Early Childhood, A Stage In Child Development

Chapter two discusses various theorists that helped to mold and shape early childhood education to where it is today. There are several different theorists that contributed to the development of early childhood education. Some of these theorists include Alfred Adler, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and John Dewey. Each theorist developed a unique theory that has caused early childhood guidance and education to flourish like it has today. Without learning and building on these theories, early childhood guidance and education would never develop or change. The chapter explains how some theories may seem strange to the contemporary families, but these theories are the foundation of how early childhood education got to where it is today. The book goes

Early Childhood Education illustrates the teaching and care of children in other environments outside of the home. Early childhood centers on the development of all children no matter their gender, race, abilities, or ethnic orientation and gives knowledge of early childhood learning process, which entails values, culture, desires of parents for their children, and especially a child’s need for knowledgeable functionality in society.

“Early roots of play as a best practice for early learning was documented by Plato, a Greek philosopher, who insisted that play is considered a natural activity of childhood.”(Ingrid Crowther, 2011, Pg. 2) Early Childhood Education is a term that refers to educational programs that are devoted to children from birth to the age of eight. “Children of this age learn by exploring and investigating; therefore, their environment should support and encourage this process.”(Rebecca Isbell and Betty Exelby, 2001, Pg. 11) Early childhood environments should be attractive and exciting. These environments should allow children to work and play using proper resources, materials, and tools.

When babies and young children feel valued, secure and trust the people around them, they are more likely to thrive and achieve their developmental goals. Certain areas of development are linked to the strength of attachment that children have with those around them, especially emotional and language development. We also know that children learn from those they have a strong bond with and so cognitive development can also be linked to strong relationships. This is of course equally true with their primary carer, for example their parents, as well as with their key person in their setting.

For infants and toddlers with severe disabilities, the early years of development were crucial to attain optimal development (Guralnick, 2000), with an important factor the parent-child relationship. The parent(s) are the first person the child interacts with (Aydin & Yamac, 2014), continually shaping his or her social, emotional, communicative, and cognitive abilities (Landry et al., 2006, as cited in Warren & Brady, 2007, pp. 300). Conducive to this outcome, maternal responsivity and positive parenting (Dyches et al., 2012) should be key characteristics of parent-child

Early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development and of their well-being. The growth in children is both rapid and differential. A

Early Childhood is a stage in human development. It includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards also this is where children play. However this is where language is learned and being used, they take what is and they combine it with what is possible. Also this is the stage where children become very curious asking Who? What? When? Where? And Why? Furthermore this is when the child develops a huge imagination and a imaginary friends.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) is also nursery education and is a branch of education theory which relates to the teaching of young children (formally and informally) up until the age of about eight. Infant/ toddler education, a subset of early childhood education, denotes the education of children from birth to age two. The history of early childhood care and education refers to the development of care and education of children between zero and eight years old throughout history. Early childhood education has a global scope, and caring for and educating young children has always been an integral part of human societies. Arrangements of fulfilling these societal roles have evolved over time and remain varied across cultures, often reflecting family and community structures as well as the social and economic roles of women and men. Historically, such arrangements have largely been informal, involving family, household and community members. Early childhood education is a board term used to describe any type of educational program that serves children in their preschool years, before they are old enough to enter kindergarten. Early childhood education may consist of any number of activities and experiences designed to aid in the cognitive and social development of preschoolers before they enter elementary school. How and where early childhood education is provided can be very different from one state to the next or even from one school to the next within the same

Relationships with peers have significant importance in the lives of very young children by allowing them to experiment with roles and relationships and develop social cognitive and

Chapter 5 “Early Childhood: Body and Mind” section “Thinking during Early Childhood” teaches about the cognitive development of children during early childhood at around ages 2-6 years old, in which, children targeted at this age do not use logical operations (reasoning process). Such a term is called the “Preoperational Intelligence” conducted by Piaget. Furthermore, Piaget’s preoperational thought establishes that children have language but use symbolic thought where “words can refer to things not seen and that an item, like a flag, can symbolize something else (in this case, a country).” Symbolic thought proves Animism; the belief that young children have thinking that “natural objects are alive and nonhuman animals have the same characteristics of a child” (Berger, 173).

Under each cone is a car. Two cars are blue and the other car is

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary (1828), “observation is an act of recognizing and noting a fact or occurrence.” Observation in Early Childhood is important so teachers are able to meet developmental needs of young children through evaluation and assessment. The purpose of this case study is to observe the characteristics and behaviors of a child’s stages of development in an early childhood class; the child’s dominant stages of play would also be highlighted based on Parten’s stages of play. Activities and strategies would also be recommended to improve areas in which the child can be assisted. These areas would be the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.

Researchers have identified the importance of interplay in the healthy development of cognition and social development (Biro, Alink, Huffmeijer, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2015). Engaging in daily interaction will allow infants to mimic and learn socialization, this will influence the way that toddlers and young children engage with peers and caregivers throughout their childhood (Biro, Alink, Huffmeijer, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2015). Learning to connect with others will encourage individuality, cognition and social skills that can only be learned by experience. Researchers conclude that caregivers and parental figures prove invaluable to developing a healthy attachment with effective social-emotional experiences (Biro, Alink, Huffmeijer, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2015). Middle childhood, cognitive development throughout childhood is a valuable process that will allow children to flourish both independently and within peer groups (Burger, K., 2009). Scrutinizing diverse social backgrounds and educational availability, researchers have identified long and short term effects in the cognitive development of children (Burger, K., 2009). Data supports that the higher quality of both education and social activity is beneficial to the overall development of an individual, it is important to acknowledge that the quality need not equate to fiscal quality, as it is the time and energy that is given to a child

In this essay, I will discuss my experience during middle and late childhood. I will address three stages which are the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. The physical development consists of body and brain growth, health issues, and motor skills. The cognitive development consists of language, memory, and attention. Socioemotional development is based on relationship, employment, and personality.

Early childhood education is a time where young children develop important learning skills. Young children, aged birth through approximately 8 years (young children, 2004) interact with one another to develop social and even motor skills that they will carry with them later in life. Development in young children involves the early years in a child's physical, social-emotional, language, and cognitive development (Baur, 1998).