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Early Childhood Body and Mind

Chapter 5

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Growth of the Body: Growth Patterns

Growth patterns

Obvious physical differences

Slimmer; longer body length; reduced head-to-body ratio; fat replaced by muscle

Wasting and stunting still occur with adverse conditions

Climate change, war, extreme poverty

Obesity is a serious health concern.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Snow and Warm Water

In every culture, children enjoy whatever motor skills their community provides.

This young girl in Canada is fortunate: Her parents likely encouraged her to learn to sled, throw snowballs, and do the breaststroke.

By age 6, the average child:

is at least 3½ feet tall (more than 110 centimeters).

weighs between 40 and 50 pounds (18–23 kilos).

looks lean.

has adultlike body proportions (legs constitute about half the total height).

Growth of the Body: Developing Motor Skills

Changes in body size and shape enable motor skills.

Before age 6

Longer legs and fingers allow new running, climbing, balancing, and drawing.

Many 5-year-olds in North America

Ride a tricycle, climb a ladder, and pump swing, and throw, catch, and kick a ball.

Fine motor skills also improve.

Each culture promotes certain skills.

Generally, practicing motor skills related to cognitive advances

Gender differences are evident.

Differential pace of physical maturation

Practice

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

For typical young children, body size and shape changes enable motor skills. Before age 6, longer legs and fingers allow new running, climbing, balancing, and drawing.

Growth of the Body: Brain Growth (part 1)

Brain size

By age 2, a child's brain weighs 75 percent of what it will in adulthood.

Myelin development contributes to this increased weight.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Growth of the Body: Brain Growth (part 2)

Myelination

It involves a fatty coating on axons that protects and speeds signals between neurons.

It speeds connections between neurons far from each other; organizes structure of network connectivity.

Hemispheres

Corpus callosum

Lateralization

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Myelin is sometimes called the “white matter of the brain”; the gray matter is the neurons.

Myelin is a fatty coating on the axons that speeds signals between neurons. A gradual increase in myelination makes 5-year-olds much quicker at thinking than 3-year-olds, who are quicker than toddlers.

Myelination

It is the process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron.

Corpus callosum

It is part of the brain that grows and myelinates rapidly during early childhood.

It consists of a band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right sides of the brain.

It facilitates communication between the two brain hemispheres.

Lateralization

It begins with genes.

It refers to the specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain, with one side dominant for each activity.

Lateralization

“Sidedness” refers to the specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain, with one side dominant for each activity. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa.

Corpus callosum

It is a long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows communication between them.

Mental Coordination?

This brain scan of a 38-year-old depicts areas of myelination (the various colors) within the brain.

As you see, the two hemispheres are quite similar but not identical.

Both halves of the brain are activated for most important skills and concepts.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

INSIDE THE BRAIN Connected Hemispheres

Brain is divided into two halves (hemispheres).

Connected by a long, thick band of nerve fibers (corpus callosum) that enables coordination of two sides of body

Right side controls; left side controls.

Left–right distinction is not absolute; extensive interaction is required.

Genes, prenatal hormones, and early experiences affect which side does what, and then the corpus callosum combines it.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

In early childhood, myelination and growth of the corpus callosum are even more rapid than the rest of the brain.

Young children can coordinate their hemispheres and, hence, the two sides of their bodies. They hop, skip, and gallop at age 5, unlike at age 2.

Brain’s right half controls the body’s left side and areas dedicated to emotional and creative impulses, including music, art, and poetry. The brain’s left side controls the right side of the body and analyzes most language and logic.

Growth of the Body: Brain Growth (part 3)

Maturation of prefrontal cortex

During early childhood, significant maturation of the prefrontal cortex occurs.

Sleep becomes more regular.

Emotions become more nuanced and responsive.

Temper tantrums decrease or subside.

Uncontrollable laughter and tears are less common.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Remember, emotional parts of brain are still immature, not yet controlled by reason, comfort, and reassurance. Reassurance, not logic, is needed.

