Unit 18 E2

E1: Describe the development of children in a selected age range and in TWO (2) areas of development/E2:Describe the development of children in a selected age range, different from E1 and in TWO (2) areas of development.

I am going to describe the development of children aged birth to three years and three to seven years and also describe two areas of development which are: physical development and social development for the selected age range.

Children from birth to three months start to develop motor skills from head moves down through arms and the trunk and then the legs and then the feet. A baby turns its head side to side when laying on the back or belly and brings both hands together at chest or mouth at one month of age. At the age of 3months the child starts
to lift the head and chest up. According to E Y F S “ a child from birth to 11 month’s physical development is very rapid and they increase the control of their muscles” (the early years foundation stage card may2008, 21.12.11) At the age of 12 to 24 months children starts walking unsupported across the room without stopping or by changing direction between 13 and 15 months. Around 18 months children start to kick and throw balls around and start climbing stairs with the support of an adult, running and propelling scoot toys. These join the toddler’s set of mobility and play skills. Between the age of 2 and 3 years the balance improves and the toddler walks with a smoother pattern. During this stage he or she learns to stand briefly on one foot, walks backwards and walks on tiptoe. At the age of four children should be able to feed themselves with little spillage, try to write their name, unbutton some button and also build seven to nine block tower. At the age of five he or she should be able to stand on one foot and they should be able to draw a person with the body. At the age of six children learn to skip with ropes and they also know right to left.

Language development.

Children from birth to 3months start to develop their language skills by making pleasure sounds (cooing) and also increases and decreases sucking behavior in response to sound. They seem to recognize their adult’s voice and when playing with you, notice toys that make sound and they also pay attention to music. Children aged 7 to 12 month enjoy games and peek-a-boo, listens when spoken to and they also begin to respond to request such as ‘come here’. Children at this age also cry differently for different needs. Children age 4 to 6 months develop their language skills by making gurgling sounds when left or ‘do u want more’ and they also imitate different speech and sounds. At 12 to 15 month children start to understand simple direction especially with vocal or physical cues and they also use one or more words with meaning. At the age of 15 to 18 months children develop their language skills by saying more words each month; vocabulary of 5-20 word and they are also able to follow simple commands without cues e.g. get your bear. Children aged 18 to 21 month develop their language skills by following simple commands and understands simple questions such as ‘roll the ball and where your shoes’ is. They also listen to simple stories, songs and rhymes. They also point at pictures in book when named. At the age of four children can use correct grammar most of the time and they can count up to 20. At the age of five children talk about the past, present and future with the good sense of time. At the age of six they can pronounce the sound of his/her own language and they can talk fluently with confidence.

Even though there are stages of child’s development but we should never forget that every child is different and they develop at different stage

E3: Explain TWO (2) theoretical perspectives relevant to the areas of development.

I have included in the booklet in the appendix pg 1 ……. based on theoretical perspective.

E4: Include THREE (3) observations as appendices

The observations I carried out in my placement were based on language development. All three observations are based on communication, reading and listening for instructions. The observations can be seen in appendix 2

E5:Identify and use THREE(3) different observation techniques.

I have identified that there are many ways you can observe a child such as:
Time sample
Socio gram
Free description
Check list

I have used three different techniques for my observation which are: free description, time sample and check list. Free description is an easy method to observe children because you record what you see. The result can be repetitive sometimes. There are advantages and disadvantages of free description method. The advantages are you don’t need any preparation, you only need pen and paper, it is also easy to learn and it is a good starting method. The disadvantages of free description are you can only record what you see when you doing observation, key points must be recorded, results can be repetitive and your arms can ache if you writing for long period of time. Check list is often used for assessing a child on a regular basis, to help member of staff to plan for each child’s need. Checklist is a way of recording the development of a child in the present and helping with the planning for the child to reach next stage. Time sample are useful way to collect and present observation data over a long period of time it can also be used to observe a child’s behaviour to identify possible concern. For instance, a shy child who does not relate to other children. The observer needs to be aware of not making it obvious to the child that they are being observed.

E6:Explain how to maintain confidentiality throughout the observation/C1:Analysethe issues which are essential to confidentiality and objective observation.

It is important to maintain confidentiality throughout the observation because in addition to records and other written information it is important that you maintain confidentiality when it comes to talking about children or their families, therefore when observing a child you should keep the information of the child in note book or folder, you should never use child’s name when observing them u can use letters or o number that identify which child you have observe e.g. child X. you should also not discuss about the child’s observation outside setting and you should never talk about the child to your supervisor in front of other parents because if they hear about the child and if that parent knows child’s family then they can tell them what has been discuss about their child and the parent of the child might not like it and that could lead to breaking confidentiality which can put you in huge trouble.Issues regarding; sharing information, safe storage of information, working with parents, legal requirements, policies and procedures, personal attitudes and values are very important because the work resolves around relationships you have to set clear boundaries and stick to them. It is important to be objective when observing a child because you should only record what you see otherwise it means that observation does not need to be accurate. “When observing it is important to be as objective as you can. You should note down just the facts of what you see and hear during the observation and nothing else” (Walker etal, 2008 pg. 56)

E7: Show an understanding of diversity and inclusive practice

It is important to value each child as individual because each child has different needs and they develop in different stages. For instance you might have some children in your setting who needs more support than the other children e.g. there might be a child who has difficulty in writing where as a carer it is your duty to give this child extra support and help. By giving children extra support or help doesn’t mean that you are being unfair to other children. It is also important to value each child as individuals to encourage children to feel independent and feelings of self-worth in each child by focusing on strengths and successes.

