Essay on Child Development

The relationship between play and learning seems obvious to many child professionals and parents, and yet there are still lack of understanding surrounding the importance of children's play. Some people believe that children need to "work" not play, and that playing serves no useful purpose in a learning and development environment. This is surprising considering that play, with its high levels of motivation and potential enjoyment empowers children (as well as people

Describe the expected pattern of children and young people’s development from birth to 19 years, to include: physical development, communication and intellectual development, social, emotional and behavioural development.

Psychology is diverse, and there are many diverse specialty areas available to individuals seeking a career in the field of psychology. Most Psychologists choose to specialize in subfields that focus on specific subjects. Obtaining a profession in any of the specialty areas would require graduate study in that area of interest. Some professionals have a broad general knowledge, are skilled in several areas, and work with a range of clients. Some are specialist in treating a specific type of psychological disorder, or work with a specific age group. For those interested in specializing in a psychology career, developmental Psychology is one of the many fields available.

When an infant arrives in the world they are helpless tiny humans who depend on adults for every need from love, to feeding them. It is amazing how these tiny babies grow into adults able to make decisions and become self-dependent. There are many theories about how children develop and what roles the environment plays, what people affect their lives and how events can shape their personalities. Some of these children have and easy life and some have a harder time making that journey to adulthood.

A child's development affects how they learn. All children don't fit the norms of development but not all children should be looked down on because of this. The development of the body and mind leads to the development of skills a child learns in life. Teachers need to help the child expand their skills and the knowledge to do the skills well.

“Play is developmentally appropriate for primary-age children and can provide them with opportunities that enrich the learning experience” (Copple & Bredekamp 2009). Early childhood education holds two main focuses; a child-based focus and a family-based focus. Early childhood education has positive outcomes on the child through their learning experiences, and their growth and development. Based on the family, the results of early education happen through the communication that the family has with the educators and by the encouragement they get from within themselves, and also from the educators.

The Early Years Learning Framework relates the importance of play to notions of belonging, being and becoming. It states that children make sense of their social worlds through playing with others (DEEWR, 2009). Article 13 of the UN Convention reads that every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child (Connor, 2010). It is important to note that play has multiple approaches and that children’s play varies greatly according to culture, interests,

Observer visited a play place of a restaurant in New Jersey, Hackensack. Why I have chosen the place is easy to observe every part of child development such as cognitive, social emotional, language as well as physical at the same time. Observer performed the observation on April 28 from 1 pm to 3pm. The child was an Asian boy. He has strait short black hair with dark brown eyes and thin black eye brows. His height looked around 37 inches that he may be a little smaller than other early childhood children. He looks thin and has a full set of teeth inside his mouth, full cheeks, and a small button nose.

For parents to be having such a large concern over whether children’s programming is becoming to sexually inappropriate demonstrates that times are changing and more of this sexual content is being found. In 2011, a study was completed that found “TV was the medium where youth were most likely to encounter sexual content, with three-quarters of kids saying they had seen sexual material there,” which shows that this is becoming an increasing problem (Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, 2012, pg. 12). Not only are these scenes being included in adolescent shows like Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill, they are being found in tween shows like Hannah Montana as well as a majority of shows and movies for children like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Animaniacs. Children being exposed to these types of media to early is creating effects that can either be informational or detrimental to the future of a child’s life. The author of a study completed at Harvard University, John Hughes, said “one must ask if that is because the culture we live in and the media we consume are forcing more mature themes, ideas, and issues down the throats of children” because the media in the world today is creating an environment that includes sexual content, violent behaviors and offensive language (2006, pg. 1). Children are unprepared for this type of content

Play contributes to children’s “physical, emotional and social well-being” (Else, 2009, p.8) and through play, the child’s holistic development and well-being is being constantly accounted for as is it led by the individual. The child decides what s/he wants to do and does it; it is

In addition to play promoting pleasure as well as physical activity, play forms the holistic growth in children’s development, or to put it in another way using Brown (2003) acronym, acknowledged as ‘SPICE’; play represents the ‘social interaction’; ‘physical activity’; ‘intellectual stimulation’; creative achievement and emotional stability, (with the addition of “compound flexibility”) in a child’s development. Compound flexibility is the idea that a child’s psychological development occurs using the relationship between his/her environment with the adaptability of the child himself. Thus the flexibility of surroundings and his/her adaptableness can provide children the means to explore; experiment and investigate (Brown, 2003, pp. 53-4). On the contrary, the absence of social interaction and physical activity through the means of play can inhibit children’s overall development and without the consistency of play children suffer a “chronic lack of sensory interaction with the world, [which leads to] a form of sensory deprivation” (Hughes, 2001, p.217 in Lester and Maudsley 2006).

From the moment a child is born, that child is raised by guardians who shape and influence their lives. We are all born and raised in different cultures, which ultimately affects how we live and perceive the world around us. Specifically, play is an essential part of our childhood development and contributes to our learning and understanding. In the attached article, play and the effect culture has on it is

In this assignment I am going to describe a child observation that I have done in a nursery for twenty minutes in a play setting. I will explain the strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observation through the key developmental milestones based in Mary Sheridan (2005) check-list and provide a theoretical explanation to support the naturalistic observation.

“Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights” (Ginsburg, 2007, p 182). There is no opposing argument to the statement that play is essential to children and youth in all domains of development. Although certain types of play may be more meaningful in terms of development, any kind of play is better than no play at all. “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds” examines and reflects on Ginsburg’s research on the importance of play during childhood development and guidelines for pediatricians on how to advocate for children in terms of protected play and a balanced lifestyle during development. In this journal, I found why play is beneficial, the consequences of reduced play, and the factors in the ever-changing routine of childhood, why this change is a problem, the effect this change has on many families, and some proposed solutions, as well as advice on how to promote healthy development and growth through play.

Media has always sexualized women through television, music videos, movies, and magazines. It is apparent that the sexualizing process is now starting at a very early age. Many young girls are being exposed to the unhealthy messages through innuendos or even direct sexual references. The large amounts of exposure that young girls encounter of sexual stimuli leaves them having to interpret it themselves which is dangerous for their development. Media and marketing focuses the girl’s attention on the aspect of sexuality, causing girls to develop an unhealthy sexual self-image.