Growth of the Body: Brain Growth (part 4)

Impulsive or stuck?

Neurons have two kinds of impulses.

Activate (on)–inhibit (off)

Young children are often neurologically unbalanced, with an immature prefrontal cortex and limbic system control.

Impulse control; perseverate

The relationship between stress and brain activity depends partly on the person’s age and partly on the amount of stress.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Impulse control

It is the ability to postpone or deny the immediate response to an idea or behavior.

Perseverate

To stay stuck, or persevere, in one thought or action for a long time. The ability to be flexible, switching from one task to another, is beyond most young children.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Executive Function (part 1)

Executive function

Cohesive cluster of abilities begins at age 2; continues to develop throughout childhood.

Ages 2 to 6 especially pivotal

Useful at every stage

Protects adolescents from destructive emotional outbursts

Promotes coping skills in adulthood

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Executive function

Cognitive ability to organize and prioritize the many thoughts that arise from the various parts of the brain, allowing the person to anticipate, strategize, and plan behavior

Dramatically improves in early childhood

Useful at every stage

Protects adolescents from destructive emotional outbursts; promotes coping skills in adulthood

Thinking During Early Childhood: Executive Function (part 2)

Three foundations

Executive function combines three abilities

Memory

Inhibition

Flexibility

Advances in all three foundations

Enables young children to gain “core skills critical for cognitive, social, and psychological development”

Allows “playing with ideas,” giving a considered response rather than an impulsive one

Facilitates changing course or perspectives as needed, resisting temptations, and staying focused

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Memory emphasized in executive function is memory for what was seen a minute ago or yesterday, not for what happened years ago.

Inhibition is the ability to control responses, to stop and think for a moment before acting or talking.

Flexibility (shifting) is seeing things from another perspective rather than staying stuck in one idea.

Dozens of replicated and verified measures of executive function have been developed.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Executive Function (part 3)

In early childhood, executive function abilities

More important than vocabulary or factual knowledge

Better predictor of later brain development and school achievement than IQ test scores

Aided by regular sleep, good nutrition, and exercise

Fostered by early education

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Research findings

Executive function skills are foundational. They undergird later cognitive abilities and academic achievement, including reading and math.

Executive function is developed during childhood and is not determined at conception. It depends more on nurture than nature.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Executive Function (part 4)

Computer as tools

Educational software can become conduit for collaborative learning

Respond to abilities and needs of each child

Avoid flashy distractions

Encourage memory and reflection

Does not replace creative play and human interaction

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Learning Is Fun

At every age, learning can be fun as new perspectives are discovered. That is apparent for these children wearing virtual-reality goggles in Poland, for 2- to 6-year-olds everywhere, and, hopefully, for you now, as you learn how young children think.

Effects of technology depend on the particular program and how the child engages: Gains in executive function are possible with technology but are not typical.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Children’s Theories (part 1)

Theory-theory

Children

Attempt to explain everything they see and hear by constructing theories

Follow the same five steps that scientists do

Have intuitive theories of the physical, biological, psychological, and social world

Develop theories spontaneously but may change when new evidence appears

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Children follow the same five steps as scientists: ask questions, develop hypotheses, gather data, draw conclusions, and share those results.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Children’s Theories (part 2)

Theory of mind

Person’s theory of what other people might be thinking

Children must realize that other people do not necessarily think the same thoughts that they do to have a theory of mind.

Realization only occurs after age 4.

Experiences, dual-language exposure, siblings

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Maturation advances theory of mind, with progress evident from age 4 on. Experiences that promote executive function also advance thinking about other people’s views.

This is evident with bilingual children, whose experience talking to monolingual people teaches them that some people understand only one of their two languages.

As a result, dual-language children tend to be advanced in theory of mind.

Candies in the Crayon Box

This experimenter is testing theory of mind.

