General Emotional Development of -six year olds

•Starting school introduces them to new adults and children

•Assume more responsibility

•Realize they are no longer a baby

•Independence and self worth

Four Year olds

Specific Emotions

4-6 year olds need help recognizing and expressing specific emotions

Self Confidence Anger Fear Jealousy

Self Confidence

As children find success their confidence will grow

The feeling of self worth and independence will lead to children taking initiatives.

Initiatives – motivation to accomplish tasks

Anger Show anger freely Frequency will decrease from 4 to 6 Disagreements with other children is

the most common reason for anger. Parents are also object of a child anger. They way kids express their anger

varieschild’s personalityhow their parents express anger

Anger

4 year old – Physically fight, threaten to get even

5 year old – hurt the other Childs feelings

6 year old – sting with their words. Tease, insult, nag and make fun of others.

Fear

Well developed imagination, and many of their fears center on imaginary things like ghosts, monsters, robbers, vampires. Afraid of the dark and fear being left alone or abandoned.

Afraid of school, the children, a bully at school

How to overcome fears

Accept the fear.

Let the child express the fear without ridicule.

Help the child feel able to face the fear.

Jealousy

Sibling rivalry is common Do not compare one child to another.

Causes damage to the child’s self-esteem.

Signs of jealousy: tattling, criticizing, boasting, nail biting, bed wetting, and tantrums

As caregivers we can empathize and give extra attention

Children and Stress

Stress is very real and varies One in three children suffer from stress Possible causes of stress? Stress Indicators

› Moodiness, headaches, nail biting› Clingy, distant, stuttering, restlessness

Read Heath Tip – page 465

Competition

Good Individual effort Promotes higher standard Interest in completing

tasks Realistic view or own

ability in relation to others Encourages speed in

accomplishment Helps kids to excel and

prepare for the adult world.

Bad Success depends on the

ability to out do others Leads to hostile

relations with others Results in lack of effort

for those who don’t win Points out children’s

inadequacies Lowers status and self-

esteem of those who lose.

Competition

6years olds hate to lose and don’t take constructive criticism well.

Cheat in order to not lose If the child doesn’t take losing well,

stop competitive games for awhile. They will out grow it.

Caregivers we need to be good sports so children learn to lose graciously

Competition

When grouping children for teams DO NOT let the kids pick their own team.

Equal playing time – everyone needs a chance to play

Teamwork and Cooperation

Prefer cooperative over competitive play

Not playing cheering. Share by passing the ball to each other Teach children to not compare

themselves to others Compare their skills now to the past

How do you determine what is the right thing to do when faced with a moral question?

How do you choose whether to take that action or a different course?

Targets

Describe the social development in children ages 4 to 6

Describe a child’s relationship to family at ages 4 to 6

Create strategies for helping children develop a sense of right and wrong

Debate ways of handling outside influences on children’s behavior.

General Social Patterns

Children four to six are learning to get along with peers

Developing social skills with people outside of their family

Accepting authority from new people The rate at which children learn social

skills will vary, but there are general patterns

Four Form friendships Prefer cooperative play instead of

alone Best in groups of three or four Share toys and take turns Bossy and inconsiderate so fights can

happen Family is still the most important Ask for approval

Five

Outgoing and talkative

Play in groups of five or six

Quarrel less but resort to name calling and threats

Respect others belongings

Acceptance from peers is important

They don’t want to be different and fear being made fun of

Gossip- who has what toys, friends, etc

Six

Aggressive, threatening, and stubborn Their way is the right way No longer want to share Become jealous of others belongings Best friends are the same sex, but can

play in mixed groups Friendships are longer lasting Group games but once tired of it will

drop out with no regard to the team.

What is your earliest memory of being in a group? Was it a neighborhood group, school, etc. How did the group treat children that did not belong in it?

Family Relationships

Four year old- strong sense of family. Perform household chores. Argue with siblings

Five year old – family is important. Play better with siblings and even protect.

Six year old – less harmonious with family. Self-centered, their needs come first. Argumentative. Fight with siblings.

Comprehension check

At which age is family likely to be most important four, five or six?

At which age would you say children are easiest to get along with four, five, or six? Why?

Why are six year olds less in harmony with family members than four and five year olds?

Moral Development

Base your behavior on your beliefs of right and wrong.

Parents responsibility to help shape Between five and seven children begin

to develop a conscience, inner sense of what is right and wrong.

This leads to good behavior or guilt feeling when they do something wrong.

Valued Group Member

Popular › Considerate› Cooperative› Generous› Sharing› Cheerful› Good sense of

humor

Unpopular› Tease› Insult› Tattle› Bully› Stingy› Bossy› Cry win they lose› Gloat when they

win

Lying Starting to learn the difference

between truth and lies. May exaggerate the truth Help separate fact from fiction Do not punish for children using their

imagination Need to learn that telling the truth is

important because others rely on what you say

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Why do kids lie?

Fearful of the consequences Punishment should not be so severe

that kids feel it necessary to lie. Avoid confrontations Ask questions in a non threatening way

Ask the Experts Page 474

Critical Thinking Richard’s mother found

out that Richard had lied about eating candy. His mother said that he had to be punished but she wasn’t sure what his punishment would be. Later, she told Richard that she had decided he would set the punishment

Guidelines for Moral Development

Page 473

Handling Outside Influences

Peer influence will increase Pick up words and speech patterns Children need to learn that each family

has its own set of rules

Television

Some shows may reflect values that go against what the family beliefs are.

TV rating system Television rating system cartoons with fantasy violence