Early Childhood Education and Care: Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development

This report discusses the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of children aged 4 to 6 years. It provides pedagogical strategies for each aspect and is supported by theories of psychologists like Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The report deals with the particular age group of 4 to 6 years and how with the
advancement of their age, they adapt with new learning capabilities. The purpose of the paper
is to find out the different aspects of learning abilities that a child can adapt at this age. The
paper tries to provide what happens during this age in different aspects like physical,
cognitive, social and emotional. The report first explains how their physical development
takes place. Then it describes the cognitive changes the children go through at this age. It has
a section which deals with the social growth and further explains how emotional
transformation is a major phenomenon for the children at this age. Finally the report also
provides a pedagogical strategy for each aspect discussed in the report.
Discussion
Physical Development in the Selected Age Group
Implications
Children between 4 to 6 years undergo some basic physical changes that have been
found out and elaborated in the paragraph. A change of height about a couple of inches is
evident in the body of the children and there is a gain of a little bit of fat along with the
growth in the skeletal structure. There is a visible improvement in the posture while they start
learning how to sit and stand properly at the beginning of this age group and the children start
acquiring what balance is. Therefore the ability of having grip on things rises. The
metabolism in brain touches its climax around the age of 4. Brain development is a major
function that happens in this period. The style of walking improves and the speed also

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increases. They start running faster than before. Children can even hop and gallop and the
stiffness is reduced gradually. The legs become stronger and boys face a muscular growth
(Nippold, 2016 pp. 178). They adopt some skill of self-help. They learn to do things by their
own. Most importantly the interest in knowing new things heightens at this age because of the
occurrence of development in brain. Dressing up, writing and performing different physical
activities take place during this time. The aspect of drawing starts with scribble and finally it
takes a shape when a child is about 6. They start with drawing lines where some might draw
straight lines while some fails in doing so. It is slowly modified into something bigger.
However it has to be kept in mind that this is a much generalized concept but this might not
be true in case of all the children. In some cases the growth of the boys are faster than girls
but that is also very superficial because girls have better growth in some aspects sometimes.
There are some children who do not acquire the physical growth with the same
intensity. Some have stiff muscles, some can be found in trouble or in difficulty with
managing their zippers or shoelaces. Some might not find interest in writing or drawing
which also generate the idea of inability to fit the words properly adjusted between the ruled
parts of the paper (Smith& Wong, 2016 pp.333). Some might face problems in holding
pencils or objects which are tiny in size while some absolutely dislike the concept of little
objects because it becomes impossible for them to handle.
Pedagogical strategy
The strategy one should apply to promote the physical growth of the children is to
give them enough space to explore properly. The children should be encouraged in all the
activities they seek to achieve. Hence the children having problem with fitting words properly
in between the lines can be started with big boxes where they have to fit their writing and
gradually the size of the box will be reduced to paper size. Children should be encouraged to
play with objects like lego or anything that is tiny. This will help the kids to learn and

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differentiate between objects improving the capacity of the brain. The teacher or the parents
might not always find it very convenient to make the children do whatever they want because
sometimes it can be harmful and dangerous for the children. That again might injure the
mental condition of the children. Hence the teachers who are in the responsibility of the
children have to be very careful in case of providing with the idea of development. The
children should get an ambience of freedom to do whatever they wish to in order to explore
new things with the newly acquired development in brain.
Cognitive Development in the Selected Age Group
Implications
Cognitive development is basically where children start adapting with new schemes,
organization, adaptation method, equilibration and disequilibrium. Piaget has showed that
children of the age group from 4 to 6 learn to behave in an arranged pattern while they choose
to be systematic and behave in that system only (Piaget, 2013 pp. 175). They somehow can
place themselves between expectation and reality. When they move towards equilibration
they have a better comprehension of experiences they face. They also learn to make the
difference between existing method and the new ones they are acquiring every day.
According to Piaget, the adaptation takes place by assimilating experiences into the current
arrangement and accommodating experience by altering the prevalent system. Vygotsky has
emphasized more on the social influence on cognitive development. The children seek to
solve problems with the cultural aspect. They seem to identify colors and associate them with
their names. They seem to understand the relation between two objects and tend to delve into
complicated problems. Their culture sometimes influences them to analyze decisions and it
also helps them to shape their thought process. Cognitive development also gets affected by

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the social interaction and the people they are surrounded with. Their intellect helps to shape
their cognitive behavior (Lantolf, &Poehner, 2014 pp.11). They learn new things while they
are instructed tenderly.
Pedagogical strategy
Cognitive development can be achieved by implementing an effective pedagogical
strategy namely accompanying the children in a friendly manner giving them a
communicative atmosphere to participate in identifying new things and naming them
accordingly to improve their associating capabilities. It will teach them to grow more
interactive with people and generate the interest of knowing new things in a positive way
(Nippold, 2016 pp. 434). This will not only help in making good interactive quality rather it
teaches them in acquiring new skills of developing new learning abilities to differentiate
between colors, shapes and size of the objects. The cognitive development can be achieved if
the children are accompanied while singing and also they are good at identifying and
differentiating noises (Richmond, 2013pp. 116). Here the teachers need to be equipped with
smart and innovative ideas and they should be advanced with interesting plans which would
help them to provide the children with this kind of engaging learning techniques. They should
be provided with the practice of writing more alphabets and learning to identify new shapes
and colors where there will be constant motivation and supervision of teacher. They should
be often given chances to explore themselves in a creative way which they would derive from
what kind of company they are surrounded with (Daniels, 2016pp. 16). Their ideas should be
encouraged and if they want to explore new things that should be introduced to them like
fishing or playing with new things.
Social Development in the Selected Age Group
Implications

