Development is how a child grows physically and emotionally and learns to communicate, think and socialise.
Here is a summary of the 5 types of development we need to focus on as early childhood educators. Some are Kate's ideas and some are Lynda's:
Physical Development: how children move, how strong children are. Whether they can walk, jump, skip, run, roll, climb, talk, hold things, lift things.
Emotional Development: how children feel. Whether they can express their feelings. Whether they keep trying if they make a mistake. Whether they can bounce back when something goes wrong.
Social Development: how children get along with others and build relationships. Whether they can play with others, make friends, work in a team, be polite, have manners, share, listen to others.
Cognitive Development: how children think. Whether they can learn new things, solve problems, be curious, explore new ideas.
Communication Development: how children communicate. Whether they can talk, make eye-contact, be understood, give hugs, sing, take turns, listen to others,
The BRAIN controls development.
In the first five years of life, a child’s brain develops more and faster than at any other time in his/her life. 90% of a child's brain development happens before age 5.
Educators and parents have to make sure that children have really good care and education when they are very young. How good their education is when they are between 0-5 will affect whether or not they have a good life as an adult. For very young children to develop a healthy brain they need 4 things:
1. Responsive and nurturing adults
2. Stimulation
3. Limited stress
4. Good nutrition
Relationships with adults is one of the most important influences on their learning and development. They need lots of love and affection.
Children's main way of learning and developing is through play. The brain loves activities and experiences that are HOLISTIC. This means that more than one of the types of development happens at the same time. A good example of one of those activities was Kate's Outdoor Scavenger Hunt.
TASK: Watch this video with your coach on how play helps with child development. Play makes fireworks go off in children's brains! Write down what kind of development you can see happening in this video.
Comments