Chapter Introduction

162

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Body Changes

Growth Patterns

Nutrition

Brain Development

Thinking During Early Childhood

Piaget: Preoperational Thought

A CASE TO STUDY: Stones in the Belly

Vygotsky: Social Learning

Children’s Theories

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: Witness to a Crime

Language Learning

The Vocabulary Explosion

Acquiring Grammar

Learning Two Languages

Early-Childhood Education

Homes and Schools

Child-Centered Programs

Teacher-Directed Programs

OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: Culture, Child-Centered Versus Teacher-Directed

Preparing for Life

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CHAPTER 5

Early Childhood

Body and Mind

WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

  • Why are some young children overweight?

  • How should adults answer when children ask, “Why?”

  • Does it confuse young children if they hear two or more languages?

  • What do children learn in early education?

Video: Early Childhood Body and Mind: A Brief Overview

When I was 4, I jumped off the back of our couch again and again, trying to fly. I tried it with and without a cape, with and without flapping my arms. My laughing mother wondered whether she had made a mistake in letting me see Peter Pan. An older woman warned that jumping would hurt my uterus. I didn’t know what a uterus was, I didn’t heed that lady, and I didn’t stop until I concluded that I could not fly because I had no pixie dust.

When you were 4, I hope you also wanted to fly and someone laughed while keeping you safe. Protection, appreciation, and fantasy are all needed in early childhood. Do you remember trying to skip, climb a tree, or write your name? Young children try, fail, and try again.

Imagination is strong and wonderful, language explodes, but logic (such the consequences of having no wings) and some words (such as uterus) are difficult. Advances in body and mind are themes of this chapter. Amazing growth and remarkable learning are all described.