Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers

1. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers During the toddler years, children develop new skills that help them move toward independence.

2. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • autonomy • solitary play • parallel play • receptive language • productive language • separation anxiety • temper tantrum • toddler • self-help skills • attention span • symbolic thinking • preoperational period • concept • assimilation • accommodation • resort • consistent Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers

3. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Development and Care No longer an infant, a child in the toddler stage is eager to absorb all the information she can as she gains independence. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers toddler A child between the ages of 12 and 36 months.

4. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Physical Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Balance improves by 18 months. • Appetites decrease. • Teeth come in rapidly between 18 and 24 months. • Body proportions change.

5. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Physical Development Motor Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Large- and small-motor development and coordination advance quickly. • Learning to walk means more independence. • Children begin to climb between 12 and 18 months. • Running, hopping, jumping, and pedaling skills improve.

6. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Average Heights and Weights of Toddlers Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers

7. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Physical Development As children gain greater physical control, they develop self-helpskills, such as getting dressed and using utensils. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers self-help skills Skills that allow children to help take care of their personal needs.

8. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Physical Development Self-Help Skills Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Self-help skills help toddlers feel competent and proud. • Self-help skills include • getting dressed. • washing hands. • eating with utensils. • brushing teeth. • putting away toys.

9. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Physical Development Independent Toileting Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers recognize the bodily sensations that precede elimination and understand the use and purpose of a toilet or a potty chair. • The learning process may take a few weeks or days. • Caregivers should treat accidents in a calm, matter-of-fact way.

10. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Toddlers: Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • learn by doing and by using their senses. • continue to grow intellectually through sensorimotor development. • need freedom and time to explore a safe environment to satisfy their curiosity. • use trial and error, repetition, and imitation.

11. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development A child’s attentionspan increases as he gets older and gains more skills and experience. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers attention span The time spent focused on one activity.

12. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Attention and Memory Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Children tend to continue activities that are challenging, not boring or frustrating. • Interest in an activity and the activity’s developmental level can affect attention span. • Memory begins to develop in infancy and grows rapidly during the first two years. • Increased memory helps intellectual development.

13. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Because toddlers are developing symbolicthinking, they enjoy make-believe play and playing dress up. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers symbolic thinking Understanding that one thing can stand for something else.

14. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development During the preoperationalperiod, child care professionals can provide props such as boxes, blankets, or blocks to encourage imaginative play. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers preoperational period Piaget’s second period of intellectual development, between the ages of two and seven years, in which symbolic thinking occurs.

15. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Symbolic Thinking Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Children learn to use images, art, and language as symbols to represent objects, events, and concepts. • Between ages two and seven years, children start to think symbolically and imaginatively. • Imagination and creativity are natural products of symbolic thought.

16. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Language Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Vocabulary and language skills advance from ages one to three. • 18-month-olds can respond “yes” or “no” to questions, identify body parts, and follow simple commands. • 2- to 3-year-olds know 50–300 words and can follow more complex directions.

17. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development A child’s first concept may be that all dogs are called Max because that is the name of the family pet. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers concept A general idea formed from other information.

18. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Piaget used the term assimilation to describe how children absorb and process information. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers assimilation Taking in new information and trying to make it fit with what is already known and understood.

19. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Through accommodation, children alter their concepts to make better sense of new information. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers accommodation Changing one’s thinking to make new information fit.

20. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Intellectual Development Conceptual Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • The ability to understand concepts increases rapidly with emerging language skills. • Children use broad generalities when first labeling concepts. • Children absorb and make sense of information through assimilation and accommodation.

21. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development As language improves, toddlers are less likely to resort to whining and crying to get what they want or need. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers resort To use or turn to somebody or something for help in dealing with a problem.

22. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers are still beginning to develop emotional control and are prone to impulsiveness and mood swings. • Frustrations arise because toddlers’ abilities do not yet match their desire to learn and do more. • Language advances help children gain greater control over their behavior.

23. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development Toddlers show their developing sense of autonomy when they see themselves as separate from their parents. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers autonomy Independence.

24. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development Independence and Autonomy Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers assert their independence and make their own decisions. • Toddlers often resist cooperating in routines. • Toddlers are sensitive about being shown, helped, or directed.

25. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development Emerging Fears Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers often fear storms, birds, and being alone. • Healthy fear contributes to children’s safety. • Fears can develop from: • lack of experience. • misconceptions. • other children. • adults.

26. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development EmergingFears Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers When fears arise, • stay close to calm the child. • use simple language to explain the experience. • be patient. • talk about the child’s fears. • do not push children to overcome fears all at once.

27. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Emotional Development Importance of Security Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • A toddler’s sense of security is a primary emotional need. • Toddlers need reliable and predictable schedules. • Attachments to and secure relationships with specific people set the foundation for emotional and social development.

28. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Social Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Social development progresses slowly for toddlers. • Toddlers are most at ease sharing time with a caregiver or two or three children. • Children develop stronger friendships after the age of three.

29. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Social Development From 18 to 24 months, children are curious about other children, but they engage mostly in solitaryplay. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers solitary play Playing alone rather than with other children.

30. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Social Development Two toddlers who are investigating a toy at the same time are engaging in parallelplay. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers parallel play Children play near each other, but not with each other.

31. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Social Development Play and Social Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Play is the best method of learning throughout the early childhood years. • From 18 to 24 months, children engage mostly in solitary play. • From 24 to 36 months, children engage in parallel play.

32. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Social Development Independence and Responsibility Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Caregivers can foster independence and responsibility by • promoting the use of self-help skills. • setting simple limits and rules. • modeling social skills.

33. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Childhood educators should obtain information from parents about • extent of vocabulary and the primary language spoken at home. • small-motor, large-motor, and toilet skills. • napping habits. • typical behavior and recent experiences that might affect behavior. • experiences with other children.

34. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Physical Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Large-motor skill development activities include • push and pull toys. • wagons and wheeled toys. • opportunities to run, to jump, and to climb. • balls for kicking and tossing. • Small-motor skill development activities include • manipulatives. • art supplies. • sensory tables. • items with zippers, buttons, and snaps.

35. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Intellectual Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Because toddlers learn best by using their senses, encourage intellectual development by using • matching games. • blocks. • nature experiences. • sensory experiences.

36. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Intellectual Development Having receptivelanguage means that toddlers understand much more language than they can speak. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers receptive language The ability to understand spoken words.

37. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Intellectual Development Toddlers can understand many words, but they have a relatively low level of productivelanguage. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers productive language The ability to use words to express oneself.

38. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Intellectual Development Language Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers have more receptive language than productive language. • Caregivers should use short and simple sentences, but not “baby talk.” • Caregivers should encourage children in bilingual families to speak and practice words in both languages.

39. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers experience new feelings, fears, and struggles. • Caregivers should help toddlers deal with positive and negative emotions. • Building self-esteem optimizes emotional development. • Caregivers need to be warm, loving, and comforting.

40. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Separationanxiety often occurs when a child transitions from the home to a child care facility. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers separation anxiety A child’s fear of separation from familiar people.

41. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Separation Anxiety Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Separation anxiety is a sign of positive emotional development. • It shows development of a strong emotional bond to parents or early educators. • Caregivers need to be patient and to help children cope.

42. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Negativism Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Negativism is a tendency to refuse to do something or to do the opposite of what is asked. • Negativism is a healthy sign of independence. • To reduce negativism, toddlers need chances to make choices and to practice self-help skills.

43. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development During a tempertantrum, a child may scream, kick, throw toys, or lash out in other hostile ways. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers temper tantrum An episode in which a child shows anger or frustration in an aggressive or destructive way.

44. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Temper Tantrums Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Toddlers do not yet have the coping skills to handle frustration. • A tantrum may occur when a want or a privilege is denied. • Offer age-appropriate activities so toddlers can experience success with minimal frustration.

45. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Emotional Development Temper Tantrums Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • If a tantrum occurs, • react calmly. • keep an eye on the child at all times. • provide a place to rest. • communicate with parents.

46. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Nurturing Social Development Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Children begin cooperative play around age three. • Toddlers can understand simple rules for behavior. • Toddlers are just beginning to learn to share. • Disputes and conflicts occur among toddlers. • Caregivers encourage cooperation, set examples, take steps to minimize conflict, and maintain careful observation of the children.

47. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Managing Toddler Programs Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • Successful toddler programs work with parents to ensure that toddlers have the spaces and routines needed for development in all areas. • The leadership of the child care professional and collaborative teamwork by all care providers are essential to a program’s success.

48. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Classroom Spaces Toddler spaces require Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • age-appropriate furniture and toys. • a secure and comfortable environment. • learning centers appropriate for the age, size, and development of toddlers.

49. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Daily Routines Toddlers feel more secure when their routines, whether at home or in a child care setting, are consistent from day to day. Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers consistent Continually the same.

50. Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers Daily Routines Routines provide structure and a consistent schedule. A typical routine includes Child Care Today,Chapter 15: Nurturing Toddlers • arrival. • playtime in learning centers and outdoors. • diapering, toileting, and hand washing. • meals and snacks. • napping. • story time and music. • departure.