Anyone would expect crayons in a crayon box, but once this child sees that candy is inside, he expects everyone else to know that candies are inside!

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Early studies focused on 3- to 6-year-olds, but more sophisticated measures document that theory of mind develops lifelong, as evident in brain studies and other research.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Children’s Theories (part 3)

Theory of mind and lying

Children's ability to lie is closely linked to their theory of mind development.

Experiment with lying behavior

Progression in lying ability paralleled development of theory of mind, suggesting link between cognitive maturity and lying proficiency.

Executive function and lying

Research finds that children with better executive function were likelier to tell plausible lies, indicating a correlation between cognitive control and lying behavior.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Young children may attempt to deceive adults to avoid punishment, but their lies often lack sophistication. As theory of mind matures, children become better at crafting believable lies to either escape punishment or please others.

An experiment involving 247 children aged 3 to 5 found that curiosity often led them to disobey instructions not to peek at candies hidden under a cup. When caught, younger children tended to tell implausible lies, while older children told more believable ones. This progression in lying ability paralleled the development of theory of mind, suggesting a link between cognitive maturity and lying proficiency.

The study also explored the relationship between executive function and lying, particularly the ability to shift cognitive tasks. Children with better executive function demonstrated by tasks like switching between “day” and “night” appropriately were more likely to tell plausible lies, indicating a correlation between cognitive control and lying behavior.

Better with Age?

Could an obedient and honest 3-year-old become a disobedient and lying 5-year-old?

Apparently, yes, as this study’s proportion of peekers and liars more than doubled over those two years.

Does maturation make children more able to think for themselves or less trustworthy?

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 1)

Early childhood is characterized by preoperational intelligence.

This is the second of Piaget’s periods of cognitive development

Children aged 2 to 6 use symbols like words to help them think.

Children do not yet use logical operations (reasoning processes).

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 2)

Piaget: Egocentrism

Cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6

Includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought)

Logical, operational thinking is not yet possible.

Symbolic thought emerges, often without logic.

Animism

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Symbolic thought: a major accomplishment of preoperational intelligence that allows a child to think symbolically, including understanding that words can refer to things not seen and that an item, such as a flag, can symbolize something else.

Animism: a belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive, moving around, and having sensations and abilities that are humanlike.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 3)

Young children’s logic is limited in four ways.

Egocentrism

Appearance-focus

Static

Irreversible

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 4)

Egocentrism

Young children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their perspective

Animism

Focus on appearance

Young children’s tendency to all attributes that are not apparent

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Egocentrism

Piaget’s term for children’s tendency to think about the world entirely from their perspective.

Animism

Belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive, moving around, and having humanlike sensations and abilities.

All Alive

Animism and egocentrism might make a 4-year-old frightened by this scene in the movie Toy Story 3.

Very young children have no problem believing that toys (even those with three eyes) are alive and have the same emotions that they themselves do.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 5)

Static reasoning

Young children’s tendency to think that nothing changes; whatever is now has always been and always will be

Irreversibility

Young children’s tendency to think that nothing can be undone; a thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Piaget Egocentrism (part 6)

Conservation and logic

Conservation

It is a principle stating that the amount of a substance remains the same (i.e., is conserved) when its appearance changes.

Logic

The four characteristics of preoperational thinking overrule logic.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Conservation, Please

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

According to Piaget, children need to grasp the concept of conservation at (he believed) about age 6 or 7 to understand that the transformations shown here do not change the total amount of liquid, candies, cookie dough, and pencils.

All four characteristics of preoperational thought are evident in this mistake.

Young children fail to understand conservation because they focus (center) on what they see (appearance), noticing only the immediate (static) condition.

It does not occur to them that they could pour the juice back into the wider glass and re-create the level of a moment earlier (reversible).

As with sensorimotor intelligence in infancy, Piaget underestimated preoperational children. However, Piaget was right about his basic idea: Young children are not very logical.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Vygotsky: Social Learning (part 1)

Vygotsky

Every aspect of children's cognitive development is embedded in the sociocultural context.

