Early Play Years: Biosocial Development

It is still not fully understood whether or not the action of certain tasks is actually dependant on both of the brain hemispheres, because they both appear to have control over some tasks. An example of this, is the left hemisphere which is said to be responsible for the analytic part of the tasks, such as reading and making calculations. Within many individuals, it is also the dominant centre of language

The practitioner in an early years setting supporting children’s play learning and development is extremely important, as play helps stimulate the child’s brain, supports their needs on an educational level, as well as helping them with social difficulties such as building relationships, developing them and helping them gain confidence. Many people believe that a child learns best when they are motivated, such as Fredrich Froebel. He believed that children benefitted from all types of play. The McMillan sisters believed that outdoor play was extra important as they studied children who played and slept outside and discovered that they were the happier and healthier children in comparison to those who only played inside.

Developmental Child Psychology has been defined as a field of study that examines and attempts to explain why and how human beings change and develop over time. Changes include physical change, mental change and social change.

The human brain is a wondrous invention that has many scientists and researchers very busy to this very day. There are numerous qualities about the brain humans know about, yet there are still a great number of mysteries to the brain and how it functions left to be discovered and shared. Some facts scientists do know about the brain is that it is divided into to primary sections, called hemispheres. Each person has a left and right hemisphere of the brain. Each hemisphere is in charge of specific abilities, tasks, and functions. This paper will review what each hemisphere is responsible for and describe ways that each hemisphere is predisposed to learn.

Developmental psychology is the study of how human beings age and transform throughout the eight major stages of life. This paper will focus on the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of individuals found in stage two, (early childhood 1-6 year olds). Through exploring, and examining the countless influences that affect their growth development.

Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job is to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play (CHETNA). Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child (Ginsburg). Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to

Based on relevant reading and personal experience outline the theoretical rationale for play in the development of young children.

The results of this study show us the brain is not in fact symmetrical and the two hemispheres in the brain work in different ways. The left hemisphere is known to play the dominant role, which is in control of all complex behavioural and cognitive processes as for the right hemisphere it only plays a minor role. This report will further analyse how different the two hemisphers is the dominant side of the brain.

The brain assymetry experiment is to investigate on the distinctiveness of the right and left hemisphere in the brain as each hemisphere has certain specializations. The experiment were carried out by initially asking the 25 participant on whether they were left or right handed and they had to choose the chimeric image which appeared younger to them. Laterality quotients were calculated in order to deduce the effect of the right or left hemisphere on visuo-spatiality as the participants had to make judgements on the faces. Right-handed individuals showed leftward perceptual bias compared to left-handed individuals, indicating that the right

The neural tube is lined with stem cells and can be divided and help to create other new cells. In the formation of the prenatal brain development are the three main regions which are the hindbrain, midbrain and the forebrain. The hindbrain structure is the first to develop, then the midbrain and the forebrain. The developing brain cells multiply; differentiate and migrate to their final destination. Therefore, neurons are beginning to form the structure of developing nervous system. As the brain developed after birth, the frontal lobe developed voluntary movement, perception, reasoning, attachment and a sense of emotional well-being. As a child reaches 7 to 8 months of age, the increase maturation of the child system reflects the development of the brain as distant objects become clearer. At the age of six, the brain is full of energy and is about 95% of its adult weight. At that stage which is the concrete operational stage, neural or grey matter of pruning and wiring of the brain is still in progress. Fatty tissues around the neurons or the white matter increase the speed of electrical impulses and stabilize connection. Children are more capable of true logical thought but ignore social causes as they have very little or no regards for others but themselves. At the adolescence to maturity, the prefrontal cortex of the brain is the last to develop as it controls impulses and

Left-right brain dominance is about the fact that the distinct hemispheres influence thinking. The left hemisphere is associated with logical, analytical thinking and a linear approach to problem solving. The right hemisphere is associated with creative, intuitive and value-based thought process. It is important to note that everyone uses its both hemispheres, but to varying degrees. Four quadrants of the brain, related to different thinking style, have been identified:

There are three areas of brain development that occurs during early childhood. These three areas of development include myelination, growth of the corpus callsum and lateralization. Myelination is the process by which axons become coated with myelin. Myelin is a fatty coating on the axons that speed signals between neurons. Myelination plays an important role during early childhood. During early childhood most increased brain weight occurs because of myelination. Effects of myelinataion becomes notable in the motor and sensory ares of the brain, children begin to think at greater speeds and their thoughts occur with rapid succession. By early childhood most children are able to immideately name objects, catch, throw and write in proper sequences

     Child Psychology, study of children’s behavior-including physical, cognitive, motor, linguistic, perceptual, social, and emotional characteristics-from birth through adolescence. Child psychologists attempt to explain the similarities and differences among children and to describe normal as well as abnormal behavior and development. They also develop methods of treating social, emotional, and learning problems and provide therapy privately and in schools, hospitals, and other institutions.

Play is an important part of children’s life that keeps them healthy both physically and mentally. It is a way through which children explore their imagination, build various skills required for their development in different areas. In this essay, importance of play in children’s learning and development is discussed in relation to Piaget’s cognitive theory, Vygotsky socio-cultural theory and Te Whaariki. Moreover, the teacher’s role and strategies used in encouraging the play-based curriculum in early childhood education are also discussed.

What is play? Play is “a recreational activity; especially the spontaneous activity of children.” (Webster, 2010) Play is such a basic function and daily routine in a child’s life. Although the roles of play and the types of play change though age, it all incorporates in the growth and development of a child.