Slide outline for Lesson 3.2. Thirteen slides. Slide 2 is the silhouette hook; slide 3 runs the egg demo. No slide shows a real child; every child is described in words or drawn as a plain figure.
Ages and Stages of Young Children
- Lesson 3.2: Growing Across the Lifespan
- Unit 3: Growing Up, Getting Along
- Today: what a baby can do and when, one egg, and why a crying baby can be good news
Teacher notes
Image: a plain line drawing of a crib, a tricycle, and a stack of blocks.
Do now is on slide 2's lower half; put it on the board before students enter.
Who is that?
- Do now: guess in months: when does a baby (a) sit up without help, (b) walk, (c) say a first real word?
- Then: look at the shape. Who is that?
Teacher notes
Image: a solid black silhouette of a well known object or character on a white background (a bicycle, a slice of pizza, or a character the class knows). Nothing else.
Everyone knows the silhouette. Say: "You knew from a shadow. Your brain filled in the rest because you know it exists even when you cannot see all of it. A 6-month-old cannot do that yet. I will prove it."
The egg
- Does this egg exist?
- (napkin goes on)
- Does it exist now?
- What would a 6-month-old do? A 12-month-old?
Teacher notes
Image: an egg on a small tray; then the same tray with a cloth napkin over the egg.
Do it slowly. Ask both questions and wait. Students write predictions on the demo sheet, Part 1. Lift the napkin last: "It was there the whole time."
Object permanence
- The understanding that objects and people keep existing even when you cannot see, hear, or touch them
- The egg under the napkin: still there
- Your phone in your bag: still there
- A parent in the next room: still there
Teacher notes
Students write the definition in their own words on the demo sheet.
Before and after about 8 months
- Before: out of sight, out of mind. No searching. The baby tracks a moving toy and forgets it when it disappears
- After: the baby lifts the blanket, looks behind the couch, and cries when a parent leaves the room
- Why the crying? Because now the baby knows the parent exists somewhere else, and wants them back
Teacher notes
Image: two plain figures of a seated baby, one looking away from a blanket, one pulling the blanket up.
The word is "about." Some babies search at 7 months, some at 10. A pediatrician decides if it matters.
How it develops
- Birth to about 4 months: no search
- About 4 to 8 months: reaches for a toy that is partly hidden, gives up if fully hidden
- About 8 to 12 months: searches for a fully hidden toy. This is when it clicks
- About 12 to 24 months: finds a toy even after it is moved from hiding place to hiding place
Teacher notes
Image: a four-step timeline drawn as an arrow with four marks.
This is the sensorimotor stage in one line. Name it once; do not test it.
Why should you care?
- Separation anxiety: a baby who cries at drop-off knows you exist and misses you. The brain is on track
- Peek-a-boo: a game about object permanence. That is why babies love it
- Missing someone far away: same skill, grown up
- You exist when nobody is looking at you. That started here
Teacher notes
Students write one "why should you care" line on a sticky note and post it on the wall at the reset cue. Read three at the closure.
The Ages and Stages chart
- Six age rows, birth to 5 years. Four columns: physical, intellectual, emotional, social
- Eight cells are blank
- The milestone strips at the bottom of the handout fill them
- Cut, or draw a line. 10 minutes
Teacher notes
Image: a picture of the chart with the eight blank cells highlighted.
Grade 6 fills four blanks. Circulate; the strip most often misplaced is parallel play (students put it at 3 to 5).
The chart, filled in
- Rolls over: about 4 to 6 months. Sits without help: about 6 months
- Walks: about 12 to 15 months. First real words: about 12 months
- Two-word sentences: about 2 years. Parallel play: about 2 years
- Pretend play: about 2 to 3 years. Stranger wariness: about 8 to 12 months
Teacher notes
Thumbs: up for all eight right, sideways for six or seven. Compare to the do now guesses; circle any guess more than six months off.
What young children need from a caregiver
- Food and sleep on a schedule
- Being held and talked to, a lot
- Safe places to move
- Words, books, and the same answer every time
- Patience
Teacher notes
Build this from the room first, then show the slide. Students copy it onto Part 3.
Every new skill is a new hazard
- Rolling: the changing table
- Crawling: outlets, stairs, small things on the floor
- Walking: the stove, the street, anything on a low table
- Climbing: windows, cabinets, chairs by counters
- Talking: they will ask for what they cannot have
Teacher notes
Image: a plain line drawing of a room with the five hazards marked.
Assign Part 3: for 6 months, 2 years, and 4 years, one caregiver action and one safety step, each with a "because." Say that Lesson 3.17 turns this into the full babysitting checklist.
Grade 8 stretch: what the brain is doing
- In the first three years, the brain builds connections between its cells faster than at any other time
- The connections that get used stay. The ones that do not get trimmed
- Talking, holding, sleep, and real food are what feed that
- Two sentences: what does this mean for someone caring for a 1-year-old?
Teacher notes
This is the middle school version of the infant brain material. Do not go past it; no cell names, no chemistry.
Exit card and tomorrow
- 3 milestones with their age range
- 2 things a young child needs from a caregiver
- 1 safety step that matches a skill
- Tomorrow: adolescence, what is changing, and why it is normal
Teacher notes
Read three sticky notes from the wall. Leave the wall up through Lesson 3.4.