselves

21. Cognitive Development • Math Readiness Skills • Understand more/less/smaller/empty • Like to compare objects • Counting skills begin at this age • Distinguish between one and many

22. Social – Emotional Development • Social development • Eager to help others, especially adults • Adjust to new people more easily • Begin to play with other children • Will share some • Begin to learn gender roles • Behaviors that are expected of girls and boys

23. Social – Emotional Development • Emotional development • Strong, visible emotions • Eager to act in ways that please others • Likely to become angry when things do not go their way, but direct anger toward object instead of person • Developing a self – concept: the way they see themselves • Not as frightened by objects that they know, but afraid of imagined dangers (dark) • Fearful of pain • Affectionate

25. Teaching 3 year olds: • Eager to please • Enjoy playing alone and in groups of 2 or 3 • Enjoy pretending to cook, shop • Become increasingly independent • Need encouragement to be independent

26. Task Rotation • You will be visiting 4 different stations. You will have approximately 10 minutes at each station. • After you complete the task at each station, you will answer the following questions on your own paper: • Which station are you at? • What task did you complete? • Does this task work on fine or gross motor development?