COMMON INTERESTS IN

EARLY CHILDHOOD

INTEREST IN RELIGIONINTEREST IN THE HUMAN

BODY

INTEREST IN SELF

INTEREST IN SEX

INTEREST IN CLOTHES

INTEREST IN RELIGION

Religious beliefs, meaningless to young children although they may show some interest in religious observances.

The religious concepts of young children are realistic in the sense that they interpret what they hear and see in terms of what they already know .

Throughout early childhood, interest in religion is egocentric.

For most young children, prayers are “begging rituals’’ in which they ask God to do something for them.

Early childhood has been called the fairy tale stage of religious belief.

INTEREST IN THE HUMAN BODY

Young children become interested in the exterior of the body before the interior.

Young children express their interest in the body by commenting on the various parts and by asking questions about them.

INTEREST IN SELFThe egocentrism of early childhood is especially pronounced in the 1st year or two before children began to play with other children – the age of parallel play.

Ways young children show their great interest in self:Looking at themselves in mirrors Examining the different parts of the bodies and their clothes Asking questions about themselvesComparing their possessions and achievements with those of their playmates Boasting about their achievements and possessions, or cutting up to attract attention

INTEREST IN SEXYoung children are extremely curious about where babies come from and ask many questions about this matter.

Many children show their interest in sex by:

oTalking about their playmates when adults are not present

oLooking at pictures of adult men and women in amorous poses

oEngaging in sex play with members of their own sex or the opposite sex

oBy masturbating

INTEREST IN CLOTHES

Young children have little interest in their appearance, whether they are clean or dirty, sloppy or well-groomed, but they do have a strong interest in their clothes.

SEX-ROLE TYPING IN

EARLY CHILDHOOD

There are two aspects of sex-role typing:

o Learning Sex-Role Stereotypes

oAgencies of sex-Role Typing

LEARNING SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES

Sex-role stereotypes –are constellations of meanings associated with members of the male and members of the female sex..

TRADITIONAL SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES

-They were stereotypes handed down from generation to generation. EGALITARIAN SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES

- It began to be recognized that members of the two sexes were more similar than different and, as result ,should play roles that are more similar than different.

AGENCIES OF SEX –ROLE TYPING

Learning sex-role stereotypes does not guarantee sex-role typing. In early childhood ,the main agencies of sex-role typing:

o The parents and other family members

As what Bernstein has explained:o “Sexism starts with kindergarten

activities in which little girls are directed to the housekeeping corner , while boys are steered toward blocks and trucks ……Schools thus provide a shrinking of alternatives instead of an expansion.

o Recreations for boys and girls are strongly differentiated.

Another important agency of sex-role typing in early childhood:

o It comes from the mass media

Both boys and girls are well sex-role typed by the

time early childhood ends, boys tend to be better typed

than girls.

.There are two reasons for this:

1. The stereotype of the male is more clearly defined than the stereotype of the female, with the result that is easier for boys to know what the social group regards as ”feminine”

2. Because more stigmas are associated with a ”sissy” than with a “tomboy” more pressure is put on boys to learn the male sex role than on girls to learn the female sex role.

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN EARLY CHILHOOD

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS

-Changes in parent-child relationships, which began during the second year of babyhood, continue

throughout early childhood, usually at a more rapid rate.

CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTING TO CHANGED PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS

CHANGES IN CHILD- In this condition, when babies become more in dependent and self-

sufficient ,they tend to be rebellious , mischievous, self-assertive , exploratory-constantly into

everything-demanding of attention, and refusing to do what they are told to do.

CHANGES IN PARENTAL ATTITUDES

-As young children become more independent, parents feel that they need less care and attention than they did when they were babies. PARENTAL CONCEPT IF A”GOOD”CHILD

-When young children do not come up to parental expectations, parents often become critical and punitive. Children react to this treatment by being even more negativistic and troublesome.

CHILDISH CONCEPT OF A”GOOD” PARENT

-To most young children, “ good ” parents are at their beck and call, willing to do what they want

when they want it.

(When parental behavior does not come up to children’s expectations, it leads to unfavorable parent-child

relationships.)

PARENTAL PREFERENCES

-Because mothers spend more time with young children than fathers, and because they better understand troublesome behavior, many young children prefer their mothers and show it plainly.

PREFERENCE FOR OUTSIDERS

-When young children go to nursery school or kindergarten or when they are placed in a child –care center, they sometimes develop a preference for a teacher or caretaker. Many parents feel hurt and resentful ,thus widening the gap between them and their children.

SIBLINGS RELATIONSHIPS

-Between babies and their siblings , it starts to deteriorate during the second year of life, and by the time babies become young children, the relationship is often frictional.

-Siblings relationship can be and often are important aids to the young child’s personal and social development.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH RELATIVES

o How relationships with relatives affect young children’s personal and social adjustments depends upon two (2) conditions:

1. The frequency of contacts 2. The role relatives play in the young child’s

life

Of all relatives, the most frequent contacts are those between child and the maternal grandmothers.

Unpleasant relationship between young children and their relatives have two(2) common consequences:

1. They condition children to want to avoid contacts with these relatives.

2. When young children have unpleasant experiences with one relative. They are likely to be conditioned to be conditioned to want to avoid all relatives of the same age level.

PERSONALITY

DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

CONDITIONS SHAPING THE SELF- CONCEPT IN EARLY

CHILDHOOD Many conditions within the family are responsible for shaping the self-concept during the early childhood years. The general relationships of young children with their families are important but, of these;

Parental Attitudes, stand out as especially important

Child-Training, methods used in the home is important in shaping the young’s child’s developing concept of self.

Aspirations parents have for their children play an important role in their developing self-concepts.

Ordinal position of children in a family has an effect on their developing personalities.

Minority-Group identification, those who have such an awareness are influenced unfavorably if their peers neglect or reject them.

As Inselberg and Burke have pointed out“Appropriate sex-role identification in boys is associated with favorable personality characteristics” Environmental Security

INCREASE IN INDIVIDUALITY

Individuality, which is apparent at birth and becomes increasingly more so in babyhood, one of the outstanding characteristics of young children.

Three(3) Personality Syndromes among young children have identified by Thomas et al.

“Easy Children”- who are well adjusted both

physically and psychologically.

“Difficult Children”- who are irregular in bodily

functions, intense in their reactions and slow to

adapt to change.

“Slow-to-warm-up Children”- who have low

activity level and do not adapt quickly.

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