The Early Years Of A Child 's Life

Every child is a unique child, and all children are at diverse stages in their development, henceforth they all have their own individual needs. There are numerous advantages for children when their individual needs are met. Children turn out to be a greater amount of a compelling and self-coordinated learner, as they are enhanced in their gifts and capabilities. They are given support to help progression and to reach goals in learning and development to meet the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance.

(Fisher 2013:5) ‘The years from 0-7 are a period of human development with the capacity to learn.’ This quote links into this assignment as it shows how important the first couple of years in a child’s life can affect them the throughout their life. It shows how important it is to have the pioneers input into the practice and teaching of children as its important they have the best start in life to help them develop.

In order to apply theories and models of child development to support children’s development we must get to know each individual child by building a good relationship with the children through play, communication and answering to their personal needs. Observation and assessment is also key so that we know what each child is capable of and what they are working towards/could be encouraged towards. Good communication with parents is also beneficial as it helps the carer to see what the child is doing at home and to identify if there are things they do or don’t do at nursery that is different from home. It also helps to work out ways of encouraging development at home and at nursery.

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.

There are many different theories of development that help us to understand children’s behaviour, reactions and ways of learning. All equally important as they influence practice. To begin with there is Piaget’s constructivist theories which look at the way in which children seem to be able to make sense of their world as a result of their experiences and how they are active learners. He also suggested that as children develop so does their thinking. Piaget’s work has influenced early years settings into providing more hands on and relevant tasks for children and young people. In other words the children are ‘learning through play’. Teachers are working out the needs of children and plan activities accordingly.

As an early years practitioner you will recognise that children’s play is closely linked to their learning and development. Children learn in so many different ways but you will notice that they learn mainly through play. When children are able to do many different activity’s that allows them to lean but have fun at the same time thy will find what they are doing fun and will engage the children. It is important that when in you your setting you set up a variety of educational activity’s this way the children will be able to choose freely what they want to do.

Piaget developed a workable theory that has had considerable implications for education, most notably for child-centred learning methods in nursery and infant schools. Piaget argued that young children think quite differently from adults so therefore the teacher should adapt the teaching methods to suit the child. For example, nursery school classrooms can provide children with play materials that encourage their learning. Using sets of toys that encourage the practice of sorting, grading and counting. Play areas, where children can develop role-taking skills through imaginative play. Materials like water, sand, bricks and crayons that help children make their own constructions and create symbolic representations of objects and people in their lives. A teacher’s role is to create the conditions in which learning may best take place.

The theories/approaches established by historical and contemporary pioneers provide valuable insight, underpinning the understanding of how children develop, allowing teachers to enhance the holistic development of every child. This essay will analyse the: behaviourist theory; cognitive-developmental theory; and socio-cultural theory.

The early years framework emphasises a personal and individual approach to learning and development because valuing a child’s individuality, ideas and feelings is an important part of developing an individual approach to the learning and development. A child has universal physical needs such as food, drink and shelter and psychological needs such as love, affection, security, friendship which are essential to maintaining their quality of life. In recognising and trying to meet an individual child’s needs each child’s age, physical maturity, intellectual abilities, emotional development, social skills and past experiences and relationships need to be considered.

The costs of this expansion will mostly go toward labor, as labor is the single largest component of costs for early infant and toddler care centers (Marshall et al., 2004). For teachers to stay invested in the children they teach and care for, they must be fairly compensated to maintain the high quality of care. According to a study in Massachusetts, 72 percent of typical full-time, full-year center expenditures go toward labor (Marshall, et al., 2004). In dollar amounts, “average expenditures per child care hour were $4.42 for centers serving infants and $4.28 for centers serving toddlers. These correspond to full-time care expenditures of $10,343 and $10,015 for the two groups of centers [infants and toddlers, respectively]”

Children of pre-school age through to adolescence are at the stage were parents begin teaching them

The second is Communication between the Home and School. In order to help families create settings within the home to support their children as students we, the teachers, can provide suitable materials which give information and assistances on how the parents can help at home. Through pamphlets, e-mails, and phone calls teachers can inspire and encourage parents to converse and work with their child. Through our involvement with the families, parents become more aware of their child’s school platform, they interact on a more positive level with their children they are more skilled to reinforce the teacher's objectives in order to achieve better schoolwork. When we give parents information to become more knowledgeable partners with the school, their child sees that their parents and teachers are communicating with one another about their schoolwork, which allows them to become more aware of their parents involvement and abilities. This will open up the opportunity for the child and parents to talk openly about the child’s schoolwork and the decisions the child makes at school.

Working in partnership is essential to the development of children and young people in the early years setting and school. Partnerships are formed by positive relationships, from practitioners to parents, carers and multi-agencies. Multi-agencies are different types of servicers brought together for one purpose, which is to support the needs of the child and young person. Through this partnerships are formed with practitioners and families through the key worker system, and integrated work supports the child and young person by meeting their needs and improving their life. Integrated practices and multi-agencies work together to benefit children and young people as it brings together a range of different services which is open to the community.

During the placement I was able to spend time observing interactions between parents, children and staff. I witnessed many positive aspects in the schools approach to engaging parents and was particularly impressed by their open door policy for parents and the support provided to families in times of need by the learning mentors. As part of the admission process to the school, staff visit the parents and child at home and discuss the implementation of the home-school agreement (appendix 1.b). This agreement sets out the expectations of each of the parent, school and child in regard to their actions and attitude towards their time in school. This is often one of the first interactions teacher and parents have and Grayson (2011) suggests most teachers report these home visits to have a lasting positive effect on the child and parent-teacher relationship. During the school’s inspection in 2014 Ofsted identified relationships across the school and with parents as a key strength.

Constructive working relationships between teachers and parents can enhance adults knowledge and understanding of children and children’s learning opportunities, and so contribute to children’s learning and wellbeing at home and in the setting. Children who see their parents working closely together with their teachers “gain a sense of continuity and of being cared for” and experience a “trusting