Preschool

• At around 3 years of age, preschoolers move from the remaining baby-like features of the toddler toward a more slender appearance of a child.
• The trunk, arms and legs become longer.
• The center of gravity refers to the point at which body-weight is evenly distributed.
• Once a child can imagine restoring the original state of the water by pouring it back into the other glass, they will realize that the amount of water in both glasses must be the same.
• Preschool children do not use deductive or inductive reasoning, instead they jump from one particular to another and see cause where none exists, this is transductive reasoning.
• In reading and writing, preschoolers realize that pictures stand for events in a story and that letters represent sounds used in language.
• Young children's understanding sometimes gets ahead of their speech as they go through early childhood, their grasp of the rules of language increases (morphology, semantics, pragmatics).
• Preschool children can imagine that objects or people have properties other than those they actually have.
• By age 2, children have developed half of the brain cell connections that will be made during one's lifetime.
• Preschoolers use symbolic thought in play, reading, and writing when, for instance, children pretend that one thing represents another such as a wooden block used as a microphone in a magic show and when they pretend to be dog Bantay while in a sociodramatic play.
• Around 6 years of age the brain develops for more sophisticated thinking patterns.
• Preschool children pay more attention to the strikingly conspicuous peripherals, missing the more relevant and more important features needed in problem-solving or task performance.
• A preschool child chooses the gift with a prominent ribbon over one without.
• The human brain contains some 50 billion neurons at birth.
• Symbolic thought is shown in preschool children's ability to mentally represent an object that is not present.
• Preschoolers are making significant advancements in their cognitive abilities, the acquisition of symbolic thought.
• Item #8 indicates irreversibility, Piaget's term for a preoperational child's failure to understand that an operation can go in two or more directions.
• Between items #6 and #7, item #6 applies to preschool children as they are strongly influenced by the features of the task that stand out, such as the flashcard>
• Solitary Play is when a child starts to play on his own, seeming not to notice other children playing nearby.
• Associative Play is when a child plays with others, there is interaction among them, but no task assignment rules and organization are agreed upon.
• In 1983, Maccoby and Martin suggested a conceptual structure to combine different levels of parental demandingness and warmth to categorize these four parenting styles.
• A Parenting/Caregiving Style is a set of child-rearing practices widely used by psychologists to understand the link between parenting methods and children’s development and behavior.
• Authoritative parents care about their children’s well-being and respect their autonomy.
• Caregiving Styles affect the socio-emotional development of the children, with caregivers referring to both parents and teachers and even other adults that care for the child.
• Cooperative Play is when a child plays with others bound by some agreed upon rules and roles, with the goal maybe to make something, play a game, or act out something.
• The four Baumrind parenting styles are based on research by developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind at the University of California at Berkeley and the work of Eleanor Maccoby and John Martin at Stanford University.
• Authoritative Parenting is warm and nurturing while maintaining high expectations and standards, encouraging children to be independent but still places limits and controls on their actions.
• Friendship in Preschool is important as it provides added sense of belongingness and security.
• In 1967, Diana Baumrind identified three parenting styles, namely authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive, and added a fourth style, negligent parenting style, in 1971.
• Authoritative parents give their children firm limits but try to explain their actions to teach children values, morals, and goals.
• Authoritative parents are firm, assertive, and consistent, they are not harsh, rigid, punitive, or restrictive.
• Parallel Play is when a child plays with toys similar to those near him, but only plays beside and not with them, with no interaction taking place.
• For three-year-olds, encouraging development of hand-eye coordination by providing large buttons or old beads to string on a shoe lace, playing ball, and showing children how to throw, catch, and kick balls of different sizes are ways to support their physical development.
• Engaging preschool and walking children in simple games that involve running, providing toys for catching and throwing such as soft large balls and bean bags, having balancing activities for preschoolers, allowing opportunities for rough and tumble play, and ensuring that preschoolers get enough rest and sleep are ways to support their physical development.
• Gross Motor Skills for 36 - 48 months include hopping on one foot, skipping, jumping and turning, standing on one leg for at least 5 seconds, throwing a ball overhead with control of direction and speed, and kicking a ball with control of speed.
• Fine Motor Skills for 36 - 48 months include consistently turning pages of a picture or story book, purposefully copying diagonal lines, purposefully bisecting a cross, purposefully copying a square, triangle, and circle, cutting with scissors following a line, and personal care and hygiene skills like pouring from a pitcher, feeding self using a spoon, dressing without assistance, and putting on socks independently.
• For five-year-olds, encouraging body coordination and sense of balance by playing "Follow the Leader" with skipping, galloping, and hopping are ways to support their physical development.
• Physical development of preschoolers is largely influenced by the supportive caregivers who provide a stimulating environment and appropriate activities for the children.
• Three-year-olds may not know or care, but simply enjoy the process of drawing, so providing a variety of art experiences and encouraging free expression in art projects is important.
• For four-year-olds, encouraging physical development through play activities like follow the leader, pretending to walk like various animals, and setting up an obstacle course indoors with challenges such as crawling, climbing, leaping, balancing, and running across stepping stones are ways to support their physical development.