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Social development is to make connections and in this age group, children start
making connection gradually. The connections are either built in their family or school,
precisely in those places where they go frequently. Friendship is a concept that slowly creeps
into their mind at this age. They make friends and play in groups. They share things initially
but gradually at reaching 6, and they become a little domineering (Komives, 2016 pp. 230).
They need things exactly the way they want. The social values of making bond and even fight
with people around them are incorporated during this time. They start discriminating between
people and thus form small groups and play amidst them, only. They often use the form of
aggression to inflict upon their friends while fighting. A kind of authoritarian attitude is
visible at this age. It is the time when children start forming their own moral ground which
generates opinion in them where they begin to oppose their family as well. Mental rigidity is
also formed during this time where something they are not told to do is done repeatedly by
them. They are likely to listen to elders if they are made understood graciously (Duchesne
&McMaugh, 2018pp. 59).The society that they are surrounded with has a lot to contribute to
the shaping and building of their characteristics. The people they see, they try to incorporate
their nature in their own and behave accordingly so the children need to stay amidst a healthy
atmosphere.
Pedagogical strategy
The strategy that should be given priority is that the children should be provided with
a huge amount of love and affection so that their emotional and social values are respected
enough. They should understand that their feelings are valued that helps them in exploring
new things with more interest and enthusiasm. That they are aware of so many things should
be given proper acknowledgement. They should be given opportunities to participate in
games and sports. This makes them active both physically and mentally. Teachers and
parents should always be very soft spoken and polite because the children learn what they

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see. It is easier to convince them when they are spoken to with a tender way. According to the
psychologists, the children need to make their own decisions. They should be encouraged to
make their own decisions which not only make them self-sufficient but also help them in
understanding the mentality of others. This helps them grow as a strong individual from the
very beginning. Their emotions should be respected, and their opinions should be
encouraged. They should be involved in different forms of play to develop their social
activities. Children always get encouraged if they see other people doing good and receiving
enough amount of appreciation. Hence the strategy of promoting the social balance in the
children needs their cooperate participation in social activities. The children should be filled
with books so that their imaginative skills are charged. It is necessary for the children to stay
happy and feel good about themselves and what they are doing. Therefore, they need to
indulge in things that make them happy (Bretherton, 2014 pp. 46). Hence they should not stay
away from what they want because of the fear of anticipated danger for that can cripple their
flourish.
Emotional Development in the Selected Age Group
Implications
The children seek to acquire an emotional transformation during the age of 4 to 6.
Children of 5 to 6 start going to school; therefore, they invent a new emotion called
friendship where they start identifying their classmates as friends. Emotions at this age are
very simple but very strong. Therefore they make friends at a large number and tend to make
a best friend as well. For this particular friend, they grow very emotional. This stage also
helps them in playing in groups where they will be encircled by friends. The portrayal of
jealousy is visible towards their siblings (Woolfolk, 2000pp.259). This is visible also towards
the people where he feels his love is shared. They start understanding their own emotions and

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feelings. They also go through a stage where they become eager to help people. Whenever
they see somebody is in need of help, they do not refrain themselves from helping them. This
is the time where they begin to express themselves clearer than before. They can express their
emotions and feelings to others though it cannot be similar to that of the adults’ but this is the
time when they first show the evidence of expressing them. In this stage the self-control is
also developed. They start expressing their needs and emote in a way to have achieved it by
any means. If the children do not get what they want that might upset them but that do not
stop them from making new bonds and asking for new things (Feeney, Moravcik & Nolte,
2013pp.298).
Pedagogical strategy
There are several strategies that can be applied on the children to support emotional
growth. Some extremely helpful books are available where there are patterned designs which
help the children to get absorbed into the emotional qualities that are really helpful in
building up their emotional quotient. These not only teach them to identify different emotions
of the characters present in the books rather help them to get associated with new emotions
every day. There should be planning of programs in advance to what they are doing so that
their performance can be judged accordingly (Thomas et al., 2016 pp.219).The teachers need
to make proper plans with the help of charts and graphs to arouse the interest of the children.
Any visual representation would simply catch the attention of children so it is easier for the
teachers to be as active as the children to motivate their emotional development. They should
always encourage their emotional indulgence which will in a way increase the respect
towards elders as well. According to Erikson, this is the time when a psychological change
takes place where they start taking initiative and also suffer from guilt (Ewen, &Ewen,
2014pp. 96). As James Marcia suggests that in the stage of identity diffusion they do not go
through any crisis or commitment rather their self-direction seem to be very negligible. When

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the foreclosure takes place there is no crisis but the chance of commitment rises (Nisbet &
Shucksmith, 2017pp.154). They have the tendency of accepting the values of parents. During
the phase of moratorium crisis is experienced which generates the feeling of anxiousness in
them while in the achievement of identity both crisis and commitment become stronger and
their self-esteem grow higher than before (Mooney, 2013pp. 121). Therefore the strategy of
imbibing new emotional aspects and skills in them gradually helps them to get over the
problems and achieve a proper emotional development.
Conclusion
The paper basically deals with the aspects of four kinds of development that occur in
the children at the age of 4 to 6. The paper has demonstrated how the changes occur in this
period, and each stage is supported with at least one pedagogical strategy. The report has
clearly explained how physical development takes place in the children. Again it has shown
some cognitive changes which are supported by the theories of psychologists like Piaget,
Vygotsky. The pedagogical strategies are also provided with the supportive theory of these
psychologists only. The social developments justified with the theory of Erikson. The paper
also showed how emotional changes occur and is also justified with different stages.
Therefore it can be concluded that children of this age group acquire many new things
because this is a very crucial learning age. They learn new things every day so it is really
important to give them assistance in a proper way so that they can explore in the right
direction.

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