This document discusses curriculum for children ages 30-36 months. It covers their development in physical, cognitive, language, emotional, and social domains. For physical development, it describes increased mobility and fine motor skills. Cognitive development involves observing, questioning and problem-solving. Language development sees longer sentences and combining language with imagination. Emotional development shows a variety of feelings. Social development includes perspective-taking and interacting with others. The document provides suggestions for implementing developmentally appropriate activities and materials to support growth in all areas.

1. Chapter 16
The Child from Thirty to Thirty-Six
Months of Age
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2. Materials and Activities
• Two year olds like large muscle activity
• They are developing fine muscles for controlled
manipulation of objects
• Children represent their ideas in play and
language, and they recognize pictures
• They listen to stories and enjoy participating in
rhymes, fingerplays, music, and singing
• Materials may be homemade or commercially
made
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3. Materials and Activities
• Activity Ideas
– Emergent curriculum is created for each specific
child within a group based upon current
knowledge of what a child can do, is interested in,
and is ready for
– Holistic curriculum addressed the development of
the whole child
– Ongoing projects result in challenges and
problems to be solved
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4. Physical Development
• The older two-year-old is increasing stability in
walking and running
• Older toddlers ride tricycles
• They jump up and down, they jump off
objects, and they jump forward
• Handedness is established
• Fine motor skills for dressing are developed
• Self-help skills help older toddlers to prepare
for nap, toilet independently and dress with
some assistance
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5. Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum--
Physical Development
• Provide space and materials for active play
• Play games and sing songs that involve
movement and jumping
• Play music for dancing, include scarves, etc.
• Allow children to hold book and turn pages
• Plan a routine that allows time for children to
use self-help skills
• Be available to assist as needed
©2014 Cengage Learning.
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6. Cognitive and Language Development
• Cognitive Development:
– Older toddlers use observing, questioning,
manipulating, classifying and measuring to learn
about their world
– Children construct physical knowledge by moving and
observing
– Children construct logico-mathematical knowledge by
discovering relationships between objects
– Children learn social-arbitrary knowledge from other
people
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7. Cognitive Development Curriculum
Implementation
• As you solve problems together, talk through your
own questions
• Listen to child’s explanation of classification
• Provide choices
• Encourage child to use art materials to represent
objects and ideas
• Use words labeling quantity, number, positions in
space
• Use time related words during daily experiences
©2014 Cengage Learning.
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8. Cognitive and Language Development
• Language Development:
– The labeling process is part of children’s construction of the
identity of objects
– Older toddlers speak in more complete sentences and are
able to express several ideas in a sequence of sentences
– Play provides opportunities to combine language with
imagination
– Reading aloud provides language patterns, reading pictures
encourages self-expression, reading fosters larger
vocabularies and story-telling abilities
– The ability to produce or express language during the toddler
years has been associated with larger vocabularies and
better reading outcomes during the early elementary years.
– Scribbling continues to involve children in writing
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

9. Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum--
Language Development
• Provide dramatic play opportunities to combine
language with imagination.
• Read aloud to provide examples of language patterns
and expression
• Use correct tense and plurals when responding to
children’s language
• Partner with families to support language and
literacy development with literacy bags
• Write children’s names, sentences on their artwork
papers, and dictated sentences on their pages of
scribbling
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

10. Emotional Development
• Older toddlers express a wide variety of feelings
• They are beginning to express feeling in a socially
acceptable manner
• There are variations in cultural expression of feelings
• Toddlers express negativism and aggression in
different ways
• Dispositions such as discipline and persistence
enables success
• Toddlers can be encouraged to display caring
behaviors and responsibility through class pets
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

11. Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum--
Emotional Development
• Be aware of and respect the cultural differences
that children bring with them to school
• Support caring behaviors with a class pet
• Provide opportunities for challenging,
developmental and content-rich learning
experiences
• Provide opportunities for children to work out
strong feelings and the need for control through
play and classroom responsibilities
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

12. Social Development
• During the pre-conceptual stage, toddlers continue
to work on perspective-taking
• Infants and toddlers are capable of building enduring
friendships
• Children are increasingly aware of others as
individuals
• They use adults as resources
• Self-control is increasing, with some ability to delay
gratification
• Adults who use the 3 As consistently help children to
learn how to interact socially
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

13. Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum--
Social Development
• Provide enough toys and materials so child
can control use of some of them
• Allow toddlers to use you as a resource
• Praise the child’s spontaneous helping
• Encourage sharing by providing opportunities
to share
• Use daily routines to demonstrate turn-taking,
etc.
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14. Learning in Content Areas
• Traditional methods of instruction for preschool or
elementary-age children should not be used with
toddlers
• Use engaged, active exploration that is child-led for
content learning as well as supporting development
• Integrate content across developmental domains
• Projects designed for toddlers illustrate how
scientific and mathematical knowledge can be
explored
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15. Spotlight on Research
• Toddlers and Media
– AAP recommends elimination of screen time for
children under 2 years of age
– Comprehension is less from video than from real-
life (video deficit) unless parents are engaged in
shared focus
– Time spent viewing takes away from time spent
on reading, playing and interacting
©2014 Cengage Learning.
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16. Checkpoint Discussion Questions
• Compare how children learn physical
knowledge, logico-mathematical knowledge,
and social-arbitrary knowledge
• Explain the role adults play in toddler’s
acquisition of oral and written language skills.
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17. Checkpoint Discussion Questions
• What are the benefits to children of having a
class pet?
• Provide two examples of cultural differences
in expressing emotions. Describe which
aspects of emotional expression those
differences reflect.
• Describe how you would assist a child in
demonstrating ownership of toys or security
items.
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.