Children learn from guided participation through mentors.

Mentors

Present challenges

Offer assistance (without taking over)

Add crucial information

Encourage motivation

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Most shirts for 4-year-olds are wide-necked and without buttons, so preschoolers can put them on themselves. However, the skill of buttoning is best learned from a mentor who knows how to increase motivation.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Vygotsky: Social Learning (part 2)

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's term for the skills that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently

Scaffolding

Temporary support that is tailored to a learner's needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

Various tools

Mentors directly or via tools

Culture

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Scaffolding also includes various tools — technology, books, and other learners — always with the goal of advancing education step by step, moving children forward within their developmental zone.

Culture shapes the interaction.

Thinking During Early Childhood: Vygotsky: Social Learning (part 3)

Overimitation

Universal

Tendency of children to copy an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned

Common among 2- to 6-year-olds who will imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Thinking During Early Childhood: Vygotsky: Social Learning (part 4)

STEM learning

Practical use of Vygotsky’s emphasis on social interaction

Starts with learning about numbers and science in early childhood

Dependent on social context

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Future Engineers

Playing with LEGO bricks helps children learn about connecting shapes, which makes math and geometry easier to learn in school and makes STEM careers more likely.

Once LEGO sets were marketed only to boys, but no longer — kits designed to appeal to girls are widely available, and children of every gender are encouraged to play with every kind of toy.

Spatial understanding — how one object fits with another — before age 6 enhances later math skills.

With the guidance of a mentor, young children develop an understanding of math and physics before first grade.

They:

Count objects with one number per item (called one-to-one correspondence ).

Note times and ages (bedtime at 8 p.m., a child is 4 years old, and so on).

Understand sequence (wash hands and pray before dinner).

Know which numbers are greater than others (e.g., 7 is greater than 4).

Understand how things move, from toy cars to soccer balls.

Appreciate temperature effects, from ice to steam.

Language Learning: The Sensitive Time (part 1)

Brain maturation, myelination, scaffolding, and social interaction make early childhood ideal for learning language.

Early childhood is a sensitive (but not critical) period to master vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Scientists once thought that early childhood was a critical period for language learning — the only time a first language could be mastered and the best time to learn a second or third language.

However, recent research has introduced a new concept. Early childhood is not a critical period but a sensitive period for language learning. This is a time when children are particularly adept at rapidly mastering vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. They are like language sponges, absorbing every verbal drop they encounter.

Language Learning: The Sensitive Time (part 2)

Vocabulary explosion

The average child knows about 200 words at age 2 and more than 59,000 at age 6.

Verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and many nouns are mastered.

Fast-mapping

Speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words; occurs by tentative placement of these in mental categories according to their perceived meaning.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

See page 146 for additional information about At About This Time: Language in Early Childhood (Characteristic or Achievement in First Language).

What Is It?

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

These two children at the Mississippi River Museum in Iowa might call this a crocodile, but it is an alligator. Fast-mapping allows that mistake, and egocentrism might make them angry if someone tells them they chose the wrong name.

Language Learning: The Sensitive Time (part 3)

Logical extension

Closely related to fast-mapping

Occurs when children use a word to describe other objects in the same category

Bilingual children

Often code-switch in the middle of a sentence

Realize which language to use by age 5

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

These are Chinese children learning a second language. Could this be in the United States? No, this is a class in the first Chinese-Hungarian school in Budapest.

There are three clues: the spacious classroom, the letters in the book, and the large windows and many trees outside.

Language Learning: The Sensitive Time (part 4)

Acquiring grammar

Grammar of a language

Structures, techniques, and rules that communicate meaning

Overregularization

Application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur

Makes language seem more “regular” than it is

Pragmatics

Practical use of language, adjusting communication to audience and context (words, tone, grammatical form)

Difficult aspect of language

Evident by age 4

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

By age 4, many children overregularize the final s for pluralization, talking about feet, teeth, and mice. This is evidence of increasing knowledge.

