Early Years Education

Children in this stage learn to master conservation tasks and perform other mental tasks that have to do with physical events. They also learn organizational tasks such as sorting things by size, or lining up toys. Children in this stage, however, are only able to perform mental operations through physical experience. They are not able to fully understand logical concepts and use hypothetical reasoning beyond the here and

“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.

A child’s perceptual development is constantly growing and changing from the very beginning of life. Sensory systems including touch, vision, hearing, taste, and smell develop early on but tend to mature with development. A child’s senses are a natural set of capabilities that allow them to form perceptions. When children use movement to interact with their environmental stimuli they are using their senses to gather and interpret information. The information that is collected through the senses enables young children to form ideas and concepts (Ruffin, 2009). Infants and young children are rapidly learning about the world while using sensory systems to form perceptions in their experiences. As a result, perception is increasingly important in cognition and plays a large role in a child’s ability to think or gain knowledge. With that being said, I have concluded that infants and young children already possess or are naturally equipped with the systems that enable them to be cognitively competent.

I did not previously intend to graduate early but due to circumstances beyond my control, I decided it would be best for me to use the time I would spend in my second semester working and setting aside money for college. I had most of my graduation requirements completed from my previous high school and by the time I enrolled in my current high school many of the classes I had planned to take were already filled.

The early years learning environment is dominated by a play- orientated pedagogy. That is, a child’s learning is enhanced in an environment where there is an equal balance between child and adult initiated activities. The role of the practitioner is to create this balance while planning for the activities to incorporate the statutory framework.

There is speculation in the scientific community that human children are born with the adaptation to “think and act like scientists and philosophers” (Blaisdell, 2015). Previous research already told us that infants and toddlers make causal inferences that are more or less abstract, higher-order, or relational in many ways. However, the previous studies indicate that learning higher-order relations and using them to guide actions is dependent on direct instruction, training, language, and/or cultural input. The objective of Caren Walker and Alison Gopnik’s 2013 study entitled “Toddlers Infer Higher-Order Relational Principles in Causal Learning” was to determine whether human toddlers have an ability to infer causal higher-order relations to solve tasks without guidance, cues or extensive training.

Jean Piaget was a biologist in the 1900s who studied the development of children's understanding. He believed that children didn't just gather information and add on it as they got older. Instead, he suggested that intelligence develops and progresses as one gets older through a series of four stages; the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stage. The sensorimotor stage begins from birth until the age of 2, during this stage knowledge is limited, an infant tends to use motor activity without the use of symbols. They spend this time experimenting constantly, For example, putting things in the

Prior to a formal education process consisting of school buildings children’s education occurred through their interactions with their family. Fathers instructed sons. Mothers instructed daughters. This experience was carried out primarily by association and imitation. Children learned from life experience gained from living in groups in addition to participating in daily activities. In ancient times children were considered miniature adults after gaining control over bodily functions, the ability to independently groom and feed their selves. Even children under the age of five worked to support the household. As civilization expanded, training through apprenticeship evolved. Historical records over 4000 years ago, documented children

Literacy is a foundation of building experiences and relationships that occurs in early childhood. Language development is the starting of engaging children actively in the process of learning.Therefore, this concept is chosen for research and theoretical responses from the prior knowledge in the previous era.

I have chosen to study for a degree in early education, as I became interested in this area when my younger brother Oliver, aged 4, was diagnosed with Asperger’s, which led me to do research to both understand the implications for him because of it and how I could help him. As part of this, I have learned to care for my brother knowing how to avoid the triggers that could distress him. I also learned and appreciated his need for routine and the importance of pre- planning his activities in advance. This also developed into an interest in learning about different forms of autism.

The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to two years of age; during this stage children use their senses and movements to discover their world. For example, as a baby shakes his or her raddle, they discover their actions cause the raddle to make a sound. During this stage children also develop object permanence, an understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t see them. For example, a baby raddle that’s covered by a blanket continues to exist even if the baby can’t see it. In the preoperational stage, children age two to seven, learn language development, use symbols when participating in make believe play, and are egocentric. For example, children may use an empty box to symbolize a car when playing and may expect other

Jean Piaget would classify these toddlers in the cognitive development stage he defined as pre-operational. Learning by this group is mainly achieved by symbolic thought. “Symbolic thought is the ability to mentally or symbolically represent concrete objects, actions, and events” (Seefeldt & Wasik, 2010, para. 1). Development of this nature is all about expanding and using thinking skills, not about getting information, therefore an activity such as ‘I Spy’, which directs the child by saying “I spy something yellow and round” and asks them to find what the adult is referring to, will cause the child to use symbolic thought to find that object. In their mind, the child must then analyze ‘what do I see that is yellow and round’; even if they do not know the name of the object, they can point to it,

Play is an excellent way to entice children, especially those between age four and six. Because they feel safe, and are engaging in a fun activity, they are more open to accepting new ideas. Additionally, it has been proven that play helps develop children 's cognitive, psycho-social and other abilities in a way which would not be possible in a traditional school, using the standard curriculum. For this reason, changes that happened over the last two decades move towards a completely free-flow organizations in early years learning setting. This, it is believed, will enable children to learn better, acquire new skills and develop those that they already have so that they can be better prepared for adulthood. Relying on the cognitive development theories of Vygotsky and Piaget, play learning is a good, and fun way to motivate children. However, theoretical approach to learning and play would not be possible without the generally accepted view that play is normal condition for children, one that enables them to access, study and understand the world that surrounds them.

Jean Piaget was a biologist that studied his own children and thought children go through different stages of cognitive development grounded on four set stages. Piaget believed that children learn and develop best through exploring their own environment by using real objects and to discover things themselves. Piaget explained a schema to be 'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning '. (MCLEOD, Jean Piaget, 2015) Cognitive development happens in four set stages that apply to all customs of learning. The first stage of development is sensori-motor which is between the ages of 0 to 2 years. Babies and young children learn through their senses; looking, touching, smelling, tasting and through physical activity and interaction with their environment. During this stage, babies and young children also begin to understand their world in terms of actions and has a basic understanding of the principle of relationships.

The next stage, preoperational stage, talks about toddlers associating the world we live in to what they see on paper, such as drawings. When I was in kindergarten I remember my teacher having us