PSY 205 Week 2 Infancy and Early Childhood Example

Words, Routines and Stress in the First Five Years: Development in a Family Child Care Home

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

PSY/205: Life Span Human Development

Week 2 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The child care provider and the children are composites written for a model paper; research findings come from the sources listed.

The first five years bring faster development than any later period. Infants grow from reflexes to walking, from cries to sentences and from total dependence to early independence. This paper follows a composite family child care provider in Yuma, Arizona, who cares for three children of different ages, to show how development unfolds and how caregiving and environment shape it.

The Setting and the Children

Ana runs a licensed child care business in her home. She cares for Leo, eight months; Isabella, two; and Mateo, four. Leo's mother works at a farm packing plant; Isabella has moved between her grandmother's and aunt's homes three times this year; Mateo's parents both work evenings and he attends preschool in the mornings.

Infancy: Leo at Eight Months

Physically, Leo sits steadily, reaches for toys and is beginning to crawl. Motor milestones like these appear within broad age ranges; some babies crawl at six months, others skip crawling entirely.

Cognitively, Leo now searches for a toy hidden under a blanket. Piaget called this understanding object permanence, which develops during the sensorimotor stage of the first two years. Leo also shows stranger wariness, crying when an unfamiliar adult approaches, which reflects his growing ability to tell familiar from unfamiliar people and his attachment to his mother and to Ana.

Language begins long before words. Leo babbles strings of syllables and turns toward voices. When Ana responds to his babbling as if it were conversation, she is building the foundation for speech.

Toddlerhood: Isabella at Two

Isabella runs, climbs and is learning to use a spoon. Her vocabulary is growing quickly, a period sometimes called a vocabulary burst, and she combines two words, such as "more milk." She also says "no" often and protests limits, a normal step in developing autonomy, which Erikson described as autonomy versus shame and doubt.

Isabella's frequent moves matter. Shonkoff et al. (2012) described how strong, frequent or prolonged adversity without adequate support from adults, which they called toxic stress, can disrupt developing brain circuits and stress response systems and is linked to later problems in learning, behavior and health. They emphasized that supportive relationships buffer this effect. Isabella's moves may expose her to stress, but a stable, responsive caregiver such as Ana can provide part of that buffer.

Early Childhood: Mateo at Four

Mateo hops on one foot, draws people with heads and bodies and can button his coat. He plays elaborate pretend games, turning a laundry basket into a boat, which reflects the symbolic thinking of Piaget's preoperational stage. He still struggles with conservation and sometimes assumes others know what he knows.

Socially, Mateo plays cooperatively with other children and is learning to share and take turns. In Erikson's terms, he is in the stage of initiative versus guilt, eager to plan activities and lead play.

Language and the Environment

Hart and Risley (1995) recorded everyday talk in forty-two families with young children over more than two years and reported large differences in the number of words children heard, differences that were associated with family socioeconomic status and with children's later vocabulary. Later researchers have debated the size of the gap and the study's small sample, but the core finding, that children who hear more varied, responsive talk tend to build larger vocabularies, has been supported by other research.

Ana can use this finding without judging families. Narrating everyday tasks, such as "Now we're washing the red cup," asking questions and responding to children's words give all three children rich language input during the hours they spend with her.

The most powerful learning tool in Ana's home is not a toy; it is her running conversation with three small children.

Shared Reading

Bus et al. (1995) combined studies of joint book reading between parents and young children in a meta-analysis and found that shared reading was related to language growth, emergent literacy and later reading achievement. Reading together builds vocabulary, introduces children to the language of books and supports attention. Ana can read board books with Leo, simple picture books with Isabella and longer stories with Mateo, asking questions that fit each child's level.

Attachment and Caregiving

Children develop attachments to several caregivers, not only parents. Leo's attachment to Ana, alongside his attachment to his mother, gives him a secure base during the day. For Isabella, Ana's consistency may be one of the few constants in a changing year. Predictable routines, warm responses to distress and the same caregiver each day support secure relationships.

Culture and Family Context

All three families speak Spanish at home, and Ana uses both Spanish and English. Research generally finds that young children can learn two languages at once; a dual-language child may know some words in one language and others in the second, which is normal. Supporting the home language also strengthens family relationships.

Watching for Concerns

Typical development varies widely, but some signs call for a closer look, such as an infant who does not babble by around one year or a toddler who loses words she once used. Ana keeps brief notes on each child's progress and shares them with parents. If a concern persists, she can suggest a developmental screening through the family's pediatrician or the state's early intervention program, which serves children from birth to age three.

Practices Ana Can Use

Narrate daily routines and respond to every attempt to communicate.

Read with each child every day at a level that fits their age.

Keep a consistent schedule, especially for Isabella.

Offer choices to toddlers, such as which cup to use, to support autonomy.

Encourage pretend play with simple props for Mateo.

Conclusion

Development in the first five years spans every domain at once and depends heavily on caregiving and environment. Leo's object permanence, Isabella's vocabulary burst and Mateo's pretend play follow typical patterns, while research on language exposure, shared reading and toxic stress shows how much daily interactions matter. A responsive caregiver who talks, reads and keeps routines can support development even when family life is stressful.

References

Bus, A. G., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995). Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 65(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543065001001

Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Paul H. Brookes.

Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663