The Preschool Years
The Preschool Years
Two years ago he could barely lift his head, now he can move with confidence. The preschool years are an exciting time in a child 's life. The preschool years are a time of tremendous change and growth, where physical, cognitive and social development precedes at a rapid pace. The preschool years are a time where the parent and teacher make the biggest difference in the child 's development. The preschool years are defined by some as the years between three and five years old, while other theorists describe the preschool years to be from the age of two to five years old. For the purpose of this research paper I will use the theory that the preschool years begin at two, because the child is officially not an infant any longer. While, most children do not begin actual preschool until the age of three or four I will consider the two year old to be in the beginning stage of preschool years. The average two year old weighs twenty-five to thirty pounds and is close to thirty-six inches tall. By the end of the child 's fifth year he weighs an average of forty-six pounds and is approximately forty-six inches tall; over half the size of an adult. The physical changes on the outside of the body are just the beginning of what the preschool body goes through physically. The child grows stronger as their muscle size increases and their bones become sturdier (Feldman, 2010). The brain grows faster than any other body part. Two year olds that have received proper nutrition have brains that are about three-fourths the size of an adult brain. By the age of five, children 's brains are ninety percent the weight of an average adult brain (Schuster & Ashburn, 1986; Nihart, 1993; House, 2007). One reason the brain grows so rapidly is the increase in the number of interconnections among cells. The interconnections allow for more complex communications between neurons, and they permit the rapid growth of cognitive skills, and helps in the
Two years ago he could barely lift his head, now he can move with confidence. The preschool years are an exciting time in a child 's life. The preschool years are a time of tremendous change and growth, where physical, cognitive and social development precedes at a rapid pace. The preschool years are a time where the parent and teacher make the biggest difference in the child 's development. The preschool years are defined by some as the years between three and five years old, while other theorists describe the preschool years to be from the age of two to five years old. For the purpose of this research paper I will use the theory that the preschool years begin at two, because the child is officially not an infant any longer. While, most children do not begin actual preschool until the age of three or four I will consider the two year old to be in the beginning stage of preschool years. The average two year old weighs twenty-five to thirty pounds and is close to thirty-six inches tall. By the end of the child 's fifth year he weighs an average of forty-six pounds and is approximately forty-six inches tall; over half the size of an adult. The physical changes on the outside of the body are just the beginning of what the preschool body goes through physically. The child grows stronger as their muscle size increases and their bones become sturdier (Feldman, 2010). The brain grows faster than any other body part. Two year olds that have received proper nutrition have brains that are about three-fourths the size of an adult brain. By the age of five, children 's brains are ninety percent the weight of an average adult brain (Schuster & Ashburn, 1986; Nihart, 1993; House, 2007). One reason the brain grows so rapidly is the increase in the number of interconnections among cells. The interconnections allow for more complex communications between neurons, and they permit the rapid growth of cognitive skills, and helps in the
References: Feldman, R. (2010). Child Development. (Fifth Ed.) New Jersey: Pearson. Flynn, K.S., (2011). Developing Children 's Oral Language Skills Through Dialogic Reading: Guidelines for Implementation. Teaching Exceptional Children, 44 (2), 8-16. Retrieved from http://cec.metapress.com/content/pt53x762w07770735/?p=a51de4e867f4b32a1788b53f6075ca2&pi=0 Nilsen, B.A. (2010). Week by Week for Documenting Children 's Development. (fifth ed.). CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Rathus, S. A. (2011) CDEV Bellmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Stanberry, K. (2009). Understanding Language Development in Preschoolers. National Center for Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from http:// www.ncld.org/in-the-home/supporting-learning-at-home/especially-for-young-children/understanding-language-development