Stephen Bezruchka First Thousand Days Analysis

Early childhood is the most important phase of development in one’s lifespan as the experiences during childhood sets the course for later stages of development. It has been noted that a mother’s actions during pregnancy may influence the development of an infant. The developmental influences include prenatal, perinatal and neonatal environments. (Santrock, 2002) Although babies come into the world with no say or control over which family they will be placed into, or the environment in which they will begin to live in, theorists agree that the first two years are crucial, with early emotional, physical and social development influenced by the infant’s biological and environmental factors (Sigelman, Rider, & De-George Walker, 2013). The

There are many factors that can influence a child and young person’s development, particularly in relation to their background. The formative years can be termed as crucial in regards to development and any major setback can create many problems for the future.

A child’s environment, for example, their family or school play a huge part in their development. Some of the main factors that influence a child’s development are their family, where the child lives, and socio-economic status. These factors often cross over and blend as they are related.

Child`s development must be seen holistically as each area of development are connected with and affects every other area of development.

Socially and Emotionally the family is a big influence in a child’s development. Parents have a big role by providing care and guidance for their development. Unfortunately some families cannot promote the development of a child because of the conflict among the parents. A single parent can have difficulties in boosting a better development in children and young people, sometimes a child is separated from its siblings and this can affect them too.

There are many examples that show how different aspects of development can impact one another. In majority of cases, one aspect will lead to another as a natural result, so for example, if a child has a speaks foreign language as his/her first and family just came to UK to live, this may lead to having language barrier, he/she may become shy, not very communicative, isolated, which affects emotional and intellectual development, further, he/she may have difficulty making friends, which can weaken his/her self esteem, affecting social and behavioral development.

Family dynamics can have a positive effect on child’s development because the child will feel settle and have a positive input into their lives and good support to help them develop and achieve what they want to achieve, this has a positive effect on their behaviour to. If family dynamics are negative then this have a negative affect on their developments such as divorce because the child may be spending time at different house and having one parent missing so they will feel unsettled and not able to concentrate on things. They may also experience missing one of their parents of relatives being in prison.

Without it, it can negatively impact on social development. Health-poor nutrition can have a negative impact on development psychologically and physically. It can cause weight problems and unhealthy eating can have other negative effects if they are not taught to eat healthy early on in life. Parental interactions-this can have a positive or negative effect on a child's development. If a child has time spent playing, reading, doing activities with them, it will have a positive impact on their development. However if a child is neglected/ignored by their parents, it may affect their development in a more negative way. Learning environment-a strong learning environment both at home and at school/nursery that is informative/supportive is very important as this may improve their development. If the educational environment is poor or under privileged, development will be negatively affected. Therefore good parental support and involvement can play an important part in a child's development. Pollution-pollutants from within the environment can affect a child's physical development, they can lead to breathing difficulties and growth restrictions. Social background-factors

The success of this stage is measured by the feeling of safety and security of our world. This will set the child up for success for the rest of their life. The other side is failure that would lead mistrust and the feeling of insecurity of the world around them. This will set them up to have issues especially in relationship. McLeod mentions, “For example, if the care has been harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable then the infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the world around them or in their abilities to influence events” (McLeod 19).

Development of a child have been a thing that most of the parents have been neglecting without noticing that it is very important in the development of a child’s character and social

Family environment and background has a huge effect on a child’s development. If a child lives within a happy, healthy and stimulating environment where good relationships are formed then it is unlikely that there will be any developmental issues and children will go on to thrive. A lot depends on how many are in the family, the housing and area in which they live, what facilities there are locally, whether parents work or are workless.

The definition of early life as a social determinant of health given by Rumbold and Dickson-Swift is “A good start in life means supporting mothers and young children.” (Rumbold & Dickson-Swift, 2012, p. 180). Early life describes the period from prenatal development to eight years of age, and is a time of remarkable brain growth and development, this period establishes the foundations for subsequent development and learning (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007).

Early childhood education has not always been the top priority in the education world. Although, research has proved that it should be the top priority as the benefits of Early Childhood Education are innumerous. Extensive neuroscience research has discovered that the brain is build over time and it is built from the bottom up. Early childhood experiences directly affect the quality brain development. Establishing a sturdy foundation through a high quality early childhood education experience, will dramatically develop child's brain. As a result, they will have a brighter future. In this essay, I will propose a plan for the children of 2020 and how to ensure the best early childhood education experience. I personally believe that racially, culturally, linguistically and developmentally responsive practices parental involvement are critical to the sturdy foundation that is essential to the positive early childhood experience.

Some fact (Yarrow, 1961, as cited in Early Experience, 1967) states that also the first few years of life have crucial effects upon later development and adult characteristics and that the significance of early infantile experience for later life development has been repeated so frequently and so seriously that the general effectiveness of this declaration is now almost unchallenged. Bowlby, 1951, (as cited in Early Experience, 1967) quotes that “the prolonged deprivation of the young child of maternal care may have grave and far-reaching effects in his character and so on the whole of his future life.” In comparison to this J.B. Watson (1928) also felt passionately about the first two years of a Childs life. He believed they were the most important and that

Infancy is the second lifespan developmental stage within childhood. During this time an infant will experience many changes physically, cognitively and psychosocially. It is a critical time for growth and development, therefore adequate nutrition and health promotion is mandatory. This essay will describe the physical, cognitive and psychosocial characteristics of the infancy lifespan stage, briefly describe two lifespan theorists, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget, in relevance to infancy and discuss two health behaviours, nutrition and vaccination in relation to the infancy lifespan stage.