Child development�at ages 4 & 5 – �an introduction

Preschool Cycle Program Training

Session 1 – September 2022

�Ana Ardelean��Teacher/trainer, play consultant, playworker, project manager, researcher, with over 16 years of experience leading play and playwork initiatives for children of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, in a range of settings and countries. ���‘Children are living messages we send to a time we will not see.’ – Neil Postman (1982)

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Session Overview

• child development theory
• school readiness
• the role of early years teachers & educators
• SPICE framework

Handouts:

• reflection exercise
• list of practical ideas for each area of the preschool cycle program
• list of external resources

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Learning objectives for today

• By the end of this session, you should be able to:

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• outline key development milestones and characteristics of children aged four to five
• identify how the framework presented can be incorporated in your preschool practice

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Quiz Time!

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True or False Quiz Statements

1. A newborn baby has all the brain cells (neurons) they’ll have for the rest of their life.

2. By age 5, the brain is 90% of its adult size.

3. Most 4-5 year olds generally learn in the same way, mainly through direct instruction from adults.

4. The attention span of a 4-year-old is approximately 15 minutes. The attention span of a 5-year-old is approximately 20 minutes.

5. Our role as preschool teachers is to teach children how to read and write, so that they are prepared for elementary school.

6. Early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school and life.

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4 & 5 year-olds – what are they all about?

• Exploration / pushing boundaries
• Sensory input
• Movement / hands-on experiences
• Schemas
• Novelty (neophilia) and Repetition
• Play! - which = learning (a balance of free play, guided play, direct instruction and rest is needed)
• Pretending
• Feeling safe and happy!

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Breakout room exercise

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In your group, take 3 minutes to consider what 4-5 year olds should be able to do (i.e. their developmental milestones); list as many ideas as you can think of.

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After you have created your list, take 5 minutes to check this link - ; make a note of how many you identified correctly and whether you found any that are not mentioned in the link list.

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Take a couple more minutes to discuss your findings or anything else that comes up in your group.

You will automatically be brought to the main room after 10 minutes.

School readiness

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‘In early childhood settings 'readiness' normally means developmental readiness i.e. that the child’s natural physical, neurological, social and emotional development is sufficiently developed to cope with the task in hand, with adequate challenge, but not undue stress.’ 

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https://www.toomuchtoosoon.org/school-readiness.html

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The role of preschool teachers & educators

“One thing I don’t do is decide what the children will learn… That’s not the job of a teacher… that’s the job of the children. My job is to create an environment, then play with them in it, helping them, but only when they really need it.”

(Teacher Tom)

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The role of preschool educators

• Supporting holistic development for individual children / tuning into their needs
• Scaffolding – knowing when to input and when to step away
• Supporting children’s initiative – patience, taking their lead and supressing judgement
• Develop strong attachment – consistent communication is key here – human brain does not understand negative commands – Don’t think of a pink elephant; storytelling is also essential for communicating with children;
• Cultivating a love for lifelong learning – through play! Through encouraging children’s resilience; through praising the process, not just the outcome
• Focusing on what children can do!
• Staying regulated, so that you can support a child’s own self-regulation
• Being aware of external factors affecting each child (e.g. additional needs, trauma, home life, parenting style, nutrition, sleep, medical conditions etc.)

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Parenting styles and their effects on children

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The SPICE… �of life!

• S – social
• P – physical
• I – intellectual/cognitive
• C – creative
• E - emotional

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Social Development

• An understanding others’ feelings emerges
• Starting to make friends – though friendships may change very quickly
• Beginning to understand concepts of good vs. bad and fair vs. unfair, so those may be applied in interactions with others
• Pretend play is king!
• Dependent on language development & other factors

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Physical Development

• Fine & gross motor skills are improving, depending on the opportunities available

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Essential to develop:

• Vestibular system
• Proprioception
• Interoception

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• Only 4.8% (2.8% girls, 6.5% boys) of children and 0.6% (0.8% girls, 0.5% boys) of youth were meeting combined movement behaviour guidelines during COVID-19 restrictions (Moore et al., 2020)

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�Carpal bones development – an OT’s perspective

• Last 10 years 🡪 increase in postural dysfunction and maladaptive positions for table-based activity
• children are being asked to produce a hand grasp that is not safe or suitable for their growing hand. Until the age of 7 a child has laxity in the tendons. Beyond this the carpal bones have not settled and are not fully formed.
• Therefore, when asked to sit and write too early, a child will adapt their positioning in response 🡪 shoulder hitching towards the ear creating a greater risk of scoliosis (a spinal deformity); children leaning on their desk with the whole arm to prop their shoulder increasing the risk of injury; slumping at the desk increasing the risk of kyphosis (rounding of the shoulder). These resulting biomechanical difficulties are not just isolated to the hand but also the pelvis, the shoulders and the core stability. 

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(Hughes & Powling, 2021)

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An x ray of a developed hand (around the age of 7) on the left compared to a hand of an early years child’s (around the age of 4) on the right.

Hughes & Powling (2021)

• Using dough, sand, water jars, construction toys, den building, foraging, gardening, gluing and sticking, digging and mud kitchens will all have a greater impact on long term handwriting development than any fixed table-based handwriting activity. 

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Aiding physical development through creative dance

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Research study link - Effects of creative dance on proprioception, rhythm and balance of preschool children (Doganis & Kollias, 2018).

Intellectual / Cognitive Development

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• Problem-solving

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• Language

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Schemas (or schemata)

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Creative Development

• not just arts & crafts!

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• Problem-solving, imagination & new responses to situations – very important to support – there is never just one way of doing something and we must enable children’s divergent thinking

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• if children coloured the grass blue and the sky green – would you be tempted to correct them?

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Emotional Development

• They can persevere a bit more, but emotion-regulation, sharing, turn-taking and conflict resolution are still difficult processes

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• Strong secure attachments are essential

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• So is developing children’s awareness of their own emotions and how to communicate them

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• Focus on building strong relationships with children rather than on strategies to manage behavior 

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• Encourage children’s self-confidence & self-esteem through allowing them to take healthy risks

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Attachment Theory: How Childhood Affects Life�

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Circle of Security

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How do you think you might incorporate SPICE in your daily preschool practice?

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Short Reflection

Closing quiz time!

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1. What will you do differently as a result of today’s session?

2. What piece of information did you find most helpful?

3. What aspect of child development do you feel you need to research a bit more?

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Session Overview

• child development theory
• school readiness
• the role of early years teachers & educators
• SPICE framework

Handouts:

• reflection exercise
• list of activities for each area of the preschool cycle program
• list of external resources

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Thank you!

You can also contact me directly via

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-ardelean/ or Twitter @AnaArdelean13

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