Whats Hot in Child Development Why Parents and those who support them Should Care

1
Whats Hot in Child Development Why Parents (and
those who support them) Should Care

• Calgary/16 September 2008
• McMahon Stadium
• Kyle Pruett, M.D.
• Yale University School of Medicine

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Your parents neighborhood

• Trudeau, Apollo, FLQ/Montreal S.E., Mrs. Robinson

• 1969 60 kids with breadwinner dads/stay-home
  moms25 marriages divorce 40 moms with
  preschoolers working94 of 3 yr olds and 81 4
  yr olds not in preschools
• Preschool Media
• Radio, Books
• TV is cartoons, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood Sesame
  Street debut (school readiness and respect for
  differences)

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Your neighborhood

• Todays family profile
• 30 kids with breadwinner dads/stay home moms41
  marriages divorcesingle mom households up by
  300...62 moms with preschoolers working63
  kids under 5 in care
• Media
• TV, Radio, Print, DVD/VHS, Computers, Video
  Games, DVRs, Handhelds
• Sesame is about parent/child interactions,
  discovery, whole child curriculum Electric
  Company is back!
• PTA, PBS Roper poll 2006

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More surprises

• Moms spend as much time with their kids as 40 yrs
  agohow?
• Dad time in child and house care sharply up (56)
• why this matters so much to child outcomes!
• The 43 US 39 CA work/stay home dilemma for
  moms
• So parents are changing older, more vigilant,
  over-worked multi-taskers with fewer kidsmore
  competent?
• Russell Sage Foundation 2006, Toronto Globe Mail

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Parents/Teachers/Kids Quality of Relationships
(NICHD/Pianta)

• Quality means sensitivity, not cognitive
  stimulation
• Children hang around a lot 51 pre-K, 91 by
  third grade
• So, quality matters, especially in promoting
  relationships and cognition but quality of
  what?

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How kids learn - really

• Academy of Pediatrics Play is the thing!
• In USA/NCLB Play is a four letter word
• Kind of play?
• Sociodramatic play largely child- directed
  make-believe that involves roles, objects, events
  with language, feeling and social interaction
  and brain growth in the pre-frontal cortex!

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But arent academics/skill drills more important
for learning than play?

• No credible science for earlier/faster/better
• The opposite is true, according to Rebecca
  Marcons Toddlers
• Meanwhile, 71 teachers see over-testing vs. 17
  parentscheating on the rise
• UK backing out after 7 yrs of high-stakes testing

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Academics vs. learning for Life

• Loss of free time, harried lifestyles are
  predisposing to burnout, not competencestress,
  depression, anxiety on rise
• So, what about those CAAP guidelines
• True toy revival, undirected play
• Balance extracurricular (esp. for other parents
  kids!)
• Read together/parallel (Scholastic)
• Social/emotional enrichment protects the brain
• Yale study proves benefits to grades,
  peer relationships, confidence -J. Mahoney,
  SRCD

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Should we worry?

• Last two decades, children have lost 8 hours
  unstructured/spontaneous play/wk
• 30,000 US schools have replaced recess/arts/music
  with academics (why? -parents and NCLB)
• CAAP deeply concerned (2007) about the
  reduction in time for socio-dramatic play in
  preschools and kindergartens
• 34 KGs have no recess (2002)

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academics vs. playWhich provides more
readiness-building opportunities?
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Foundations of school readiness

• Confidence
• Curiosity
• Intentionality
• Self-Control
• Relatedness
• Capacity to Communicate
• Cooperativeness
• Heart Start Zero to Three

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Literacys best chance -Marcon, U. of N.
Florida

• 6 yr follow-up of 183 urban pre-K children in 3
  different preschool models
• 1)academic/curriculum driven
• 2)child-initiated/developmentally driven learning
• 3)mixed

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Outcome after third grade - no difference
after fourthacademic/curriculum driven
group had lower grades than child-initiated/develo
pmental play group
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Kathy Hirsch-Pasek (Temple University)

• Builds on Marcons toddlers, but focus is on
  overall readiness
• Academic preschools vs. developmental/play
  oriented preschools
• And by 4th grade...

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Outcomes

• Zero advantage in math and reading
• Higher levels of test anxiety
• Reduced creativity
• More negatively disposed to school

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and that academic push?

• There is a predominantly negative correlation
  between skill pushing and academic performance
• and a strong positive correlation between
  social/emotional play emphasis and academic
  competence from late elementary grades on

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Media and educare

• 87 parents feel media usage will help kids
  succeed in school (Job 1)
• 83 under 6rs use screen media61 babies watch
  90 mins90 4-6rs watch 125 mins.
• 83 US, 76 CA under 6rs have computer access at
  home, most with internet (more DVD, video usage)
• not so fast

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New era media advantages for quality learning?

• Parents are big fans (84) of I.T. teaching, but
  there are limits to its usefulness
• U. W. study of DVD time and vocabulary growth
• For every hour 8-16 month olds watched Baby
  Einstein or Brainy Baby, they understood 8
  fewer words
• Reading/ telling stories to same age infants, inc
  vocabulary by 3 words
• Journal of Pediatrics, Zimmerman, Aug 2007

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Tube changes for better/worse

• 66 say kids imitate positive behaviors, 45
  aggressive behaviors, esp. older boys
• Content beats out genre interactivity rules
  (Dora, Blues Clues, Pinky Dinky Doo)
• Young brain makes no distinction between real and
  televised violence
• Kaiser Family Foundation Media Family Poll 2006

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Nurturing Nature

• Question not whether environment matters, but
  rather when and how it matters
• How genes express themselves depends on the
  social context
• D. Francis/M. Meaney McGill -super mom rats
• 1 yr. high quality pre-K? 7 mo advantage in vocab
  _at_ 1st grade entry-NOT academics vs. soc/emo, but
  partnered Weissberg, R.

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Mind and body

• Food for thought
• Breakfast, again, matters more than you think
• bkfst eaters scored better in short-term memory
  and fluency in Harvard study
• high glycemic index foods, however, erode
  positive effects
• CapN Krunch v. sweetened and unsweetened
  oatmeal and countries on a map

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Readin, Ritin Runnin

• Recess/PE reduces fidgeting and focus fatigue
• Pay better attention, are less disruptive, feel
  better about themselves and their bodies
• General exercise good, but daily best mastery
  edge (concentration brain growth)
• Better language, reading, problem solving
• NOT the national trend _at_ home or school!
• UCLA/Center to Eliminate Health Disparities 2006

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Long Scientific Trail

• Piaget proved that all knowledge comes from
  action esp. interaction with the physical
  environment-not flash cards
• Vygotsky play is primary/essential context for
  cognitive development
• Child learns from playing others
• Use of objects in play sets stage for abstract
  thinking (banana as phone), reading and writing

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Einstein and Whats Hot

• Not everything that can be studied matters, nor
  can everything that matters be studied

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Helpful Websites

• zerotothree.org (parenting stuff)
• aap.org/stress (play) and aap.org/development
• pbsparents.org (development tracker)
• pbskids.org (safe fun)
• actionforhealthykids.org