What’s Hot in Child Development?

2nd Children Matter Conference3 April 2009/Mount Royal CollegeCalgary, Alberta

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D.Yale University School of Medicine

Your neighborhoods Today’s family profile

33% kids with breadwinner dads/stay home moms…40% marriages end in divorce…single mom households up by 300%...60% moms with preschoolers working…63% 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

More surprises… Moms spend as much time with their kids as 40

yrs ago…how? Dad time in child/house care sharply up (56%)

why this matters so much to child outcomes The 43% work/stay home dilemma for moms Rise of co-parenting So parents are changing; older, more vigilant,

over-worked multi-taskers with fewer kids…more competent? And what’s up with dads?

Russell Sage Foundation 2006

Evidence that Men Respond to Children

physical response to colicky infant touch and smell recognition spontaneous speech patterns hormones and fatherhood:

- testosterone: drops 33% for 1 mo. at birth- estrogen: inc. 1 mo. prior/ 3 mos. post birth- prolactin: inc. 20% for 3 wks. post birth

Evidence that Children Respond to Men

differential response to mother/father at 6 weeks -Yogman

increased clarity of behavioral cues to father

by toddlerhood, use more advanced speech with fathers

Distinguishing Maternal/Paternal Behaviors Preference for activation/stimulation vs.

soothing Unpredictable vs. predictable/regulating style Preparation for place in the world vs.

relationships Discipline: ‘real world’ vs. relational Frustration tolerance vs. facilitating Respect vs. gatekeeping

“Show Your Love” Sam Kauffmann

Boston College, School of Film

Child Outcomes of Involved ‘Fathering’

Behavioral Reduced contact with juvenile justice Delay in initial sexual activity, reduced teen pregnancy Reduced rate of subsequent divorce Less reliance on aggressive conflict resolutionEducational Higher grade completion and income Math competence in girls Verbal strength in boys and girls (literacy)Emotional Greater problem-solving competence, and stress tolerance Greater empathy, moral sensitivity and reduced gender

stereotyping Pruett, KD Fatherneed (2001)

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

Quality means sensitivity, not cognitive stimulation

Children hang around a lot; 5:1 pre-K, 9:1 by third grade

So, quality matters, especially in promoting relationships and cognition – but quality of what?

How kids learn - really Canadian/American 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

‘But aren’t academics/skill drills more important for learning than play?’ No credible science for

earlier/faster/better The opposite is true, according to Rebecca

Marcon’s Toddlers Meanwhile, 71% teachers see over-testing

vs. 17% parents…cheating on the rise UK backing out after 7 yrs of high-stakes

testing Germany has abandoned ‘kindergarten

reform’

…who said it?“Imagination is more important

than knowledge itself”

Albert Einstein

Academics vs. learning for Life Loss of free time, harried lifestyles

predispose to burnout, not competence -stress, depression, anxiety on rise

So… about those C&AAP 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

Should we worry? Last two decades, children have lost 8 hours

unstructured/spontaneous play/wk 30,000 schools have replaced recess/arts/music

with academics (why? -parents and US/NCLB) C&AAP ‘deeply concerned (2007) about the

reduction in time for socio-dramatic play in preschools and kindergartens’ 34% KGs have no recess ‘02, 38% ‘08

academics vs. play

Which provides more readiness-building opportunities?

Literacy’s 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

Outcome: after third grade - no difference; after fourth…

academic/curriculum driven group had lower grades than child-initiated/developmental play group

Kathy Hirsch-Pasek (Temple University)…

Builds on Marcon’s toddlers’, but focus is on overall readiness

Academic preschools vs. developmental/play oriented preschools

And by 4th grade...

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

…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

“global warming is to the environment as the erosion of play in childhood is to human imagination/creativity” -Alliance for Childhood

Media and “educare” 87% parents feel media usage will help kids

succeed in school (Job #1) 83% under 6rs use screen media…61% babies

watch 90 mins…90% 4-6rs watch 125 mins. 1/3 under 6rs TV in bedrm, another 1/3-24/7 83% under 6rs have computer at home, most

with internet (more DVD, video usage) not so fast…

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

Tube changes for better/worse 66% say kids imitate positive

behaviors, 45% aggressive behaviors, esp. older boys

Age compression, branding of childhood, movie rating slippage

Young brain makes no distinction between real and televised violence

Kaiser Family Foundation Media Family Poll 2006

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

Einstein and What’s Hot…

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

Resources Zerotothree.org Allianceforchildhood.org canadianCRC.com Developingchild.harvard.edu Mediaed.org