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Chapter 7: Problem 3

Explain how preschool children's motor skills develop. Both gross and fine motor skills advance rapidly during the preschool years. Gender differences begin to emerge, fine motor skills are honed, and handedness begins to assert itself.

Short Answer

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Preschool children improve their motor skills significantly during this stage of development. They hone both their fine motor skills - smaller, precise actions such as writing or drawing; and their gross motor skills - broader actions such as running and jumping. Additionally, this is the time when gender differences in motor abilities might emerge and handedness begins to be established.

Step by step solution

01

Introduction

Begin by defining what motor skills are. These are movements and actions of the muscles. They include two types: fine motor skills that make use of smaller muscle groups for small, precise actions and gross motor skills which involve larger muscle groups for broader actions.
02

Development of Gross Motor Skills

Explain how gross motor skills, which involve the larger muscles in the arms, legs, and torso, develop in this age group. Gross motor skills are bigger movements — such as running and jumping — that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, and torso. During the preschool years, these skills advance rapidly and children learn to coordinate their movements.
03

Development of Fine Motor Skills

Proceed to the development of fine motor skills, which use small muscle groups for more precise movements, mainly in the hands and fingers. These include picking up smaller objects, writing, and drawing. During preschool years, preschoolers refine these skills.
04

Emergence of Gender Differences

Discuss the path of gender differences in children's motor skill development. It should be understood that while progression is generally similar for both genders, small differences might start to show. For instance, boys might become more skilled at tasks requiring force and power, while girls might excel at tasks requiring precision and dexterity.
05

Establishing Handedness

Finally, elaborate on the process of handedness becoming more apparent. Handedness refers to a consistent preference for use of the right or left hand. It is typically established in children during the preschool years and it is a key milestone in a child's motor skill development.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Describe Vygotsky's view of cognitive development in the preschool years. Lev Vygotsky proposed that the nature and progress of children's cognitive development are dependent on the children's social and cultural context.

Describe a child's bodily growth and overall health risks during the preschool years. In addition to gaining height and weight, the bodies of preschool children undergo changes in shape and structure. Children grow more slender, and their bones and muscles strengthen. Children in the preschool years are generally quite healthy. Obesity in these years is caused by genetic and environmental factors. The greatest health threats are accidents and environmental factors.

Summarize the effects television and other media have on preschoolers. The effects of television are mixed. Preschoolers" sustained exposure to emotions and situations that are not representative of the real world have raised concerns. On the other hand, preschoolers can derive meaning from such targeted programs as Sesame Street, which are designed to bring about cognitive gains.

Summarize the information-processing approaches to cognitive development in the preschool years. A different approach to cognitive development is taken by proponents of information processing theories, who focus on preschoolers' storage and recall of information and on quantitative changes in information processing abilities (such as attention).

Summarize how Piaget explains cognitive development during the preschool years. During the stage that Piaget has described as preoperational, children are not yet able to engage in organized, formal, logical thinking. However, their development of symbolic function permits quicker and more effective thinking as they are freed from the limitations of sensorimotor learning. According to Piaget, children in the preoperational stage engage in intuitive thought for the first time, actively applying rudimentary reasoning skills to the acquisition of world knowledge.
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