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PART III

Childhood

In this three-chapter book part covering childhood, the first two chapters trace children’s unfolding abilities. In the final chapter, I’ll explore the two settings within which children develop: home and school.

The first part of Chapter 5–Physical and Cognitive Development examines children’s expanding motor skills and focuses on health issues such as obesity. Then comes the heart of this chapter: an exploration of children’s minds. If you have ever wondered about the strange ways preschoolers think, want a basic framework for teaching, or would like to understand how memory and reasoning develop, this section is for you. This chapter also charts developing language and two types of social knowledge that evolve during childhood.

In Chapter 6–Socioemotional Development my focus shifts to personality and relationships. Here, I will trace growing self-awareness, aggression, caring acts, play, friendships, and popularity from preschool through elementary school. A special focus of this chapter is on boys and girls who are having trouble relating to their peers and adults.

The first half of Chapter 7–Settings for Development: Home and School tackles children’s family lives. Is there an ideal way of parenting? Why do some children thrive in spite of devastatingly dysfunctional early lives? What is the impact of spanking, child abuse, and divorce on the child? In the second section on school, you will learn all about intelligence tests, what makes schools successful, and how teachers can make every child eager to learn. This chapter concludes with a section outlining the Common Core Standards, that educational transformation in U.S. public schools.