The Preschooler (3-5 years)
- Growth
& Development: preparation for school years
- Biological
Development: 5 pounds/year, 2.5-3 inches of height/year
- Proportional
Changes: legs longer, more slender, graceful, agile
- Gross
Motor Skills: walk/run by age 3, rides tricycle, walks on tiptoe, alternates feet down steps
-Fine Motor
Skills: 3 dress & undress w/buttons; 4 w/zippers, 5 can tie shoes
-Psychosocial
Development:
- Erikson:
Initiative vs. Guilt: completes tasks, self-motivated (has motivation to start tasks), sense of accomplishment for being “the
best,” praise accomplishments, give them minor chores, let them be part of decision making; they learn right from wrong
(Superego)
- Piaget: 2-7
years Pre-Operational Stage: from totally egocentric to social awareness, egocentric communication, thinks everyone thinks
like they do, some magical thinking, they take everything literally
- Spiritual
Development: imitating & assimilating behavior, they learn simple stories (from the Bible, for example), they have
their own ideas/frame of reference for who God is
-Social
Development: no stranger fear, tolerate more separation, can work through fears/anxieties through play, routine/security
still important, often very fearful
- Language:
2100 words, major mode of communication by age 5
- ages 3 &
4: “telegraphic” speech: no full sentences, just essential parts of speech, asks millions of questions, talks
incessantly even if no one is listening, don’t require answers from others
- ages 4&
5: uses more words, asks a lot of questions & wants answers, can only follow 1 command at a time, will persist on questions
until answered, question asking is at its peak
- by end of
age 5 uses speech correctly & names opposites
- stuttering/stammering
d/t vocabularly growing faster than they can process, normal part of development, children w/a true stutter will do it before
age 5
- Personal-Social
Behavior: more social, want to please parents
- Play:
interact w/small group, Associative play: imitative, dramatic, imaginative, role-play, gender stereotyping
- Sexuality:
ask why? Want to know how a woman gets pregnant, just answer the question directly & succinctly (they don’t want
to know all the details, just briefly answer them), they are aware of anatomic differences, parents need to be honest
- Nutrition:
1800 calories/day, 3 & 4 year olds are picky eaters, won’t eat off a big plate (need own small plate), probably
can’t sit through meals
- Sleep/Rest:
12 hrs/night, may nap, tough time staying in bed, will prolong nighttime rituals; may have sleep terrors which are different from nightmares, let them sleep just keep them safe
- Injury
Prevention: 4, 5, & 6 will listen to your rules but by 8& 9 don’t care about what adults say