Many children first say words correctly (feet, teeth, mice), repeating what they have heard.

Later, when they grasp the grammar and try to apply it, they overregularize, assuming that all constructions follow the regular path.

Language Learning: The Dual-Language Revolution

Learning two languages

Early childhood is the best time to learn a new language.

For children to develop two languages, they must speak and hear two languages.

Mastering two languages before age 6 seems to contribute to lifelong neurological benefits.

Researchers now believe it is better for children to keep their home language and learn the dominant language, thus avoiding a language shift.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

If very young children are immersed in two languages, Canadian research on adolescents who learned both English and French as young children shows that they were as proficient in both languages as monolingual children were in only one language (Legacy et al., 2018).

Relevant to our context, recent studies in the United States (e.g., Hein & Kauschke, 2022) have also found similar results, further supporting the benefits of bilingualism in children.

Developmentalists urge parents to read and talk with their infants and children in whatever language they can and to find playmates, teachers, and relatives who will speak another language with their children (Mieszkowska et al., 2017). The result will be a fluently bilingual adult.

Not every study finds that bilingualism has an advantage beyond the obvious one of enabling communication with more people.

Early-Childhood Schooling: High-Quality Education

Quality matters.

Research demonstrates a pivotal role of quality in children's cognitive development.

The environment significantly influences a child's learning trajectory at home, day care, or preschool.

Price doesn't equate to quality.

In the United States, price often dictates decisions, leading to the misconception that higher cost implies better quality.

However, true quality is reflected in active learning facilitated by social interactions rather than the price tag.

Focus on interaction and engagement

Vibrant, engaging environments with ample social interaction and conversation indicate quality, regardless of program names or sponsorships.

Understanding the program's approach — whether child-centered or teacher-directed — can aid in choosing the most suitable environment for a child's development.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Early-Childhood Schooling

Quality cannot be judged by the name or sponsorship of a program.

Distinctions among program goals

Encourage creativity (child-centered)

Prepare for formal education (teacher-directed)

Prepare low-SES children for first grade (intervention)

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Early-Childhood Schooling: Child-Centered Programs

Child-centered or developmental programs

Emphasize children’s natural inclination to learn through play rather than adult directions.

Encourage self-paced exploration and artistic expression.

Show the influence of Vygotsky and Piaget.

Examples

Montessori schools

Reggio Emilia

Waldorf schools

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Show the influence of Vygotsky (children learn through play with other children) and Piaget (children will discover new ideas if given a chance).

Montessori schools emphasize individual pride and accomplishment, presenting literacy-related tasks.

Reggio Emilia’s approach is a famous Italian early-childhood education program that encourages each child’s creativity in a carefully designed setting.

Waldorf programs emphasize creativity, social understanding, and emotional growth; prize imagination.

Early-Childhood Schooling: Teacher-Directed Programs

Teacher-directed programs

Stress academic subjects taught by a teacher to the entire class; “ready to learn” goal

Help children learn letters, numbers, shapes, and colors and how to listen to the teacher and sit quietly

Are often influenced by behaviorism or information processing

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES Comparing Child-Centered and Teacher-Directed Preschools

Child-centered

Focused on individual development and growth

Teacher as facilitator

Teacher as delegator

Students learn actively

Classroom is designed for collaborative work

Students influence content

Rewards collaboration among students

Encourages artistic expression

Students learn from each other

Teacher-directed

Focused on getting preschoolers ready to learn

Direct instruction

Teacher as formal authority

Students learn by listening

Classroom is orderly and quiet

Teacher fully manages lessons

Rewards individual achievement

Encourages academics

Students learn from teachers

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Teacher-directed: Particularly true for parents from marginalized groups or low-SES backgrounds

Emotions versus Academics

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

How would you rank these seven goals for early education?

