The Preschool Years
Three, four and five-year olds are commonly referred to as preschool-age children. These years are marked by an increase in independence due in large part to newly acquired language abilities and an increasing curiosity in their environment. Throughout these years, preschoolers learn how to express their needs and communicate with those around them. This balance is often difficult for a preschooler as their ability to manage inner control is still developing. As a child grows older and learns to manage these feelings and emotions, she begins to build skills that allow her to wait their turn, negotiate for what she wants and inhibit impulses. Before these skills are fully developed, however, parents are left with what many refer to as misbehaviors.
Misbehaving?
Perhaps a better known name for these years of common “misbehaviors” is the notorious “terrible twos.” As mentioned, the early years in a child’s development are marked by a flurry of behaviors that result from a child’s newfound independence—mood changes, temper tantrums, aggression, and the all-too-common “No!” Although these behaviors and emotions may seem worrisome, developmental research shows that this is a period in which young children learn how to assertively express what they want while balancing their wants with a newfound sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others. Therein lies the central aim of MAPS—If these behaviors and emotions are an expected part of a child’s development, when should a parent worry about their child throwing too many tantrums, or being too problematic?
What We Can Do?
Many of the tools used by doctors and therapists to assess behavioral and emotional problems were crafted for use with older children, and therefore may not be suitable to assess a preschool-age child’s behaviors. After all, what we define as problematic for a 10 year old is different from that of a three year old. Many tools ask parents to decide if a behavior occurs “sometimes” or “often,” but what is often for a preschool-age child? The challenge to parents, teachers and other professionals is how we know when these behaviors exceed the bounds of what is expectable and become cause for concern. By studying 3,700 families within our community, we hope to see the full range of behaviors and emotions (both problematic and not) that preschoolers show. Using various tools such as questionnaire surveys, interviews and computer-based activities, we will be able to see these patterns of varying behaviors and locate those that lie outside what we would expect in the development of a young child.