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7.1: Introduction to Early Childhood

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    Learning Objectives

     Objectives: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to

    1. Summarize overall physical growth during early childhood.
    2. Describe growth of structures in the brain during early childhood.
    3. Identify examples of gross and fine motor skill development in early childhood.
    4. Identify nutritional concerns for children in early childhood.
    5. Examine nutritional content in popular foods consumed by children in early childhood.
    6. Describe sexual development in early childhood.
    7. Define preoperational intelligence.
    8. Illustrate animism, egocentrism, and centration using children’s games or media.
    9. Describe language development in early childhood.
    10. Illustrate scaffolding.
    11. Explain private speech.
    12. Explain theory of mind.
    13. Explain Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development for toddlers and children in early childhood.
    14. Contrast models of parenting styles.
    15. Examine concerns about child care.
    16. Explain theories of self from Cooley and Mead.
    17. Summarize theories of gender role development.
    18. Examine concerns about childhood stress and development. 

    REFERENCES

    Ariès, P. (1962). Centuries of childhood; a social history of family life. New York: Knopf.

    Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monograph, 4(1), part 2.

    Berk, L. E. (2007). Development through the life span (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Carroll, J. L. (2007). Sexuality now: Embracing diversity (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson.

    Cohen, P. N., & Bianchi, S. M. (1999). Marriage, children, and women’s employment: What do we know? Monthly Labor Review, 22-31.

    Cooley, C. H. (1964). Human nature and the social order. New York: Schocken Books.

    Employment Characteristics of Families Summary. (2010). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved May 05, 2011, from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm

    Gecas, V., & Self, M. (1991). Families and adolescents. In A. Booth (Ed.), Contemporary families: Looking forward, looking back (National Council on Family Relations). Minneapolis.

    Imai, M., Li, L., Haryu, E., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Shigematsu, J. (2008). Novel noun and verb learning in Chinese, English, and Japanese children: Universality and language-specificity in novel noun and verb learning. Child Development, 79, 979-1000.

    Kimmel, M. S. (2008). The gendered society (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Kohn, M. L. (1977). Class and conformity. (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    LeMasters, E. E., & DeFrain, J. D. (1989). Parents in contemporary America: a sympathetic view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Maccoby, E., & Jacklin, C. (1987). Gender segregation in childhood. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 20, 239-287.

    Martinson, F. M. (1981). Eroticism in infancy and childhood. In L. L. Constantine & F. M. Martinson (Eds.), Children and sex: New findings, new perspectives. (pp. 23-35). Boston: Little, Brown.

    Mead, G. H., & Morris, C. W. (1967). Mind, self, and society; from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Middlebrooks, J. S., & Audage, N. C. (2008). The effects of childhood stress on health across the lifespan. (United States, Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control). Atlanta, GA.

    Nance-Nash, S. (2009, March 5). President’s Fund Repays Liberia’s Market Women | Womens eNews. Women’s ENews. Retrieved May 05, 2011, from http://womensenews.org/story/busines...s-market-women

    Okami, P., Olmstead, R., & Abramson, P. R. (1997). Sexual experiences in early childhood: 18-year longitudinal data from UCLA Family Lifestyles Project. Journal of Sex Research, 34(4), 339-347.

    Rice, F. P. (1997). Human development: A life-span approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Sadker, M., & Sadker, D. M. (1994). Failing at fairness: How America’s schools cheat girls. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons.

    Sandberg, J. F., & Hofferth, S. L. (2001). Changes in children’s time with parents: United States, 1981-1997. Demography, 38, 423-436.

    Schwartz, I. M. (1999). Sexual activity prior to coitus initiation: A comparison between males and females. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 28(1), 63-69.

    Vygotskiĭ, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    WHO | Gender and genetics: Sex selection and the law. (2010). Retrieved May 05, 2011, from http://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index4.html

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