This chart reflects the general results from 139 Ethiopian and 127 Hungarian parents of children in preschool. The contrast was remarkable, as you see, although this chart is a simplification. The actual data shows a range of answers for each nation.

Early-Childhood Schooling: Intervention Programs: Head Start

Evolution

Initially focus on poverty alleviation

Shift towards promoting literacy and language skills for low-income families with children

State- and city-sponsored programs of varied quality

Changes and requirements

Gradually more teacher-directed

New requirements (2016) mandated longer hours and expanded the client base.

Long-term impact

Non- Head Start children: Academic catch-up by age 8

Head Start children: Advantage in lifelong vocabulary expansion; contribution to positive later life outcomes

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

In 2016, new requirements mandated longer operating hours and provided additional support for children experiencing homelessness, disabilities, or English-learning challenges.

There are indications that participation in Head Start may contribute to positive outcomes in later life, such as lower rates of arrest and teen pregnancies among the offspring of Head Start alumni, though causation is uncertain.

Total Funded Head Start Enrollment — 1970–2020

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Head Start enrolled 37 million children over five decades.

Early-Childhood Schooling: Long-term Gains from Intensive Programs

Three intensive programs focused on children from low-income families that did careful follow-up programs.

Perry Preschool Project (High/Scope) program

Carolina Abecedarian Project

Child–Parent Centers

All programs

Compared experimental groups of children with matched control groups

Reached the same conclusion

What is this conclusion?

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

All three programs compared experimental groups of children with matched control groups, reaching the same conclusion.

Early education has substantial long-term benefits that become most apparent when children are in the third grade or later.

Conclusions

Early education has substantial long-term benefits that become most apparent when children are in the third grade or later.

By age 10

In adolescence

As young adults

As middle-aged adults

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

By age 10, children in these programs scored higher on math and reading tests than did other children from the same backgrounds, schools, and neighborhoods.

In adolescence, the children who had undergone intensive preschool education had higher aspirations, possessed a greater sense of achievement, and were less likely to have been abused.

As young adults, they were more likely to attend college and less likely to be in prison.

As middle-aged adults, they were more often employed, paying taxes, healthy, and not needing government subsidies.

All three research projects found that direct cognitive training, with specific instruction in various school-readiness skills, was useful. Each child’s needs and talents were considered, a circumstance made possible because the child/adult ratio was low.

This combination of child-centered and teacher-directed education, with all of the teachers working together on the same goals, helped the children. In all three, teachers deliberately involved parents, and each program included strategies to enhance the home-school connection.

Early-Childhood Schooling: Poverty and Privilege

Initially, only low-income children were offered Head Start or enrollment in the three special programs.

However, every child of every income level would benefit from high-quality early education.

Many U.S. young children are not in school.

Variations by school district are greater.

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Many U.S. young children, especially those who need it the most (with disabilities, or not speaking English, or in rural areas), are not in school.

Variations by school district are greater.

In some, 90 percent are in a program, and kindergarten is required.

In others, less than 20 percent are in school, and required education does not begin until first grade.

CAREER ALERT The Early-Childhood Teacher

Preschool teachers are increasingly needed.

Heightened awareness of the importance of early childhood education

Necessity for daytime care as more parents work

Preschool teachers require extensive knowledge and understanding.

Child development

Activities to support physical and cognitive development

Preschool teachers help children.

Regulate behavior and control aggression

Cooperate with others

Invitation to the Life Span

Kathleen Stassen Berger | Sixth edition

Early education lays the foundation for lifelong social skills and self-confidence.

Preschool teachers require extensive understanding of child development, particularly the rapid myelination of brain cortexes.

They tailor activities to support physical and cognitive development, recognizing that young children learn best through language-rich environments and active play.

Early education fosters brain development and social skills, helping children learn to regulate behavior, control aggression, and cooperate with others. Despite the demanding nature of the job and low pay, the joy of working with young children is a significant motivator for educators in this field.

ch 5&6

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