It is also important to value each child as individual because every child ha different likes and dislikes as a carer it is important for you to know their likes and dislikes because then you know what their needs are what they like doing and what they don’t. For instance one child might like to have toast in their breakfast whereas other child doesn’t like toast they might like cereal and you just give both children same thing e.g. toast then the child who doesn’t like eating toast end up not eating because this is not what they like. All children have a need to develop, which is helped by exploring and discovering with the people and the things that are around them. Children should be treated fairly regardless of race, religion or abilities. This applies no matter: what they think or say, what type of family they come from, what language they speak, what their parents do. All children have an equal right to be listened to and valued in the setting.

D1:Discuss the child's needs in relation to the selected area of development/B1: Reflect on implication for practice of the assessment of children through observation.

I am going to discuss about child’s needs in relation to language development. By observing a child I have identified that she is not confidence in writing this may be because she needs more support in how to holding pencil. Before carrying out my observations i had to plan and prepare what observation technique i was going to use and which child i was going to observe and what skills to focus on. As being prepared is essential in making sure observations can go according to plan. Throughout the observation it can tell us a lot about the practice. For instance, how the setting plans to meet individual needs, routines and which activities are used. By carrying out the observation I was able to identify child’s strength and weakness and showed the child is developing within the milestones for the age. The observation helped me adapt my practice to help me meet the need of child. For instance, give this child bigger pen or board pen or hold child’s hand and go around the letter or number with the child. When a practitioner observes a child in a setting the practitioner is looking at the child’s over all development according to child’s age and stage of development and after observing a child if practitioner finds that there is *one child who cannot use scissors properly then the practitioner will try to help child by giving bigger scissor or if child is having difficulties cutting paper then practitioner can put lines around the paper so that child can follow it.*

D2: Explain how the observations can be used to support planning to meet the child's needs

The observations can be used to support planning to meet the child’s needs by reflecting the ‘can do’ approach to development and be sensitive to individual needs of children. This will then support staff to plan, guide and support children to the next stage of learning and development as they progress towards the Early Learning Goals using the six areas of learning such as: personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy, problem solving reasoning and numeracy, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development and creative development. To involve parents as part of the ongoing observation and assessment process. Settings share activity sheet’ with the parents and include them in the learning journeys. Parent’s response sheets, these are given out at the parents evening. Setting encourages all the staff to discuss their child’s day with the parents daily. The children take home ’Apple’s’ diary and the parents record their experiences together, using written words and pictures.

A: Evaluate the influence of theoretical perspectives on aspects of practice which affect the development of children.

The understanding of child development is essential, allowing us to understand the intellectual, emotional, physical and social that children go thorough from birth and into early adulthood. In my placement I have seen how they follow Skinner’s (1904-1990) theory which is recognised in developing the behaviourist approach to learning theory. Skinner’s work is based on Edward Lee Thorndike’s law of effect, which is “the original concept of operant conditioning was first pioneered by Edward Lee Thorndike (1898) showed through experiments with cats that the result of the behaviour would affect subsequent behavior” (Tassoni etal, 2007, pg. 84) The way Thorndike’s experiment worked was by placing hungry cat into the box, then observing its behavior as it tried to escape and obtain some food. For the most part, he noticed that the cats obtained the food only by "trial-and-error." On a successive attempt, the ordinary trial-and-error behaviour decreased and the cat would escape quickly. Skinner adapted and furthered the work of Thorndike in the accepted model of ’operant conditioning’ Skinner has divided the consequence of action into three groups which are: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment. For instance, at my placement when children do not listen to the teachers then they get warning first if they still don’t listen then they have to sit on ‘thinking chair’ e.g. two of the children in my placement they were hitting other children and running around, my supervisor asked both children to stop but they did not listen so then my supervisor put them on thinking chair and told them if they don’t listen then they won’t be going on the walk with rest of the children. Even though those two children got punished and didn’t go on walk but still they carried on misbehaving this show that punishment doesn’t always work.

Vygotsky was a contemporary of other greater thinkers such as Freud, Skinner and Piaget.The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) refers to the gap or difference between a child's existing abilities and what he or she can learn under the guidance of an adult or a more capable peer.
The proximal zone is, the gap between what children are already able to do and what they are not quite ready to achieve by themselves. Vygotsky suggested that interactive learning with adults is most effective in helping children cross this zone. According to Vygotsky, adults and more advanced peers must help direct and organize a child's learning before the child can master and internalize it. For instance, at my placement I have seen my supervisor planning an activity which helps children develop their intellectual development e.g. I have done activity with children where they had to make snow man shape. I already had two circle one was small which represented snow man face and the other was big circle which was snow man’s body. Children had to tell me which is the small circle and which is the big circle and what was the shape of snow man’s that was it square or rectangle, before they stick the snow man on the
paper.

Tassoni, P. Bulham, K. Eldridge, H. (2007) CACHE level 3 Child Care and Education, Heinemann.

Walker, M. Beaver, M. Brewster, J. Neaum, S. Tallack, J. (2008) CACHE Level 2 Child Care and Education, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.